Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Education Outreach and Curriculum Development Through a Context Based Course  (Sustainability and Stewardship in the Arctic (SSA))

Outline
University of Alaska Fairbanks’ (UAF) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Honors Program, Alaskan Native Science and Engineering Program, Political Science, and Environmental Quality Engineering will create a course, “Environmental Radioactivity, Stewardship and People in the North”. Among its innovations the course will include 1) an interdisciplinary exploration of radioactivity and stewardship in the biogeochemical, geopolitical, and cultural context of the circumpolar north, 2) the impact of nuclear weapons testing and disposal of reactors, 3) an integrated class/lab research project, and 4) engagement of students in communities via community-based research projects. The interplay of these aspects of the course is best illustrated in the scenario highlighting the impact of nuclear weapons development on Arctic communities. The ongoing research and monitoring of radioactivity by UAF faculty and students will be integrated into the classroom/laboratory project. This integration will engage diverse students with community organizations, industry, policy makers and international scholars, especially from Russia. The course will support the University of the Arctic’s B.S. degree program in circumpolar studies (BCS). The results of our assessment also will inform UAF and other institutions of the effectiveness of our curricular changes. Dissemination across Alaska and the nation through publications and presentations will be carried out in an integrated and coordinated way with U Arctic and IPY activities, so that this project’s impact will be very broad. Our target is especially indigenous Alaskan Natives. Guest speakers from the Alaskan Native and circumarctic community will join us in exploring the impact of diversity on science policy and stewardship. Because this course on stewardship is focused on the Arctic and will be delivered internationally, it is suitable for IPY. International speakers will add to the circumpolar perspective of the course.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This proposal explores the connections between uranium and the peoples of the North who lived (and still are living) on the land where the weaqpons were used or the nuclear waste dumped. In a circumpolar sense the critical issues will be Project Chariot, Amchitka, Chernobyl, Selafield, old Soviet reactors in the far east and leakingmilitary hardware. Two key issues are addressed: a) a) how policies (public health, occupational safety, environmental protection & cleanup) are established when national security, corporate interests and the needs of a community come into conflict, and b) how indigenous groups in the Arctic faced, and continue to face challenges with respect to both their land and their culture.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
1. The course and the methodology will be described in the UARCTIC Newsletter and be proposed as a curriculum addition. 2. Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities project is a national curriculum reform project that is addressing the need to increase science literacy by teaching science through the capacious and complex issues that societies face today (3). This past summer, the 2004 SENCER Summer Institute (SSI) had over 300 participants, representing 88 institutions, 28 states, and four continents. The PIs of this grant were among those invited to attend. The details, as well as a quarterly newsletter, can be found on the SENCER web site (www.aacu.org/SENCER/news.cfm).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: TBC            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
1.Conference rooms 2.Access Grid Node (AGN)

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The legacy will be UARCTIC curriculum improvement and increase in UARCTIC courses.

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

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes. It is part of NSF SENCER program.

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

This is part of a UAF education initiative and supports UARCTIC BCS degree.

How will the project be organised and managed?
UAF faculty and international collaborators from across the sciences, engineering and social sciences will work to develop an interdisciplinary course that meets the goals of active learning in context and with civic engagement. The broad experience in the subject area as well as the research and teaching experience of our team is known to UARCTIC. We also have recruited Dr. Catherine H. Middlecamp, Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, who is a Senior Associate with the SENCER project, will also join us in this project. With a Navajo colleague, she developed the 2004 SENCER model course Chemistry and Ethnicity: Uranium and American Indians. She also is a senior author on the ACS project Chemistry in Context, having contributed to the 3rd, 4th, and upcoming 5th editions.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
A presentation will be submitted to the Arctic Division, AAAS website to insure that the scientific community is aware of the existence and availability of the experiments and software. Team members will present oral papers and posters at national and the NW regional meetings of the American Chemical Society, and we will coordinate our efforts with those of the Program Committee of the Division of Chemical Education for the greatest exposure possible (Dr. Middlecamp is the 2005-2007 Chair of this committee). Technical information for the textbook as well as sample exercises will be submitted to the author team of Chemistry in Context for inclusion in the sixth edition. If accepted, this not only will enrich the project, but also better inform students about radioactivity issues in the Arctic. The course and the methodology will be described in the UArctic newsletter for IPY.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding from 1) National Science Foundation and 2) U.S. Department of Energy

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Diverse students will discover state of the art nuclear chemistry and health concepts. This education model is especially appropriate in rural Arctic where links between people and the land are still strong. The monitoring of radioactivity will be integrated in a classroom project and use international data and web sites. In the past, formal schooling in rural Alaska had little relevance to science from a different culture without context. Based on our anticipated success of this course at UAF and UARCTIC, we plan to adapt this model to develop other courses focusing on natural resources. Our approach can be used with other arctic resources (gold, coal, fish) to engage students in learning; students will become teachers as they become engaged in their communities. This course will support the IPY (2007) activity, and increase community engagement, by using students from the rural communities as teachers. This will also increase scientific literacy and the number of science majors across the Arctic, which is the legacy of curriculum development.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr. Lawrence Duffy
UAF
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Box 756160
99775-6160
USA

Tel: 907-474-7525
Mobile: no
Fax: 907-474-5101
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation