History of APECS and the IPY International Youth Steering Committee

Because of increasing concern about climate and the escalating changes in Polar Regions and the cryosphere, it is imperative that young scientists and engineers develop collaborations with international counterparts as well as researchers in other disciplines to address questions facing these regions that play such an important role for the function of this Planet. The International Polar Year (IPY) comes at a time when focus on the Poles is a pressing concern. The IPY aims to create large international and interdisciplinary research addressing the delicate Polar Regions on Earth and to increase the general public’s awareness, understanding, and importance of these ecosystems.

The International Polar Year (IPY) Youth Steering Committee (YSC) was founded in July of 2005 by Amber Church and Tyler Kuhn of Canada to ensure that the goal set out by IPY for the involvement of youth in all aspects of the IPY was met. Membership grew to include Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, RAIPON, Russia, UK and the USA. To increase infiltration at a national level, each country involved with YSC has founded their own national level youth steering committee to plan more country-specific activities. At the international level the YSC has planned a series of activities which include the International Youth Conference on the Poles (IYCP), an educational website, the Students on Ice-IPY Expeditions, the Polar Contests, a project bringing together youth and past polar explorers ultimately resulting in a book and documentary, a project documenting youth opinions on what the legacies and outcomes of IPY should be and Tales of the Wonder Zone (a science fiction compilation based on a international polar year occurring 50 years in the future).The momentum behind the YSC was to increase the education and outreach efforts targeted at school age students by involving young researchers in these activities.

The YSC was growing strong and having a major influence on education and outreach for polar science. However, there was still a void for undergraduates through new faculty in the IPY. APECS was established in 2006 to represent the needs and challenges faced by graduate students, post-docs, junior faculty, and research associates involved in polar research. It was structured by scientific discipline and focused on career development and international networking. APECS was created by Dr. Jenny Baeseman – a microbial ecologist studying life in extreme environments – with the help of Hugues Lantuit – a permafrost researcher – and Dr. Rhian Salmon – an atmospheric chemist and the Education and Outreach coordinator for the IPY. This network represented people with a wide range of expertise and interests including natural and social sciences and engineering in Polar Regions as well as the broader cryosphere.

Following a meeting in Stockholm at the end of September 2007, the International Polar Year International Youth Steering Committee (IYSC) and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) merged under a new structure keeping the name ‘APECS’. Twenty-four representative emerging polar scientists and students from eleven countries are involved in discussions about the future of this organization and others. All participants joined the organization through membership of either the IPY International Youth Steering Committee (IYSC) or the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). This merger brought together the strong education and outreach components of the YSC with the science networking and career development of APECS

The new APECS comes together to shape the future of polar research by sharing and developing interdisciplinary and international research directives, career development initiatives and communication of these advancing sciences with people around the world. It consists of coordinated regional and national activities, disciplinary science groups, and international events. A number of committees and working groups were established to focus on career development, communication, education and outreach.