School students in the Arctic address major questions in polar research

Unlike me, the young students who participated in last week’s Arctic Frontiers Science for Schools program were given a first-hand glimpse into what it means to conduct professional research.

The Science for Schools program is a collaboration between Arctic Frontiers and the Northern Norwegian Science Center that exposes kids to scientific research at an early age. This program allows students to engage their curiosity, design their own project, and investigate answers to some of the Arctic’s biggest problems.

In the Fall, over 580 students from all over Tromsø attend “Inspiration Days” to hear from scientists about research conducted in Northern Norway and participate in some hands-on activities. In school they then form groups and choose a topic. Over the next few months, they learn how to identify reliable sources, formulate a research question, and discuss their findings. The end goal: creating their own scientific poster.

This year, the competition took place over two days. Each day an award was presented to the best poster, the best presentation, and the most creative research. At the end of the second day, three overall winners were selected to present their poster at the Arctic Frontiers conference, alongside professional researchers. 

Both days started with two talks from local researchers. Following the talks, each student group was given around

seven minutes to present their poster and answer some questions from the jury, which consisted of myself and Delphin Ruché of Rissa Citizen Science.

Over the course of the competition, we listened to 26 presentations, and I was thoroughly impressed by all of them. One thing that struck me was the scope of the projects. Some groups chose to focus on issues in town such as microplastics in snow piles, while others took a more global perspective, discussing the environmental impact of Arctic shipping routes. 

These kids have a distinct perspective growing up in the vulnerable and ever-changing Arctic, which was evident in many of their projects. I enjoyed how many of the students based their projects on their lived experiences, for example exploring why they catch less fish at their family cabin than they used to. In their short lifetimes, these students have already witnessed vast shifts in the environments around them, and many feel driven to take action.

A highlight of the competition was the group that created a parody to Britney Spears’s “Toxic” to present their research on mercury escaping from the permafrost. They definitely got my vote for most creative! Should we propose more singing at future conferences? EGU, I’m looking at you…

My favorite part of being on the jury was being able to ask the kids questions and engage in some interesting discussions. I’m sure the situation was really nerve-wracking for them, especially because they had to present everything in English. Many students were not only prepared, but excited to have a conversation with us about the information they found and the opinions they formed along the way.

When talking about solutions to the Arctic’s environmental issues there’s hardly ever a “right” answer, but these kids worked hard to defend their own solutions. I know that there were absolutely some future scientists in that room.

Special thanks to Young Program Coordinator Lucina Rudloff, Arctic Frontiers, and The Northern Norwegian Science Center for allowing me to play a brief role in this awesome program!