Witness the Arctic | Spring 1997

A Note from the President

At our recent Science Education Workshop, Oscar Kawagley told about his new laptop computer. "The thing was out of date as soon as I opened the cover." He was also talking about educating children in a world of rapidly changing science and technology.

Education is about our hopes for the future. Science education presents tremendous challenges, however. Science, by the very nature of its enterprise, constantly seeks changes in its own conceptions of the world. Science education is not just imparting a body of knowledge but also the tools to expand and question the information and the way of learning itself.

For many reasons, the U.S. arctic research community wants to become more involved in science education at all levels. While the polar regions may be perceived as remote and unrelated to the lives of most Americans, we are growing to understand their importance to the whole Earth system. We can plant the seed for this understanding in others very early in their lives.

One effective way to reach children is to reach their teachers. Peter Amati, a teacher from Massachusetts, lobbied to accompany his student to Antarctica by pointing out to NSF that the student would return for one more year of high school, but he would teach for another 15 years. His influence would endure.

We cannot teach the body of knowledge that will be available in 20 years, but we can teach people how to question and comprehend. When teachers know how to do research, they can teach the children. Researchers, in turn, can learn much from teachers about the art of imparting knowledge.

NSF is developing a program for the Arctic that will involve teachers and students in research. Such a program will reach a few teachers, researchers, students and parents. We need other ways in which to involve teachers and students in the evolution of arctic science.

As a research community, we have another motive. We want to continue attracting the best and brightest into arctic research. The recent ARCUS Awards for Research Excellence (see page 14) are just the beginning of what we can do to recognize and encourage young researchers.

Education is an investment that can yield exceptional returns, but those returns may come 15-20 years in the future. What investment should we make now to ensure that people in 2017 can build on the research we do today? In our rapidly changing world, a generation is a relatively long time-scale. Still, such foresight is key to sustainability.

Nicholas E. Flanders
President, ARCUS

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