The Polaris Project: Rising Stars in the Arctic

After "Are you crazy?", the most common question you'll get as a participant in the Polaris Project will likely be "Why would anyone want to go to the Siberian Arctic?". The answers will vary, but most will include a description of the Arctic's tremendous importance to Earth's climate system, a desire to understand how global warming is already impacting the region, an excitement about the diverse and fascinating cultures you'll be exposed to in Siberia, and yes, the draw of an almost unbelievable adventure that very few people ever get to experience.

The Polaris Project includes a field course and research experience for undergraduate students in the Siberian Arctic, several new arctic-focused undergraduate courses taught by project scientists at their home institutions, the opportunity for those scientists to initiate research programs in the Siberian Arctic, and a wide range of outreach activities. The guiding scientific theme will be the transport and transformations of carbon and nutrients as they move with water from terrestrial uplands to the Arctic Ocean, a central issue as scientists struggle to understand the changing Arctic.

Undergraduate researchers and team members will work across five different ecosystem types at a field station in remote northeastern Russia.