UAF to celebrate kick-off of International Polar Year

Submitted by Jenn Wagaman
Phone: (907) 474-5082
03/13/07

Author Dava Sobel will headline a Fairbanks International Polar Year kick-off celebration in the Charles W. Davis Concert Hall on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. The celebration will include a proclamation from the office of Governor Sarah Palin and the world premiere of "Polar Fanfare,"? a work composed in honor of IPY by James Bicigo.

Sobel, whose career as a science journalist has spanned more than three decades, is the author of five books, including "Galileo’s Daughter"? and "Longitude."? Her lecture at UAF will be based on her most recent book "The Planets,"? a collection of essays on the planets, sun and moon. Sobel is also the recipient of the 2001 Individual Public Service Award from the National Science Board. Sobel’s lecture is the second in this year’s IPY Visiting Author Series.

A book signing and reception in the Great Hall will follow the lecture. During the reception, University of Alaska IPY postdoctoral fellows will be available to meet with the public and discuss their research. UA President Mark Hamilton appointed these researchers in recognition and support of IPY. They will spend the next three years at University of Alaska campuses researching everything from arctic tree line seedlings and permafrost to lake sediments and sea ice.

CONTACT: Jenn Wagaman, UAF Center for Research Services outreach coordinator, at (907) 474-5082 or jenn@alaska.edu or Cherie Solie, IPY statewide outreach manager, at (907) 474-6264 or c.solie@uaf.edu.

About IPY
The Fourth International Polar Year is a campaign of intense, internationally coordinated research to gain new knowledge about Earth’s polar regions, how those regions are changing and how such changes are impacting the health of our biosphere. IPY is an opportunity to educate and excite the public and help train the next generation of scientists, leaders and educators.