ANDRILL and the ARISE Program
ANDRILL
ANDRILL
is a new, exciting and ambitious drilling program that builds on a
legacy of international efforts to recover important geological records
that lie hidden beneath Antarctica’s icy blanket. The program’s primary
objectives are to investigate Antarctica’s role in global environmental
change over the past 65 million years and to better understand
Antarctica’s future response to global changes. ANDRILL has built a
state of the art drilling system designed to recover sediment and rock
core from regions in Antarctica where these records were previously
inaccessible. The new rig will obtain long sections of core from
beneath Antarctica’s thick ice shelves and land in
water up to 1 km deep. Two projects are currently supported by the
national Antarctic Programs of Italy, Germany, New Zealand and the
United States.
Drilling operations for the
first ANDRILL Project will begin in October 2006. The ANDRILL rig will
penetrate the sea floor beneath the Ross Ice Shelf and recover
sedimentary records spanning the last five million years. A team of
over 50 scientists, science support personnel, and science educators
will travel to Antarctica to study the core as it is pulled from
beneath the ice.
ARISE
ANDRILL has established an immersion experience for science educators (ARISE) to facilitate development of mechanisms and materials to effectively connect ANDRILL with the public. The program will provide science educators with an inside view of ANDRILL, will engage them in authentic Antarctic geoscience, and will utilize their expertise in education to develop and implement innovative approaches to geoscience education and public outreach. Elements of the program include: on and off-ice research experience, an Antarctic geoscience course, and an educational working group.
On and Off-Ice Research
On-Ice Research Experience
During each project a cohort of
six science educators will join the ANDRILL science team at McMurdo
Station in Antarctica. Each educator will become a member of a science
discipline team and will be immersed in scientific investigation of the
core and will accept all responsibilities that other science team
members take on. Some examples of the science disciplines and
associated activities include:
Sedimentology:
Examine and describe sedimentary layers as they vary through time in
response to changing environmental conditions. Interpret a history for
the region as conditions have fluctuated between ice-free,
open-water and ice-covered marine environments.
Paleomagnetism: Sample the core and measure magnetic properties of the sediment. Identify times when the Earth’s magnetic field flipped. Help develop age models for the core.
Micropaleontology: Explore the fascinating microscopic world of fossilized organisms recovered from the core. Use these organisms to help develop age models and identify environmental change through time.
Geochemistry: Use state-of-the-art high-tech equipment to measure the chemical composition of the core. Identify changing mineral content and relate these changes to geological and environmental evolution.
Participating science educators will gain insight into the nature of large multidisciplinary international science projects. Educators will experience authentic scientific inquiry as the discipline teams generate their data from the core, integrate their data and work together to develop and debate interpretations and establish a history of environmental and climatic change for this important part of the Earth.
Off-Ice Research Experience
Science doesn’t stop when the ANDRILL team leaves Antarctica! You will maintain communication and collaboration with your discipline team members and continue studying data and material collected on the ice. Core will be shipped back to the United States and the whole ANDRILL science team will reconvene at Florida State University core repository to discuss initial findings, re-examine the core and sample for continued study of interesting sections and key intervals. Study of these newly sampled materials will continue for a year. The science team will meet again for final integration--a two and a half year process.
Antarctic Geoscience Course
Over 25 international scientists with a variety of expertise in Antarctic geoscience will meet in Antarctica to work on ANDRILL core at the Crary Science and Engineering Center at McMurdo Station. ANDRILL will utilize this unique convergence of geoscience experts from around the world to offer a comprehensive introductory Antarctic geoscience course. Many of the ANDRILL scientists will deliver lessons in their specific interest areas to both science educators participating in the ARISE program and the broader community through distance education modules. Credit for this course will be offered through applicable institutions.
Education and Outreach Working Group
A major task for ARISE participants will be to develop innovative and effective education and outreach approaches based on knowledge gained during the research immersion experience. While on the ice, ARISE participants will meet on a regular basis to discuss and develop the EPO projects that they will be complete and implement upon returning to their home institutions in their respective nations. Scientists and graduate students will be encouraged to join the working group to help develop on-going collaboration between ANDRILL scientists and educators.
Eligibility & Application
If you are a science educator from Germany, New Zealand, Italy, or the United States and you want to participate in the ARISE program, first consider the following basic criteria.
To participate in ARISE you must be:
- Able to pass the standard physical exam required by your relevant national Antarctic Program
- Ready to spend up to two and a half months in Antarctica
- Prepared to actively engage in all four elements of the ARISE program
- Ready to engage in ANDRILL research and educational activities that will likely continue over a 2½ year period
- Committed to develop and implement innovative approaches to bring Antarctic geoscience to the public
In addition to the criteria list above, U.S. participants must travel to meet with their "host" science team leader prior to deploying to Antarctica.
If you feel you meet the criteria required to participate in ARISE, the next opportunity to submit an application will be announced on this website. OR send an e-mail to the address below to have your name added to the interested educators’ list to receive the first announcement of such opportunities.If you have any questions, please contact:
Louise Huffman, ANDRILL Coordinator of Education and Outreach
ANDRILL Science Management Office
126 Bessey Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE, 68588
USA
email: lhuffman@andrill.org
phone: (630) 460-3688
