It’s the time of year where we recruit new committee members for the 2020/21 term. The positions we have available are outlined below with short descriptions. We welcome a diverse range of people, and all you need is some enthusiasm! Traditionally the majority of the committee are PhD students, but Post-docs, Masters Students, and non-academics are always very welcome too.

Being a part of the UKPN committee is a great way to expand your Polar network, hear about unique opportunities first and develop your soft skills, and of course, it’s a lot of fun! We get a great bunch of people every year, and they represent the UKPN at national and international events alongside local officials, governments, and leading scientists. Each role will have a handover from the previous committee member and the new president and the committee will support each committee member in their role. Roles are flexible with the amount of time they need as they are seasonal, but as a ball-park, plan for two hours per week in addition to the bimonthly meeting. The time can fit into your own schedule, and the more time you have to spare, the more you can volunteer for additional tasks.

Please email president@polarnetwork.org by the 21^st of August with a brief description of why you would like to take the role on. Any questions are welcomed too.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) officer

• To monitor and increase EDI both within our organisation and within STEM as a field. Will work closely with education and outreach to run a mentorship scheme, fund prospective students to attend university open days, and host undergraduates within our member’s institution. Will work on linking with universities across the UK to create a diversity network.
• The officer will be supported for the first six months by the Diversity in Polar Science Initiative, introduced to the relevant senior officials, and be supported by the UKPN EDI team.

Education & Outreach: festivals

• Organise UKPN attendance at two UK festivals (e.g. Edinburgh festival, Bristol festival of nature), including applying for spot at festival, finding volunteers, planning activities and running stall at festival.
• This is a joint role with one of our reps staying on from last year, giving a head start in terms of planning.

Education & Outreach: Antarctic Flags

• A highly successful outreach activity where schools design flags for the Antarctic continent which are then sent south to researchers. This role will be to co-ordinate and deliver this project (registration of schools via google form, finding Antarcticans to take flags (electronically), and collating and sending back photos to schools).

Education and Outreach: Pint of Science

• To organise a Pint of Science event – an informal series of interesting talks by researchers in a pub setting –  spanning three cities.
• These events have been highly successful over the last few years, and tickets have not been difficult to sell.

Social media 

• Manage our social media communications as well as the UKPN blog. We communicate through a large variety of channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Social media: website

• UK Polar network WordPress posting, and updating website with events, news, etc.