Icebreaker: Mission Report from the Northwest Passage
David West Reynolds
Phaeton Group
Thursday, March 27, 7:30 pm
Reception following

Cancelled

Aboard a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, Reynolds and his team traveled into the Northwest Passage in October 2007, becoming eyewitnesses to the historic first opening of this legendary route. Reynolds' presentation recounts the voyage and discusses the political and strategic implications of Arctic change in addition to the ecological effects we are seeing today. Reynolds is director of the Phaeton Group, a multidisciplinary science and media organization.

Climate Change: Lessons Learned from Antarctic Glacial Ice
Professor Sam Mukasa
Thursday, April 3, 7:30 pm
Reception following

Professor Sam Mukasa, chair of the U-M Department of Geological Sciences, will discuss the lessons learned from climate records in Antarctica and elsewhere, making the point that to understand what is happening to the Earth today?including whether humans are to blame for some of the recent changes? one must first understand the climate changes of the past. Time permitting, he will also discuss potential solutions to Earth?s current climate predicaments.

Foraging Behavior and Diving Energetics of Antarctic Seals:
New Insights from Instrumented Animals
Lee Fuiman,
University of Texas Marine Institute
Thursday, March 13, 5 pm
Reception following

The challenges for diving mammals are intriguing: they hunt for elusive prey while holding their breath and must return to the surface to breathe. Under the shore-fast ice of Antarctica, the challenges are even more rigorous. New technology attached to Weddell seals provides the first detailed information on their movements and encounters with prey.
Co-sponsored by the U-M Program in the Environment

William R. Farrand Public Lecture
Dramatic Changes in Earth's Polar Ice:
Are We Waking Sleeping Giants?
Dr. Waleed Abdalati,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Friday, January 18, 7:30 pm
Reception and exhibit opening from 6-7:30 pm

From disappearing Arctic sea ice to the rapid disintegration of 10,000 year-old Antarctic ice shelves, Earth's ice cover is changing in remarkable ways. It's not just polar bears and penguins who are significantly affected by this rapidly changing ice cover, though; it also has an impact on humans all over the world, because ice plays a critical role in shaping our planet's environment. As a result, it is imperative that we understand these changes, some of which are larger and occurring more rapidly than once thought possible. The space-based view of Earth from satellites provides both perspective and context that enable new insights into how and why the ice is changing and what these changes may mean for life on Earth.

Waleed Abdalati is Head of the Cryospheric Sciences Branch of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Earth's cryosphere (from a Greek word, kryos, which means "cold") includes all of our planet's sea and freshwater ice, snow, glaciers, frozen ground and permafrost.

An Armchair Journey through Antarctica and the Antarctic Geologic Drilling Program (ANDRILL)
Robin Frisch-Gleason,
Ann Arbor Public Schools
Tuesday, February 19, 7:30 pm
Reception following

Fourth-grade teacher Robin Frisch-Gleason joined ANDRILL (Antarctic Drilling Program) program for two months (October - December, 2007) in Antarctica to do Educational Outreach. The ANDRILL Program is studying Antarctica's role and response to global climate change by drilling into rocks below the sea floor that hold clues about Antarctica's changing environments, and the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to climate change. Robin will discuss ANDRILL and share her experiences and photographs from her season on "the ice."