Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Encyclopedia
The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is a worldwide association of early career scientist
s (undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty) interested in the polar regions and the cryosphere
generally. Its mission is to raise the profile of polar scientists by providing a continuum of leadership that is both internationally and interdisciplinarily focused, and to stimulate collaborative projects.
The APECS website serves as the main contact point for APECS members and provides forums sharing news, connecting with other polar researchers, finding jobs, and announcing events relevant to polar research.
APECS is an endorsed International Polar Year
(IPY) project and is considered one of the major legacies of IPY.
, in September 2007. This meeting saw founders and members representatives of two key initiatives combine together under the name of APECS: the International Polar Year Youth Steering Committee (YSC) formed in 2005 and including several national YSC's, and a formative APECS, formed in 2006.
The International Polar Year
(IPY) Youth Steering Committee (YSC), was founded in 2005 by Amber Church and Tyler Kuhn (co-chairs, Canada), Melianie Raymond (New Zealand), Jenny Baeseman (USA), Hugues Lantuit (Germany), Elie Verleyen (Belgium) and Stef Bokhorst (The Netherlands). Its aims were to ensure that IPY's goals to include the next generation of polar researchers and the world's youth were met. The YSC was designed as a decentralized institution relying on national committees, which rapidly came to life in several countries, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, among others. Those committees rapidly gained independence and developed their own networks as exemplified by the creation of the UK Polar Network in 2007.
A contributing factor to the success of the YSC's during the IPY was strong support from the IPY International Program Office (IPO), based in Cambridge, UK, who ensured that the goals of the YSC would be heard in the community of senior researchers. The roles of Dave Carlson and Rhian Salmon, in particular, were crucial. The YSC focus was the creation, fostering and promotion of activities geared towards youth by young researchers. It largely focused on the involvement of school children and young adults in polar literacy projects and strengthening the communication between students and young researchers. Progressively, a need for a broader, more encompassing organization specifically geared towards young researchers and early career scientists arose.
Discussions on IPY education and outreach forums, similar initiatives in other scientific realms and the encounter of like-minded people created an awareness of the need for an organization driven by and serving early career researchers, focused on science and career development, unlike the YSC.
In the Autumn of 2006 to address these needs, Jenny Baeseman (USA), Hugues Lantuit (Germany) and Rhian Salmon (UK) laid the grounds for the rationale, structure, connections and future activities of APECS. The acronym was coined at the time and a nascent APECS was launched massively in early 2007, at the start of the IPY with Jenny Baseman and Hugues Lantuit as co-directors. In March 2007, discussions were initiated by the directors with the International Arctic Science Committee
(IASC) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
(SCAR) to offer APECS' services as representative of early career researchers in polar science. This early version of APECS then started evolving to serve better the needs of early career researchers interested in the polar regions and the wider cryosphere.
The YSC's activities developed concurrently with many (if not most) of the early career researchers involved in both organizations. Its scope, however, was limited in time, since it mainly focused on creating activities during the IPY. The need to ensure the continuation of successful initiatives and activities after the IPY led to brainstorming on post-IPY legacy. At the same time, the increase in young researcher initiatives in polar science started to create some confusion in the scientific community, questioning the structure, coordination and even the relevance of such organizations.
To address these issues, a meeting was organized at Sanga Saby outside Stockholm
, Sweden
in September 2007 to bring together all these groups and prepare some long-term sustainable plans. The meeting was sponsored by the Swedish company Serla, the IPY IPO, and other international polar science entities The key outcomes of this meeting were the decisions to merge these groups, including the YSC, into one organization, retaining the name of APECS, and that APECS should adapt its structure to reflect better the multifaceted nature of its membership. This established APECS as a legacy of the YSC and other IPY projects. A new structure was launched at the end of the meeting including working groups, an advisory committee, an interim Council of the 24 attending participants (see below), an interim Executive Committee elected by the council (Kriss Rokkan Iversen (Norway), Narelle Baker (UK), Hugues Lantuit (Germany), Dan Pringle (USA), and José Xavier (Portugal), and Jen Baeseman (USA) was appointed as an interim director. Kriss Rokkan Iversen received unanimous support of all voters and appointed by the Executive Committee as the interim President of APECS.
The Executive Committee and Director were charged with establishing APECS as an organization over the next 6–12 months. A report of activities in this period was made at the online APECS Council Meeting, 21 May 2008. Key progress included forming an international Advisory Committee of senior researchers and science administrators to provide guidance and support. A website was developed by in kind support from Iceland-based Arctic Portal through the generous support of director Halldór Jóhannsson. The website was established as a virtual home of APECS and amongst other features, includes study and job opportunities, meetings, news updates, and a discussion forum.
The executive committee met in March 2008 in Akureyri, Iceland to address strategic planning for APECS and draft the documents that will help sustain this organization for year to come; The Terms of Reference and the Rules of Procedure. This meeting was coordinated by Halldór Jóhannsson and supported by the University of Akureyri, Northern Research Forum and the Arctic Portal.
The ROP and TOR included a revision from the interim APECS structure to an open Council who elect an Executive Committee. The Council controls issues related to APECS governance and structure, and is expected to act on time scales of months – years. The Executive Committee is mandated by the Council with shorter time-scale decision making and running APECS on a day to day basis. (See the founding ROP and TOR for details.)
The organization now has an International Directorate Office hosted at the University of Tromsø, Norway.
, geology
, anthropology
, sociology
, atmospheric science, oceanography
, polar biology
, culture and heritage
studies, linguistics
, space
studies, biogeochemistry
, and paleontology
.
Membership in APECS is free and open to all early career scientists interested in natural
and social sciences of the polar regions, from undergraduates through assistant professors or equivalent for non-academic positions. Participation by engineers and those interested in the cryosphere in general is also being sought. APECS encourages senior researchers to register on the APECS website and serve as mentor
s for the organization as well as post job openings and events at their institutions.
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s (undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty) interested in the polar regions and the cryosphere
Cryosphere
The cryosphere is the term which collectively describes the portions of the Earth’s surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, and frozen ground . Thus there is a wide overlap with the hydrosphere...
generally. Its mission is to raise the profile of polar scientists by providing a continuum of leadership that is both internationally and interdisciplinarily focused, and to stimulate collaborative projects.
The APECS website serves as the main contact point for APECS members and provides forums sharing news, connecting with other polar researchers, finding jobs, and announcing events relevant to polar research.
APECS is an endorsed International Polar Year
International Polar Year
The International Polar Year is a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor, but died before it first occurred in 1882-1883. Fifty years later a second IPY occurred...
(IPY) project and is considered one of the major legacies of IPY.
History and motivation
A crucial event in the formation of APECS was a meeting in Sanga Saby, SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, in September 2007. This meeting saw founders and members representatives of two key initiatives combine together under the name of APECS: the International Polar Year Youth Steering Committee (YSC) formed in 2005 and including several national YSC's, and a formative APECS, formed in 2006.
The International Polar Year
International Polar Year
The International Polar Year is a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor, but died before it first occurred in 1882-1883. Fifty years later a second IPY occurred...
(IPY) Youth Steering Committee (YSC), was founded in 2005 by Amber Church and Tyler Kuhn (co-chairs, Canada), Melianie Raymond (New Zealand), Jenny Baeseman (USA), Hugues Lantuit (Germany), Elie Verleyen (Belgium) and Stef Bokhorst (The Netherlands). Its aims were to ensure that IPY's goals to include the next generation of polar researchers and the world's youth were met. The YSC was designed as a decentralized institution relying on national committees, which rapidly came to life in several countries, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, among others. Those committees rapidly gained independence and developed their own networks as exemplified by the creation of the UK Polar Network in 2007.
A contributing factor to the success of the YSC's during the IPY was strong support from the IPY International Program Office (IPO), based in Cambridge, UK, who ensured that the goals of the YSC would be heard in the community of senior researchers. The roles of Dave Carlson and Rhian Salmon, in particular, were crucial. The YSC focus was the creation, fostering and promotion of activities geared towards youth by young researchers. It largely focused on the involvement of school children and young adults in polar literacy projects and strengthening the communication between students and young researchers. Progressively, a need for a broader, more encompassing organization specifically geared towards young researchers and early career scientists arose.
Discussions on IPY education and outreach forums, similar initiatives in other scientific realms and the encounter of like-minded people created an awareness of the need for an organization driven by and serving early career researchers, focused on science and career development, unlike the YSC.
In the Autumn of 2006 to address these needs, Jenny Baeseman (USA), Hugues Lantuit (Germany) and Rhian Salmon (UK) laid the grounds for the rationale, structure, connections and future activities of APECS. The acronym was coined at the time and a nascent APECS was launched massively in early 2007, at the start of the IPY with Jenny Baseman and Hugues Lantuit as co-directors. In March 2007, discussions were initiated by the directors with the International Arctic Science Committee
International Arctic Science Committee
The International Arctic Science Committee is a non-governmental organization which is composed of international science groups participating in arctic science research. IASC is an International Scientific Associate of ICSU, and was established in 1990...
(IASC) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
(SCAR) to offer APECS' services as representative of early career researchers in polar science. This early version of APECS then started evolving to serve better the needs of early career researchers interested in the polar regions and the wider cryosphere.
The YSC's activities developed concurrently with many (if not most) of the early career researchers involved in both organizations. Its scope, however, was limited in time, since it mainly focused on creating activities during the IPY. The need to ensure the continuation of successful initiatives and activities after the IPY led to brainstorming on post-IPY legacy. At the same time, the increase in young researcher initiatives in polar science started to create some confusion in the scientific community, questioning the structure, coordination and even the relevance of such organizations.
To address these issues, a meeting was organized at Sanga Saby outside Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in September 2007 to bring together all these groups and prepare some long-term sustainable plans. The meeting was sponsored by the Swedish company Serla, the IPY IPO, and other international polar science entities The key outcomes of this meeting were the decisions to merge these groups, including the YSC, into one organization, retaining the name of APECS, and that APECS should adapt its structure to reflect better the multifaceted nature of its membership. This established APECS as a legacy of the YSC and other IPY projects. A new structure was launched at the end of the meeting including working groups, an advisory committee, an interim Council of the 24 attending participants (see below), an interim Executive Committee elected by the council (Kriss Rokkan Iversen (Norway), Narelle Baker (UK), Hugues Lantuit (Germany), Dan Pringle (USA), and José Xavier (Portugal), and Jen Baeseman (USA) was appointed as an interim director. Kriss Rokkan Iversen received unanimous support of all voters and appointed by the Executive Committee as the interim President of APECS.
The Executive Committee and Director were charged with establishing APECS as an organization over the next 6–12 months. A report of activities in this period was made at the online APECS Council Meeting, 21 May 2008. Key progress included forming an international Advisory Committee of senior researchers and science administrators to provide guidance and support. A website was developed by in kind support from Iceland-based Arctic Portal through the generous support of director Halldór Jóhannsson. The website was established as a virtual home of APECS and amongst other features, includes study and job opportunities, meetings, news updates, and a discussion forum.
The executive committee met in March 2008 in Akureyri, Iceland to address strategic planning for APECS and draft the documents that will help sustain this organization for year to come; The Terms of Reference and the Rules of Procedure. This meeting was coordinated by Halldór Jóhannsson and supported by the University of Akureyri, Northern Research Forum and the Arctic Portal.
The ROP and TOR included a revision from the interim APECS structure to an open Council who elect an Executive Committee. The Council controls issues related to APECS governance and structure, and is expected to act on time scales of months – years. The Executive Committee is mandated by the Council with shorter time-scale decision making and running APECS on a day to day basis. (See the founding ROP and TOR for details.)
The organization now has an International Directorate Office hosted at the University of Tromsø, Norway.
Membership
The association represents people with a wide range of scientific expertise and interests including glaciologyGlaciology
Glaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, atmospheric science, oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
, polar biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, culture and heritage
Natural heritage
Natural heritage is the legacy of natural objects and intangible attributes encompassing the countryside and natural environment, including flora and fauna, scientifically known as biodiversity, and geology and landforms ....
studies, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
studies, biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment...
, and paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
.
Membership in APECS is free and open to all early career scientists interested in natural
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
and social sciences of the polar regions, from undergraduates through assistant professors or equivalent for non-academic positions. Participation by engineers and those interested in the cryosphere in general is also being sought. APECS encourages senior researchers to register on the APECS website and serve as mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
s for the organization as well as post job openings and events at their institutions.