Polaris: Catalyzing Demographic Change in the Arctic Research Community through an Immersive and Sustained Undergraduate Research Experience

该项目将北极的科学研究与教育和推广相结合，重点是吸引迄今为止很少参与北极科学的本科生和访问教师。如果科学劳动力更紧密地反映其居民的种族、民族和文化多样性，美国的科学和社会将在长期内更加强大。北极研究界目前还没有。在过去五年中，由美国国家科学基金会北极项目资助的主要研究人员中，只有1%是非洲裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人、美洲原住民或阿拉斯加原住民。该项目通过让来自少数民族服务机构（MSIs）的教师和不同群体的本科生参与尖端的北极研究，并为他们提供鼓励、指导和机会，在随后的几年里继续从事北极研究，从而促进了这些人口统计数据的变化。该项目的核心内容是对阿拉斯加育空河三角洲进行为期一个月的研究考察。这次探险在真实的研究经历的背景下提供了深刻的知识和文化沉浸，这对于“吸引”学生并让他们沿着管道前进，成为北极科学家至关重要。推动这项研究的首要科学问题是储存在北极永久冻土（永久冻土）中的古代碳的脆弱性和命运。预计本世纪将发生大范围的永久冻土解冻，但在估计解冻时将释放的碳的时间、数量和形式方面仍存在很大的不确定性。项目参与者在合作研究小组中工作，对育空河三角洲永久冻土碳的脆弱性以及该地区永久冻土融化对全球气候系统的潜在影响进行基础科学发现。

This project is integrating scientific research in the Arctic with education and outreach, with a strong central focus on engaging undergraduate students and visiting faculty from groups that have had little involvement in Arctic science to date. Science and society in the United States will be stronger in the long-term if the scientific workforce more closely reflects the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of its residents. The Arctic research community currently does not. Of the Principal Investigators funded by NSF's Arctic programs in the past five years, only 1% were African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Native. This project is catalyzing change in these demographics by engaging faculty from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and a diverse group of undergraduate students in cutting-edge Arctic research and providing them encouragement, mentoring, and opportunities to continue pursuing Arctic studies in subsequent years.The central element of the project is a month-long research expedition to the Yukon River Delta in Alaska. The expedition provides a deep intellectual and cultural immersion in the context of an authentic research experience that is paramount for "hooking" students and keeping them moving along the pipeline to careers as Arctic scientists. The overarching scientific issue that drives the research is the vulnerability and fate of ancient carbon stored in Arctic permafrost (permanently frozen ground). Widespread permafrost thaw is expected to occur this century, but large uncertainties remain in estimating the timing, magnitude, and form of carbon that will be released when thawed. Project participants are working in collaborative research groups to make fundamental scientific discoveries related to the vulnerability of permafrost carbon in the Yukon River Delta and the potential implications of permafrost thaw in this region for the global climate system.