The MBL’s Logan Science Journalism Program provides professional science journalists, editors, and broadcast journalists with a chance to forget about story deadlines and the latest breakthroughs, and instead immerse themselves in the process of basic biomedical and environmental research.
Polar Hands-On Laboratory
Director: Chris Neill, MBL Ecosystems Center
Polar regions now experience more rapid environmental change than any other location on the earth. How these changes will influence our climate—and ultimately the future of our planet—is one of society’s greatest challenges.
The MBL’s Polar Science Fellowship, created for the International Polar Year, gives science journalists the unparalled opportunity to travel to the ends of the Earth to be a part of some of today’s most cutting-edge ecological polar research.
There are two locations for the MBL Polar Science Fellowship:
Palmer Station, Antarctica
In December 2010, three Polar Science fellows are spending 16 days at the Palmer research station on the Western Antarctic peninsula, studying ecosystem function and the effects of climate change. During their hands-on research training, the fellows will focus on the role of nutrients from penguin colonies (particularly nitrogen from waste products) in stimulating growth of phytoplankton in near-shore areas; and the rates of soil build-up in areas where glaciers have receded.
Toolik Field Station, Alaska
At this research station in arctic Alaska, fellows participate in a weeklong hands-on course focusing on key science questions in polar research. The research they undertake spans terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the physical and biological sciences. Following the course, fellows team up with research scientists to work side-by-side with them in the field and laboratory. This course was offered in 2008, 2009, and will be offered again June 17 – July 2, 2010.
