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.
Session conveners and panelists, left to right: Laura Morales (APECS Mexico), Odile Volonterio (APECS Uruguay), Kelly Mogotsi (South African Polar Research Infrastructure), Natalia de la Selva Gendrop (Agencia Mexicana de Estudios Antarticos/Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Riesna Audh (APECS South Africa), Edmund Lea (UKPN), Ramcharan Vijayaraghavan (Polar Educators International). Also convening the session but not present were: Sophie Dupont (APECS France), Anona Griffiths (UKPN) and Lena Lancastle (UKPN).
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.
Outreach session breakout rooms
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.
Panel discussion
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!
One of the core functions of UK Polar Network is to represent early-career-researchers (ECRs) in polar science in whichever fora we can. We are here to push for greater inclusion and opportunities for ECRs and of course to improve EDI in polar science.
On Saturday 29 th November this year, a team of nine UK Polar Network volunteers travelled
to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, for its annual Polar Day! After a
hiatus in 2024 while repairs were made to the museum roof, it was exciting to continue the
ongoing collaboration between UKPN and the NMM with another day of fun and engaging
polar science activities, talks, and displays for curious visitors of all ages.
UKPN activities and talks were hosted on the museum’s “Great Map” open floor space,
recently redesigned using the thought-provoking Spilhaus Projection, which depicts the
world’s oceans as a single interconnected system. This view of the world centres the
continent of Antarctica, highlighting the global importance of the poles, and providing a
fitting backdrop for sharing our enthusiasm for polar science!
A child trying on polar clothing. Credit: Jonny Guardiani -www.jonnyguardiani.com
Young visitors engaged with our 3D polar map displays, tried on real polar gear from the
British Antarctic Survey, and admired Lego displays of polar exploration ships brought by
collaborators from Polar Educators International. A crowd gathered to listen to a fascinating
talk on the challenges facing the polar regions in our changing world by Prof. Ilan Kelman of
UCL, then the crew of the Novara One Planet expedition shared what they learned from
sailing the Northwest Passage and visiting Arctic communities on the frontlines of this
change. Finally, our volunteers from the Scott Polar Research Institute shared with us their
research into community-based monitoring of urban heat islands in the Arctic, alongside a
popular experimental activity using infrared thermometers to compare the temperatures of
different surfaces.
Credit: Jonny Guardiani - www.jonnyguardiani.com
Overall, we had a great time communicating about the polar regions and sharing the science
we’re so passionate about! I was very struck by how much all the volunteers enjoyed the
day, even those who were very nervous about speaking in public to begin with. As a festivals
team, we really want to expand our activities to offer these kinds of opportunities to as
many early-career researchers as possible – if you’d like to be involved, know of an event
you’d like to see us at, or just want to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you at
festivals@polarnetwork.org.
As someone who’s conference experience has previously only been UK based science conferences, going to the Arctic Circle Assembly is a very different experience. The Arctic Circle Assembly is a yearly conference held in Reykjavik that brings together an international community of people interested in the Arctic – 70 countries were represented this year by the 2000 total attendees. The Arctic Circle Assembly is a unique experience, so the opportunity to attend is highly recommended (and the location isn’t too bad either!).
Credit: Arctic Circle
The thing that makes Arctic Circle a very different conference is the geopolitics of it. A large proportion of people attending the Arctic Circle Assembly are governmental officials, all there to represent their countries interests. Additionally, institutions such as the Arctic Council and NATO are represented. This year we even had Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan giving a speech in the opening plenary! Working as a scientist in the Arctic geopolitics impacts your research even if you don’t feel like it does day to day. I think it’s important to have an awareness of how geopolitics is shaping the Arctic, attending Arctic Circle has really widened my understanding of the differing views and opinions of politics in the Arctic.
Being such a large conference, the conference has multiple sessions running at any one time, so planning was essential (made easy by the very handy app they created!). Sessions cover a broad range of topics, from the health impacts of wildfires on Arctic communities to talks with Neil Armstrongs family about a new film they’re a part of showcasing their fathers previously secret trip with Edmund Hillary to the Arctic in 1985! Alongside talks there are also invitation only roundtables to discuss business issues or topics like science diplomacy. Whilst there are no traditional ‘science’ talks or science poster sessions there is still a lot to get out of the conference as a scientist, especially as we’re coming up to International Polar Year 2032-2033 which had a lot of attention at the conference. Additionally, Indigenous communities had a large representation and presence in multiple talks. This representation is essential as none of these discussion can happen without Indigenous representation; to hear from members of Indigenous communities first hand experiences was incredibly beneficial to me as a researcher, but also to the wider Arctic community.
Caption: Arctic Circle
Additionally, the opportunity for networking is the best part of going. Talks are interesting but the connections you can build are what you really take away from a conference like this. Because everyone’s backgrounds are so varied, it really helps to promote cross disciplinary and international collaborations. It helps to connect with one or two people you know are going beforehand as it can be quite overwhelming walking into the massive Harpa Concert Hall, but even if you know no one there are plenty of opportunities to meet people at mixers.
Caption: Arctic Circle
I was lucky in securing funding from the NERC Arctic Office to support my attendance, as they were looking to send early and middle career researchers from the UK, so it is worth looking out for similar funding schemes to support your attendance in the future. Being supported by the NERC Arctic Office here in the UK to attend also meant I got to attend some special events. All British attendees to the conference were invited to a drinks reception the evening before it started at the British Ambassador to Iceland’s residence. Hosted by Dr Bryony Mathew, the current ambassador, it gave all British attendees an opportunity to mix and get to know one another. Later on in the conference schedule, attendees funded by the NERC Arctic Office were also invited to a dinner with Dame Angela McLean, the Chief Scientific Ad
Credit: Arctic Circle
visor to the UK government. This gave us a great networking opportunity and the chance to discuss our perspectives of UK Arctic science as well as hearing from Angela about gaining experience in the civil service as scientists (we also had a 7-course tasting menu that included raw scallops and beef tartare which is an experience I never thought I’d have!).
The conference closing night was also very different from anything I’ve experienced. The last plenary session included three musical performances from Nefur, a singer incorporating glacier sounds, Keli Armstrong & Friends singing about a flight Neil Armstrong took his son on and iDJA a Sámi DJ performing Sámi electronic music. After this, whilst at the closing drinks we also got treated to a spectacular northern lights show! Most of my time in Reykjavik the weather had been quite cloudy, but on the last night conditions turned out to be perfect. I’d never seen the northern lights before, so this was one of my highlights as well!
Credit: Lena Lancastle
Overall attending the Arctic Circle Assembly was a great experience, if very tiring. I would recommend attending to any Early Career Researcher as it’s a completely unique experience, but particularly if you are interested in the political side of the Arctic or have career ambitions with government in mind. Use the time to build connections and soak up knowledge from everyone around you. You’ll be exhausted afterwards, but you’ll have a better, well-rounded perspective about the current issues facing the Arctic and its People’s.
Written by Lena Lencastle, PhD student Sheffield University, UKPN Education and Outreach Officer
This year (2024-25) has been another record breaking year for our Antarctic Flags programme. Over 1200 individual flags were sent down with Antarctic scientists from 312 schools! Children got to see their creative designs at a variety of bases and on the icebreaker ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough. This was also the longest Antarctic season for UK scientists with flags joining Antarctic scientists into the beginning of the Antarctic winter.
Rob Sutton holding a flag submitted by Our Lady & St Patrick’s College at Signy Research Station
UKPN's flagship Antarctic Flags scheme gives schools the opportunity to supplement lessons about Antarctica with the chance to send a flag design to be photographed in Antarctica. Schools determine their flag selection process which may include a student competition or collaboration. UKPN facilitates the programme, including liaising with scientists and staff heading to Antarctica each year. Other national committees of APECS have been inspired by the model to launch similar initiatives within their countries.
Millie Bond holding a flag submitted by St Augustines school at Halley research station.
Dr Nisha Mistry holding a flag submitted by Budmouth Academy on Coronation Island, the South Orkney Islands.Kat Turner holding a flag submitted by Thirsk School & Sixth Form College on the RRS Sir David Attenborough in the Weddel Sea.
The UKPN committee tries to represent UK early career researchers in any forums we can. One way we've done this recently is by submitting written evidence to an inquiry into the UK and the Antarctic Environment by the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee Sub-committee on Polar Research. Our evidence can be found on the inquiry website along with other submissions from scientists and institutions. We are hopeful that our evidence will make valuable contributions to the inquiry report.
We previously submitted evidence to a similar inquiry related to the Arctic. At the time we were cited in the report that was produced.
Members of the UK Polar Network (UKPN) were invited down to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, London to mark the one-year anniversary of the UK’s Arctic Policy Framework – Looking North: The UK and the Arctic. The event took place on Thursday 29th February in the Grand Locarno Room and was a fantastic evening to celebrate the important of the UK’s involvement in Polar science. Attendees included the minister for the Polar Regions, David Rutley and the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Andrew Griffith.
Social media officer - See https://tinyurl.com/z767r5ea for more details.
Webmaster (Social media team) (New role!) - See https://tinyurl.com/23ma4f5s for more details.
EDI Officers -https://tinyurl.com/2s4h2yc6 for more details
Training Officer (New role!) - See https://tinyurl.com/2p9byyen for more details
This could be you!
We welcome a diverse range of people and all you need is enthusiasm! PhD students, post-docs, masters students and non-academics are all happily accepted. Most of the roles have handover notes from the previous volunteers, and the committee is on hand to support.
Being part of the UKPN is the perfect way to expand your polar network, hear of unique opportunities first, develop your skills, help other early career researchers, and – of course – it’s a load of fun. The UKPN is present at national and international events alongside local officials, governments, and leading scientists.
Please apply for one (or few) of the available positions via the form https://tinyurl.com/4fux6rpy by Sunday, 25th September 2022. Please email president@polarnetwork.org if you have any questions.
We are looking forward to receiving your applications!
When we think about being anti-colonial in Polar research, we often defer immediately to the Arctic, owing to its presence of Indigenous peoples. While the colonial origins of Antarctic exploration (of which science was a key part) are reasonably well-known, the ongoing nature of colonialism in Antarctic politics and research is not. Here, I build on the works of some inspiring Antarctic researchers to highlight these lesser-known issues, which we should all be concerned with.
Although Antarctica is often thought of as a global commons, the reality is that most countries are not signatories of the Antarctic Treaty. Although the Antarctic Treaty’s membership has grown, amongst signatories 53 signatories only 29 states have the power to vote and therefore shape Antarctica’s legal framework. This led Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mohammed bin Mahathir, to denounce the Antarctic Treaty as, “an agreement between a select group of countries [which failed to] reflect the true feelings of the members of the United Nations or their just claims”. Indeed, the Antarctic Treaty is largely composed of “who was there first,” thus rewarding prior attempts at occupation. Similarly, new members are forced to replicate colonising behaviours of earlier parties through the establishing scientific bases to prove that scientific research activity is being conducted.
As researchers, particularly those outside of the social sciences, we like to view research and science as objective practices when they are in fact deeply political. While membership of the Antarctic Treaty is theoretically open to all, having decision-making power is predicated on the ability to conduct substantial research activity. This position was not negotiated amongst states, but rather imposed by original, self-appointed signatories. As such, a huge group of states are left voteless when it comes to Antarctic affairs. It is therefore no surprise that many have viewed the rhetoric of universal science as a cover-up to ensure that only some (“developed”) states are the only ones to actively partake in Antarctic politics. By no means do I suggest that science is ‘bad’ in Antarctica, but, following arguments made by Mancilla, having it as the basis for privileged decision-making rights is problematic.
This is a substantial body of Antarctic research, and perhaps one of the key concerns amongst social scientists and humanities researchers in Antarctica, yet this perspective is seldom represented. One thing we can do is engage with alternative narratives and viewpoints about Antarctica and its seas, something that Charne Lavery and Meg Samuelson discuss here. However, it is an important first step to acknowledge these power structures as an issue, to acknowledge that we are embedded in them (whether we like it or not!), before we can know how to contest them.
Hemmings, A. D. ‘Security beyond Claims’, in Alan D. Hemmings, Donald R. Rothwell and Karen N. Scott (eds), Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012), 70–94, at 77
We are very excited to introduce our team of 26 volunteers who form the UK Polar Network Committee 2020-2021!
Our first committee meeting is schedulled next week and we are looking forward to getting to know each other and setting up expectations and plans for the year.
For more details and individual pages of committee members, have a look at the committee page of the website.
If you want to join the committee, don't feel like you have to wait for a year, just get in touch with us and we will discuss the possibiliites!
