During the International Polar Year, running through March 2009, more than 50,000 researchers from 60+ nations will be working in some of the most remote locations on Earth, observing at firsthand developments at the Poles that will shape our planet for decades to come. On Saturday evening, October 13, during the ASTC Annual Conference, some of them will tell their stories in a high-energy presentation illustrated with evocative soundscapes, high-definition video clips, and authentic artifacts, including a thousand-year-old ice core from Antarctica. The evening is introduced by Andy Revkin, award-winning environment reporter at the New York Times since 1995. Revkin is the author of Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, the companion volume to a 1992 American Museum of Natural History exhibition on climate change, and, most recently, The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World.

Our distinguished presenters are part of the NSF- and NASA-supported POLAR-PALOOZA education and outreach tour that is scheduled to launch October 18 at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and Birch Aquarium at Scripps. They include Waleed Abdalati, head of the Cryospheric Sciences Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and former program scientist for NASA’s Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat); Alberto Behar, NASA/JPL engineer on the Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe Project and developer of robots that record the working of “ice streams” in
Antarctica and “moulins” in Greenland; Richard Glenn (appearing on tape, along with stories from coastal and interior Alaskan Elders), geologist, whaling captain, Inupiat community leader, and board member of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Barrow, Alaska; Darlene Lim, Arctic and Antarctic diver and exobiologist at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California; and Stephanie Pfirman, oceanographer and professor at Barnard College and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, member of the Polar Research Board, and co-developer of the Global Warming and Shackleton exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

During a follow-up session on Sunday at noon, some of the presenters from will discuss how to use POLAR-PALOOZA and International Polar Year events to address the widespread and growing public interest in climate change.

Interested in strategies for building repeat visitation? During the week of September 17, David Chesebrough, President & CEO of COSI Columbus, will be hosting a conversation and idea-sharing session in the ASTC Connect New Models Forum. ASTC members are invited to join.

For many years, attendance has been seen as an indicator of the success of museums. Increasingly, museums are looking for alternatives to this focus on the “gate” and exploring ways to deepen their relationships with current visitors. Strategies for building these relationships are the focus of this discussion, which will be continued during an October 14 session at the ASTC Annual Conference, Los Angeles.

To sign up for the New Models Forum, staff of ASTC-member institutions should have an ASTC Connect account and contact connect[at]astc.org for an enrollment key.

Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will give opening remarks at the ASTC preconference IGLO workshop on October 12. Admiral Lautenbacher will discuss timely NOAA climate information and answer questions. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the latest developments in climate research from one of the leading climate science agencies, and to find out about which topics are on the research forefront.

Buses will depart from the front of the Wilshire Grand Hotel at 7:45 a.m. Following registration, introductions, and Admiral Lautenbacher’s opening remarks, the day will begin with presentations by two distinguished researchers: Waleed Abdalati, head of the Cryospheric Sciences Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will answer the question “Is Greenland melting?” and Keith W. Dixon, meteorologist at the Climate Dynamics & Prediction Group of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at Princeton University, New Jersey, will show, through state-of-the-art global climate models, how the ocean component influences the large-scale spatial patterns and time scales associated with climate change.

The morning will conclude with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium of the Pacific, which is committed to “greening the institution” in every aspect of its operations, from energy, water, materials, and recycling to the seafood served in its restaurant. After lunch, breakout groups will address the following topics:

• citizen science explorations of Earth’s changing environment;

• informal science institutions as safe havens for public discourse on science policy issues;

• professional development and societal-decision support workshops related to Earth science data and research;

• IGLO initial evaluation and next steps.

Posters on climate change-related activities and additional ideas for afternoon sessions are welcome.

To participate, contact iglo@astc.org for a registration form. The cost is $65, payable in advance by check or credit card. No cash or traveler’s checks are accepted, and preregistration is mandatory.

Ray Bradbury will join Martin Sklar, former Vice-Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, for a conversation about the science of fiction during the ASTC Annual Conference, October 13-16. Bradbury is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than 500 works, including the classic 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury also served as Idea Consultant for the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, helped design the Spaceship Earth ride at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center, and wrote for film and television, including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and Bradbury’s own cable series.

As president of Walt Disney Imagineering, Marty Sklar was responsible for creation, design, and construction of the company’s parks and resorts, including Epcot. He joined the company in 1955 when he was a student at UCLA.

These two giants of science and fiction will be interviewed by film critic Leonard Maltin. This special late-breaking session is scheduled for Sunday, October 14, 1:30-2:45pm.

Don’t miss it: Register for ASTC 2007.

The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh reopened Sunday after weathering a severe storm on Thursday, August 9. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on August 10 that visitors “watched a dark cloud race up the Ohio River, bearing down until it sideswiped the building, tore siding from one corner and shattered windows, scattering both glass and patrons, who fled terrified to a ground floor.”

More than a thousand visitors were in the center at the time the storm hit, according to director Joanna Haas. The science center provided cover in stairwells, the lobby, and theater (along with a talk about thunderstorms and other science activities). A full day of weather-related programs was planned for Sunday.