Project Title

Polar STEAM Artists, Writers, and Educators

Summary

Event Number:
W-491-N
NSF / OPP Award 2221990

Program Director:
Ms. Elizabeth Rom

ASC POC/Implementer:
Allison Barden / Jane Dell

Principal Investigator(s)

Julie Marie Risien
julie.risien@oregonstate.edu
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon

Project Web Site:
https://polarsteam.info/

Location

Supporting Stations: RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer
Research Locations: Southern Ocean

Description

Polar STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project that integrates and enhances two long-standing United States NSF programs: the Polar Educators program and the Antarctic Artists and Writers program and facilitates virtual and deployment collaborations with scientists conducting research in the Polar Regions. Joining the programs creates new opportunities to connect the perspectives and work of creatives, educators, and researchers in some of the most interesting, vulnerable, and critical ecosystems on the planet. Expanding participation in the program to include faculty from community colleges and Minority Serving Institutions and virtual educator participants will allow both programs to reach new audiences and better engage the next generation of researchers and science learners.

Field Season Overview

The selected Antarctic Artist & Writer (AAW) explores creative interventions through work in code, digital media, performance, and social practice. They will build a generative machine learning “speculative live cam” that interprets and visualizes the Antarctic environment in new and unexpected ways. Through the proposed project, the artist aims to develop a co-creative, participatory relationship with an audience, designing an online platform to be freely accessible to a variety of learning communities.

The AAW will join the NBP24-11 cruise on the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer. The artist will collaborate with the Principal Investigator to collect and develop a deep understanding of the environmental data onboard. Data streams may include: Weather, benthic seafloor mapping, underwater sound, and continuous waterwall measurements. Data and imagery will serve as input and training data for a machine learning model that is capable of generating new scenes, soundscapes and data streams, based on scientific parameters, environmental inputs, and artistic considerations.

In addition, three Polar STEAM educators will also be embedded in the Robinson and Arrigo cruises to focus on science communication and education.