Last week over 1500 polar scientists and educators assembled in Oslo, Norway, for the 2026 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research’s (SCAR) 12th Open Science Conference. Among them were early-career researchers from the UK Polar Network and other national committees of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), who came not only to share the latest science with their fellow researchers, but also to discuss how ECRs can be enabled to bring polar science to a wider audience.
As many have repeated, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay there – the frozen continent and its surrounding ocean are keystones of the global climate system, impacting people’s lives around the world. But these invisible connections don’t automatically resonate with publics far from the poles, so how we communicate about them really matters. Early-career researchers are ideally placed to make these ideas accessible, especially to younger generations. But do they have the confidence, the training, and the support needed to bring polar science to life in the places where they live and work?
An international collaboration including UKPN, APECS South Africa, APECS Mexico, APECS France, and APECS Uruguay, are seeking to answer these questions by engaging with ECRs, educators, and general publics around the world. Their global surveys are still open for responses, but preliminary results were presented in a dedicated session at the SCAR conference, titled “Science Communication: Meeting Polar Outreach Needs as Early-Career Researchers”. The results revealed a highly motivated global ECR community who are actively creating opportunities for science outreach, relying primarily on their own initiative and (sometimes limited) experience.
These findings were supported by breakout group discussions where ECRs from different nations and backgrounds contributed their expertise in written, audio, and video forms of communication, with target audiences ranging from children and teenagers to young adults and parents. The benefits of collaboration and ongoing engagement were also emphasised for building sustainability and trust, particularly in social-media focused outreach initiatives.
The session concluded with a panel discussion featuring polar science communication experts from South Africa, Mexico, and India, who from their different experiences jointly highlighted the value of visual and tangible media for telling stories that audiences will relate to and remember. They also shared timely comments for ECRs struggling to balance outreach with other commitments, or facing institutional barriers to implementing it as a priority, and further emphasised the value of collaboration between ECRs, educators, and more senior academics.
A big thank you to everyone who was involved in putting this session together! Please continue to support this ongoing project by filling out the surveys for ECRs and educators & general public, and watch out for more communication about it in future!
Edmund Lea
UK Polar Network Festivals Team