Polar Times

The Gateway Drug to Polar Science

Hello hello! Welcome back to Polar Times! This is part two of Jack’s interview with Huw Griffiths, marine biologist and biogeographer of the British Antarctic Survey. Have talked all about his research in the previous episode (go back an listen if you’re interested in benthic sea critters, icy boreholes and paradigm shifts in science), in this episode Huw tells us all about his field experiences in the Arctic and Antarctic and his work communicating polar science to the wider public. This episode is full of amazing stories and chock full of tips and tricks for young academics getting into science communication!

For more info on Polar Horizons check out this link: https://www.bas.ac.uk/project/diversity-in-uk-polar-science-initiative/uk-polar-horizons-2021/

And for the Women in Polar Science (WiPS, Twitter: @WomeninPolarSci) initiative go here: https://www.facebook.com/WomeninPolarScience/

As always, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

It's a Jungle Down There

Hello and welcome back to Polar Times. Our guest today is marine biologist and biogeographer Huw Griffiths from the British Antarctic Survey! Huw is interested in the benthic (seafloor) organisms of polar places and talks about the recent discovery of new life filmed down a borehole, deep under the Antarctic sea ice. He chats to Jack about the significance of such a finding: why is it surprising? What does it mean for our understanding of the polar depths? He also speaks about the logistical challenges of studying this region, the time the RV Polarstern (of MOSAiC fame) took its life in its hand to explore an icy Grand Canyon, and why in general sea pigs rule and penguins drool.

And that’s just part one! Join us in part two of the interview to hear about Huw experiences in the field and all about polar science communication!

As always, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

Visitors and the Virus

Hello and thanks for joining us today on Polar Times- welcome!

On today's episode Jack chats to Daniela Liggett of the University of Canterbury! Daniela specialises in environmental management and tourism regulation in extreme environments and we welcome her onto the show today to talk all about that as well as her role as co-project leader of the SCAR Antarctic COVID-19 Project Team.

Yes, it's partly a covid episode but as Antarctica is the only continent in the world with no confirmed cases, hopefully it's not too triggering! What was polar tourism like pre-pandemic? How has the pandemic impacted polar operations? How will polar tourism start up again post-pandemic? Has it possibly been a good thing for polar wildlife experiencing less human disturbance? Daniela answers all of these questions and more, delving into the role of tourism at polar places and perhaps even debunking any negative connotations one might have with the word "tourist".

As usual, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Ryan O'Hara

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

It's all about photography!

New episode! Our guest today is Thea Schneider, a soon-to-be PhD student and former participant of the MOSAiC summer school. Our host, Alexandra, and Thea chat about the MOSAiC summer school on board the Russian icebreaker Akademik Federov. Thea introduces us to the daily life on board the Russian icebreaker and the many diverse aspects of fieldwork, despite the exciting hours of watching polar bears from a safe distance.

Next to her degree in physics, Thea also has a BA in Photography. She therefore also talks about how to use photos to bring the scientific world closer to a public audience. They talk about Theas motivation for doing outreach and talk about the importance of showing photos from the polar regions to the public in order to highlight the changes happening in these regions. She is currently compiling an exhibition with her photos about the expedition which will be held in summer this year. You can find more about her art work on her website http://theaschneider.com/ and on Instagram @the.answer.is.north.

Tweet APECS (@Polar_Research) or email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) to get in contact with us!

(Contains explicit language)

Episode edited by Alexandra Zuhr

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

Тыва тайга кызы

Welcome back to Polar Times! This week Jack is joined by Tayana Arakchaa, a cultural anthropologist and postdoctoral fellow at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, currently working on the importance of Antarctic krill to food security in the former Soviet Union.

As well as discussing her current research we chat all about the understudied nomadic indigenous groups of the Tyva Republic in Siberia (where Tayana originally hails from, "Тыва тайга кызы" meaning "Daughter of the Tuvan taiga"), particularly the human-animal relations among Tozhu reindeer hunter-herders from the north of the province. Tayana tells us all about her experiences of riding reindeer through the taiga forests of Siberia with the Tozhu! This is not one to miss!

As usual, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

þetta reddast

Hello and welcome back to Polar Times, the podcast that brings you science and stories from literally the coolest places on the planet. 

 

Join our host Christy with guest Mana Tugends, a polar law researcher who studied in Iceland at the University of Akureyri and currently works in Norway at the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission. 

 

Mana explains what are Marine Protected Areas (MPA), about the significance of indigenous voices when defining MPAs, and many of the other intricacies of polar law. Come along to learn of how this French woman came to fall in love with the Arctic, and hear Mana's beautiful stories of her adventures in Iceland and Norway and the positive impact and inspiration of those that she met along the way. 

 

Edited by Christy Rouault

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

The Third Pole

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Polar Times!

Join Alexandra today for a chat with Jakob Steiner, a glacier hydrologist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal. The location of his workplace already reveals that today we are not going to the Arctic or Antarctica - today we are once again at the third pole of the earth, namely in the Himalayas.

In the episode, Jakob and Alexandra talk about his career path and how his studies in science benefited from his degree in classical music. Jakob shares exciting fieldwork experiences from his numerous expeditions to many different places on earth. They talk about the differences between fieldwork in polar regions like Greenland and expeditions in the Himalayan and High Asian Mountains. He also chats about the importance of collaborations with the local people in Nepal and how both, he and the local community, rely on and interact with each other.

Feel free to email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS (@Polar_Research) to get in contact with us!

Episode edited by Ryan O’Hara

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

The Arctic Council

Hello hello and welcome back to Polar Times, the podcast that brings you science and stories from literally the coolest places on the planet!

Normal service has been resumed post-Polar Week and this week Jack is joined by Robert Kadas of Global Affairs Canada to talk all things Arctic Council! 

Who are the Arctic Council? What do they do? Why are they important? How did they go from a small meeting in a church hall to the international power house of science, communication and geopolitics that it is today? As someone who has been involved with the Arctic Council since its inception, Robert is the perfect man to answer all of these questions and more. We also chat all things Arctic for a bit of background info! 

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Arctic Council! Check out their website to find out what is being done to mark the occasion, as well as for lots more info on all of their exciting projects!

https://arctic-council.org/en/

As usual, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

March Polar Week 2021 (Part 2)

Hello hello, welcome to Part 2 of our March Polar Week Special episode! In this section our Polar Week Panel (Ingrid Medby, Stephen Roberts and Mathieu Casado) answer some questions from the public which have been sent to us by you lovely lot! 

Why are some parts of the Antarctic melting faster than others? 

Who, if anyone, "owns" the Arctic? 

And most importantly: Can you make a slush puppy from the ice? 

Our panel tackle all of these and more!

Thank you to everyone who sent us questions and apologies that we could not get through them all. We will be doing this feature again soon so stay tuned to Polar Times in the future! 

If you would like to ask a polar person a question then please get in touch with us. You can email (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS (@Polar_Research) questions, feedback, guest recommendations, anything at all, we would love to hear from you! 

Episode edited by Ryan O'Hara

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA

March Polar Week 2021 (Part 1)

It's March Polar Week! Or rather, just drawing to the close of March Polar Week! For those of you who don't know, this week has been one of celebration in the polar community. A time for polar academics, residents, visitors and aficionados to come together and celebrate everything about our polar places that makes us happy: the beauty, the diversity, the resilience and fragility of our frozen worlds. 

In order to celebrate here at Polar Times we have put together a special episode featuring a panel of guests from a range of backgrounds bringing a range of experiences. 

We are pleased to welcome Ingrid Medby of Oxford Brookes University, Stephen Roberts of the British Antarctic Survey and Mathieu Casado of the Alfred Wegner Institute!

Part 1 (of 2) features the discussion from our panel on the theme of "Change" a topic which will likely resonate with a lot you after the last year! 

As usual, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you!

From all of us at Polar Times, Happy Polar Week!

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA