Polar Literacy: Conducting Professional Development for Early Career Polar Researchers during a Pandemic

Abstract:

The Polar Literacy project is an NSF funded initiative focused on creating replicable ways of bringing polar education to informal learning environments. The objective is to extend our understanding of how polar science education can be delivered to youth, while designing a professional development model to improve the capacity for polar region researchers to craft meaningful broader impacts using seven Polar Literacy Principles. Polar scientists participate in professional development focused on effective science communication skills and work collaboratively with informal educators to design effective Out of School Time (OST) club programs to underserved and underrepresented youth across four regional nodes (OH, NJ, PA, and CO). The focal point of the project is developing learning environments where youth grapple with real-world polar data, engage in conversation with polar scientists, and reflect on connections between the polar regions and local natural systems. Ultimately, the Polar Literacy project will deliver a transferrable model for effective informal STEM learning that builds public engagement with polar science. In this session, we describe how we pivoted during the pandemic to develop and successfully implement a professional development program for early career scientists focused on utilizing effective practices for science communication. We will share our preliminary results and lessons learned for participating in effective youth-adult partnerships.