Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Archaeology on Ice: The Emerging Archeology of Glaciers  

Outline
The University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) is an interdisciplinary research institute that is internationally known for high altitude and high latitude research. INSTAAR proposes to engage the public in current research through a traveling museum exhibit provisionally entitled “Archeology on Ice: The Emerging Archeology of Glaciers,” to open in the beginning of the fourth International Polar Year (IPY-4) (2007 – 2009). INSTAAR has partnered with the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) to produce the exhibit. Its opening venue will be Washington, DC and it will then travel to six to eight other museums in North America and Europe. Four major exhibit components are proposed: 1) an overview on climate change and global warming as it is manifest in high latitude regions, 2) the exhibition of archaeological and biological remains recovered from melting glaciers, 3) interactives consisting of “geostations and icecams”, and 4) a video highlighting climate change, field survey, and discoveries.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The proposed exhibit is an excellent fit with the goals and themes outlined for the IPY-4 and will include polar observations employing remote “ice cams”, innovative multidisciplinary archeological and biological research, and international participation. It will explicitly incorporate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, including biological, ecological and social science elements. It will promote education and research beyond national and disciplinary boundaries and share with the media, the larger public, resource managers, policy makers, and funders innovative research. By linking the popular topics of archeology, glaciers, and climate change, with innovative educational platforms the exhibit will excite and attract and a new generation of scientists and engineers. It will emphasize that interdisciplinary research and versatility are necessary to solve complex global issues, and provide an opportunity to organize a wide range of education and outreach activities designed to excite and engage the public and media.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The geographic breadth and international character. The exhibit will request loans of artifacts associated with Otzi, the circa 5,000 year old “Iceman” from the Tyrolean Alps and Kwäday Dän Ts’inchi, a similar but younger find from British Columbia, and/or spectacular artifacts recovered from ice fields in Canada’s Yukon Territory and Alaska. Proposed exhibit venues will include United States, Canada and Europe.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The exhibit will incorporate innovative approaches to public education with use of "geospatial stations" and "Ice-Cams". These state-of-the-art self-contained modules will be integrated into the exhibit and accessible to anyone, at any time, through a companion Internet website. The “Ice-Cams” will be remotely operated wireless webcams enabling the public to participate in the scientific research. The Ice-Cams will allow live, interactive, real-time monitoring of distant environments including the search for artifacts, observing wildlife, weather conditions, changing ice and snow conditions, and vegetation changes. Ice-Cam users will be able to take virtual trips to pre-selected sites and to make field observations and design studies by revisiting sites to observe change over time. Field research has identified several ice patches in Alaska suitable for Ice-Cam installation. These locales are frequented by wildlife and are sites at which artifacts and other remains are exposed during the summer melt. Another Ice-Cam site will be Alaska’s Columbia Glacier where glacier movement (circa 25 meters per day) and iceberg calving is dramatic.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 6/06 - 9/06      6/07 - 9/08      6/09-9/09
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
If NSF funds the exhibit, VECO Polar Research (Arctic logistic contractor to NSF) has provisionally agreed to help fund and support the design, installation, and maintenance of the Ice-Cams and their letter of commitment will be requested to accompany INSTAAR’s formal NSF proposal.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The exhibit’s legacy will be: 1) a better educated public about global warming; 2) an enduring public understanding of the climatic processes that impact society; 3) an informed and excited public about the need to locate, collect and preserve these rare organic remains before they are forever lost; 4) challenged and elightened managers, educators, planners, and funders to recognizing the need to develop and support new levels of integrated cooperative science; and 5) the introduction of pioneering 3D visualization techniques to encourage the public in the real time observational research.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This expression of interest is in the process of being considered by the US National Committee for IPY.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

How will the project be organised and managed?
E. James Dixon is Professor of Anthropology, an INSTAAR Research Fellow will serve as exhibit curator. William F. Manley, Research Scientist at INSTAAR, is a glacial geologist specializing in the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to geologic problems and geospatial animation. Tad Pfeffer, INSTAAR Fellow and Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, has pioneered a variety of photogrametric methods including INSTAAR’s Tundra-Cam II. Pfeffer. Personnel from the Smithsonian Institution’s Arctic Studies Center including Drs. William Fitzhugh, Stephen Loring, and Igor Krupnik will contribute their knowledge and expertise to exhibit development. Dr. Michael Headley (Smithsonian’s Exhibits Central) will oversee design, construction, and initial installation. An evaluator or evaluation firm with VSA membership/credentials will participate in proposal preparation and will assume responsibility for the focus groups and front-end, formative, and summative evaluations of the exhibit. Focus groups will be used to address questions (i.e. limits on individual user time, shared user time, time lapse vs. interactive, etc.) about how best to apply Ice-Cams to shared public use.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Preliminary plans envision a circa 1500 – 2000 sq ft traveling exhibit, visiting approximately 7 or 8 venues (several of which may be in Canada and/or Europe) over a two year period (March 2007 - March 2009). Development, design and production would begin in 2005 and be complete by February 2007. The exhibit will be decommissioned and perhaps adapted for continuing use in 2009. Target audiences will be families, adults, and other informal learners, such as non-school youth programs and home schoolers. The exhibit will also be designed to reach and educate resource managers, educators, planners, and funders in an effort to educate them to recognize the need to develop and support new levels of integrated cooperative science, particularly relating to polar regions and climate change.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
This is primarily an educational project will little data collection. However, remote webcam imagery, time lapse sequences, etc. may be housed in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution, University of Colorado at Boulder, or INSTAAR.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
We propose to fund this exhibit primarily from a grant from the Informal Science Education Program of the United States National Science Foundation. A letter of intent (LOI) has been submitted to the NSF’s ISE Program and NSF is anticipating the submission of a preliminary proposal March 18, 2005. Assuming favorable NSF review, the preliminary proposal will be followed with a full proposal due June 13, 2005. Additional support may be requested from other sources.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
This project is in its formative stages and currently undergoing refinement as the process of proposal development continues. Although still preliminary, the proposed exhibit will introduce innovative technologies that have broad application to education, other disciplines, and situations that require remote real time environmental observations. The proposed exhibit is an excellent fit with the goals and timing of IPY-4 because it focuses on polar regions and introduces innovative technologies linked with the popular topics of archeology, glaciers, and climate change. Set in the dramatic arctic and alpine landscapes and grounded in solid research, the exhibit will engage the public through observation and participation in an exciting new and emerging scientific frontier.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Professor E James Dixon
University of Colorado at Boulder
INSTAAR 450 UCB, 1560 30th St,
Boulder, Colorado
80309-0450
USA

Tel: +1 303 735 7802
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Fax: +1 303 735 8180
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