Virtual Base Camp - Expeditions at a GlanceVirtual Base Camp - Expeditions at a Glance

Welcome to the Virtual Base Camp, the starting point for your exploration of the polar regions with PolarTREC teachers and researchers! PolarTREC expeditions will journey to the Arctic and Antarctic throughout the International Polar Year (2007-2009). Click on an expedition to learn more about a project, read journals, view photos, post questions, and interact with the team.

Expedition Maps

Arctic Overview Map

Arctic Expeditions

Antarctic Overview Map

Antarctic Expeditions


Current ExpeditionsCurrent Expeditions

Bering Ecosystem Study: Summer Ice-free Conditions

Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST)-Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP)

June 14 - July 15, 2009 | R/V Knorr, Bering Sea

mmckay_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Mark McKay
  • Venture Academy/Delta VISTA
  • Stockton, CA

rsambrotto_round.jpg

Upcoming ExpeditionsUpcoming Expeditions

High Arctic Change ‘09

The Svalbard REU - Holocene and Modern Climate Change in the High Arctic

July 10 - August 15, 2009 | Svalbard, Norway

mrhinard_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Mike Rhinard
  • Riverglen Junior High School
  • Boise, ID

rpowell_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Ross Powell
  • Northern Illinois University
  • DeKalb, IL

juliebg_round.jpg

Seabird Ecology in the Bering Sea

Seabird Telemetry - Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program

July 15 - August 15, 2009 | Pribilof Islands, Alaska

tharten_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Thomas Harten
  • CHESPAX, Calvert County Public Schools
  • Prince Frederick, MD

droby_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Dan Roby
  • Oregon State University
  • Corvallis, OR

rparedes_round.jpg

rorben_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Rachael Orben
  • University of California Santa Cruz
  • Santa Cruz, CA

Greenland Education Tour ‘09

Greenland, Denmark, United States Joint Science Education Tour '09

July 17 - 25, 2009 | Various Locations, Greenland

jthompson_round.jpg

Alaska Climate Variation ‘09

Coupled Glacial and Lacustrine Evidence for Decadal- to millennial-scale variability in the climatologic Aleutian Low, southern Alaska

July 25 - August 11, 2009 | Southcentral and Southwest Alaska

bpeterson_round.jpg

dkaufman_round.jpg

hroop_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Heidi Roop
  • Northern Arizona University
  • Flagstaff, AZ

cschiff_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Caleb Schiff
  • Northern Arizona University
  • Flagstaff, AZ

Antarctic Undersea ROV ‘09

Development of a Remotely Operated Vehicle for Under Sea Ice Research in Polar Environments

October 1 - November 15, 2009 | McMurdo Station, Antarctica

mcross_round.jpg

bzook_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Bob Zook
  • Moss Landing Marine Labs
  • Moss Landing, CA

skim_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Stacy Kim
  • Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
  • Moss Landing, CA

Polar Bear Response to Sea Ice Loss

Adaptive long-term fasting in land- and ice-bound polar bears: coping with ice loss in the Arctic?

October 17 - December 17, 2009 | Coast Guard Ship, Beaufort Sea

cgalvan_round.jpg

hharlow_round.jpg

mbendavid_round.jpg

jwhiteman_round.jpg

Microorganisms in Antarctic Glacier Ice

Biogeochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Taylor Glacier Basal Ice

October 26 - November 17, 2009 | McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

lknippenberg_round.jpg

mskidmore_round.jpg

Dissolved Organic Matter in Antarctica

The Biogeochemical Evolution of Dissolved Organic Matter in a Fluvial System on the Cotton Glacier, Antarctica

November 27 - December 23, 2009 | Cotton Glacier, Antarctica

sdiers_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Sarah Diers
  • Langley Middle School
  • Langley, WA

ypingchin_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Yu-Ping Chin
  • Ohio State University
  • Columbus, OH

cforeman_round.jpg

CReSIS Unmanned Air Vehicle in Antarctica

Surveying Conditions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

December 1 - January 10, 2010 | West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide, Antarctica

gwesche_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Gary Wesche
  • St. John Francis Regis School
  • Kansas City, MO

sridhar_round.jpg

jpowell_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Je’aime Powell
  • Elizabeth City State University
  • Elizabeth City, NC

rhale_round.jpg

IceCube: In-ice Antarctic Telescope

IceCube Neutrino Lab

December 19 - January 10, 2010 | South Pole Station, Antarctica

cohara_round.jpg

halzen_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Francis Halzen
  • University of Wisconsin Madison
  • Madison, WI

tgaisser_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Tom Gaisser
  • University of Delaware
  • Newark, DE

jmadsen_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Jim Madsen
  • University of Wisconsin River Falls
  • River Falls, WI

Completed ExpeditionsCompleted Expeditions

Bering Ecosystem Study: Early Spring Plankton and Benthos

Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST)-Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem

March 8 - 31, 2009 | USCGC Healy, Bering Sea

dwheeler_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Deanna Wheeler
  • J. C. Parks Elementary School
  • Indian Head, MD

leecooper_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Lee Cooper
  • University of Maryland
  • Solomons, MD

Ocean, Atmosphere, Sea Ice, and Snowpack Interactions

Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Snowpack (OASIS) 2009

March 15 - April 3, 2009 | Barrow, Alaska

bwilkening_round.jpg

hbeine_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Harry Beine
  • University of California at Davis
  • Davis, CA

Geologic Climate Research in Siberia

Scientific Drilling at El’gygytgyn Crater Lake, Chukotka, Northeast Siberia

March 21 - April 22, 2009 | Crater Lake El’gygytgyn, Russia

tmartin_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Tim Martin
  • Greensboro Day School
  • Greensboro, NC

mmelle_round.jpg

pminyuk_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Pavel Minyuk
  • Northeast Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute

ckoeberl_round_0.jpg

juliebg_round.jpg

Bering Ecosystem Study: Spring Plankton and Changing Ice Cover

Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST)-Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP)

March 31 - May 12, 2009 | USCGC Healy, Bering Sea

swelch_round.jpg

cashjian_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Carin Ashjian
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Woods Hole, MA

Prehistoric Human Response to Climate Change

Social Change and the Environment in Nordic Prehistory: Evidence from Finland and Northern Canada

May 6 - 31, 2009 | Yli-Ii, Finland

mwing_round.jpg
  • Teacher
  • Michael Wing
  • Sir Francis Drake High School
  • San Anselmo, CA

dkeeler_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Dustin Keeler
  • State University of New York at Buffalo
  • Buffalo, NY

ezubrow_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Ezra Zubrow
  • University at Buffalo
  • Buffalo, NY

gkorosec_round.jpg
  • Researcher
  • Greg Korosec
  • State University of New York at Buffalo
  • Buffalo, NY

CReSIS Greenland Ice Sheet Studies

Validation and Calibration of High Resolution CReSIS Radar Data

May 22 - June 8, 2009 | NEEM Camp, Greenland

chamilton_round.jpg
  • K-12 Science Coordinator
  • Cheri Hamilton
  • Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS)
  • Lawrence, KS

djensen_round.jpg