Maury Workshop in the History of Polar Oceanography

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

The Maury Workshop in the History of Polar Oceanography brings together a diverse group of historians from five countries who are scholars of ocean sciences in the Arctic and Antarctic. The workshop will examine the history of polar oceanography and place it in a global context. The workshop sets the stage for discussions about the close relationship between ocean sciences and issues surrounding environmental change in the polar regions, a major feature of scientific research funded by the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) and relating to the initiative SEARCH, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change. The workshop will be held in the arctic coastal town of Barrow, Alaska, a community with a majority of Inupiat Eskimos, whose culture is closely tied to the ocean and its resources. The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) will provide support for the workshop and arrange outreach activities through its cooperative agreement with OPP. Through the partnership with BASC, regional communities and schools will be involved in the workshop. Paper topics include Barents Sea oceanography, Soviet oceanography, Chinese oceanography, post WWII geophysics, atmospheric science at the poles and arctic sea ice modeling. The workshop will produce an edited volume on the history of polar oceanography covering the workshop topics: Legacy of Exploration, A Science of Place, Geopolitics and Polar Oceanography, and Nationalism, Internationalisms and Cooperation.