Download Northwest Passage Project Student Application Introduction Project

Northwest Passage Project Student Application
Introduction
The Northwest Passage Project (NPP) will explore the changing Arctic environment during an
innovative expedition that will engage diverse audiences through real time interactions from
sea, an ultra-high definition, 2-hour documentary, and related community events.
Undergraduate students from partner institutions will have the opportunity to participate in
this project, including a research cruise through the Arctic.
The NPP is a collaborative effort between the University of Rhode Island (URI) Inner Space
Center (ISC) and Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), the film company, David Clark,
Inc., the tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, three museums, and other partners including the
following six universities and colleges:
California State University, Channel Islands
Florida International University
University of Illinois, Chicago
City College of New York
Texas State University, San Marcos
Virginia Commonwealth University
The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will set sail into the Northwest Passage in August 2017. The
Northwest Passage is a sea route between the northern Atlantic Ocean and the northern
Pacific Ocean through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Map showing the Canadian Arctic and location of NPP cruise track.
Project Background
Finding a northwest passage, a northern water route shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific,
has long been the obsessive a quest of explorers and navies. For over 400 years, more than
one hundred ships carrying thousands of mariners sailed into the Arctic to probe its waters
and and trek its shores. Many crews endured long winters of sub-zero temperatures with their
ships frozen in the ice, succumbing to exposure, scurvy, starvation, and often death.
The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will sail to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in a modern
expedition to the Northwest Passage. The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is the first ocean-going,
full-rigged tall ship built in the U.S. in over 100 years and the largest civilian Sailing School
Vessel in the U.S. Venturing into the Northwest Passage aboard a sailing ship will enable the
expedition’s participants to observe and study this vital ecosystem first-hand.
Nowhere are the consequences of global warming more pronounced and observable than the
polar regions. Now, a warming climate and subsequent ice melting has opened up the
Northwest Passage during the summer months, and it is profoundly changing the Arctic.
Some researchers predict the Passage will become ice-free, year-round, within decades. There
is unprecedented global interest in this once impenetrable region and its pristine environment.
The Arctic is now facing an uncertain future with the imminent prospects of commercial
shipping, fishing, tourism, and oil and mineral extraction. With these activities, comes the risk
of maritime accidents, pollution, displaced wildlife, and international conflict.
The changing Arctic environment is a critical scientific and societal topic. It is important that
the results of scientific research be effectively communicated to decision makers, the public,
educators, and students. Broader impacts of this research include informing policy, educating
the citizenry to make informed decisions, and inspiring students to become the next
generation of scientists.
Sailing the first full-rigged sailing ship into the Northwest Passage of the Canadian Arctic in
over a century will provide a visually stunning and historically poignant platform from which
diverse audiences will experience a dramatically changing Arctic. The documentary film of this
experience, along with live broadcasts from sea, web postings, social media, and
environmental reporting, will engage and inform a large and diverse audience in compelling
ways.
Project Description
Two cohorts, each consisting of 18 students (six high school students, nine undergraduate
students, and three graduate students), will sail on board the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry for 2-2.5
week legs. These students will receive science content instruction as the ship is underway, gain
navigation and sailing skills, engage in hands-on projects while aboard and during site visits on
land, and contribute to live broadcasts from the Arctic.
The project activities include:
H(411D<105@5;:;:@41''*Oliver Hazard Perry
HDocumentary film production
H&1?1->/4;:the Arctic environment and wildlife
HBroadcasts from sea via the ISC to NPP partners
H'<1/5-8?/>11:5:3?;2@410;/A91:@->E (including at the university partners)
Information for Applicants
Expectations for student participants:
H%->@5/5<ate in preparation webinars and classes in Spring 2017
-Details will vary by individual schools
H%->@5/5<-@15:a training institute at URI/GSO, June 14-18, 2017
H%->@5/5<-@1;:;:1813;2@41#%%1D<105@5;:-.;->0@41''*Oliver Hazard Perry
-July 27 to August 12, 2017; or August 12 to August 30, 2017
HParticipate in a research project
H%->@5/5<-@15:<;?@-expedition webinars
H%->@5/5<-@15:<>;61/@1B-8A-@5;:?
H%>1?1:@>1?1->/4>1?A8@?-@the student’s institution and/or a Professional Society Meeting
H$>3-:5F1-/@5B5@51?-??;/5-@10C5@4-?/>11:5:3;2@410;/A91:@->Eat home institution
Requirements:
HApplicants must be currently a freshman, sophomore, or junior.
HApplicants must be enrolled at home institution through Spring 2018.
HApplicants must be physically fit to participate in the NPP Expedition. Students will work on
deck of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry in an environment that is both physically and emotionally
demanding in a wide variety of weather and temperature conditions.
HApplicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
H'@A01:@ participants will need to obtain a passport. Students who currently have a passport
will need to verify that it is valid through September 2017.
Benefits:
The opportunity to take part in an innovative, one of a kind, expedition into the changing
Arctic.
Travel costs for students to and from the expedition site and to and from the June 2017
training institute at URI/GSO are covered by NPP.
HStudents will receive a stipend of $1,500. Some of this stipend may need to be used to cover
student expenses for a passport and/or appropriate clothing (foul weather gear, cold
weather clothing) for the expedition.
To apply:
The application process at each partner institution will vary slightly. Please contact the faculty
coordinator at your institution for details.
Faculty Coordinators
California State University, Channel Islands
City College of New York
Florida International University
Dr. Amy Denton
Dr. Maria Tzortziou
Dr. Kevin Boswell
Texas State University
University of Illinois, Chicago
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Ivan Castro-Arellano
Dr. Miquel Gonzales-Meler
Dr. Linda Fernandez
Three students from each partner university/college will be chosen to participate in a NPP
cruise leg, along with an alternate. Please note, the alternate will participate in all of the spring
classes/webinars, as well as the June training at the University of Rhode Island. The alternate
may also be able to experience the expedition through activities with the Inner Space Center.
Use this link to apply to the Northwest Passage Project
If there are additional questions, please contact the faculty coordinator at your institution or
the NPP staff at [email protected].
Research Project Topic Descriptions
Ecosystem surveys of Arctic habitats in transition
Very little is known about how organisms in the Arctic will adapt to its changing
environment. Will warmer conditions and earlier spring phytoplankton blooms cause fish and
zooplankton to miss their harvest? How does this shift in the blooms cascade up the food
chain? In Arctic regions that are rarely surveyed, students will make first hand observations of
aquatic habitats and record seabird and marine mammal sightings, in addition to investigating
the abundance of plankton - the all-important base of the food chain.
Chemistry of the melting Arctic and marginal seas
Are environmental changes in the Arctic going to accelerate climatic warming? Warmer
conditions in the Arctic are leading to longer ice-free summers, more melting of ice on land,
and warming ocean temperatures. Students will explore how greenhouse gases like methane
and carbon dioxide in the ocean and under ice are being released to the
atmosphere. Chemistry sampling and discussions will also consider the mysterious role of
microbes in controlling methane concentrations in the Arctic.
The physics of Arctic ocean circulation
The Arctic Ocean has a very significant impact on weather over the continental United States
and Europe, as well as on the Earth’s climate system as a whole. Students will measure water
temperature and salinity to observe how ocean currents, ice melt, and atmospheric warming
are changing the conditions on land and in the ocean. Students will also assist with deploying
oceanographic instruments capable of collecting critical data that will increase the
understanding of the changing Arctic's conditions.