Calling all Antarctic enthusiasts: Watch a free, educational webcast of ongoing Weddell seal research by UAA Prof. Jennifer Burns, Feb. 13

Monday, Feb. 13, 10 a.m. Alaska time
At your computer

UAA professor and ENRI researcher Jennifer Burns' Antarctic Weddell seal research project will be the subject of a live PolarConnect event Monday, Feb. 13, at 10 a.m. Alaska time. All you need to view this webinar is a computer with an Internet connection. Register in advance to participate.

Burns is conducting field research in Antarctica during austral summer 2012-2013, along with collaborators Dr. Daniel Costa (University of California Santa Cruz) and Dr. Eileen Hoffman (Old Dominion University), and UA students Linnea Pearson (UAF, Ph.D. in Marine Biology) and Michelle Shero (UAA, M.S. in Biological Sciences). Burns' research project is part of the 2012-2013 NSF-funded PolarTREC Program. PolarTREC allows selected K-12 teachers the opportunity to join research teams in the Arctic and Antarctic in order to actively experience and participate in scientific research. To learn more about PolarTREC, visit their website.

Burns' research group is hosting teacher Alex Eilers from Tennessee. Eilers is a science teacher at the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis. She is spending six weeks this winter in Antarctica with the group, studying Weddell seals' diving behavior and habitat use and gathering oceanographic data collected by the conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags placed on the seals. Eilers is sharing the knowledge she gains through these experiences at http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/weddell-seals-in-the-ross-sea.

During Monday's live PolarConnect event, Burns, Eilers and other members of the Weddell seal team will present information on their work. Preregistration is required. To register, go to:  http://www.polartrec.com/polar-connect/register, and select the event "Alex Eilers from Antarctica on 13 February 2012" link from the drop-down menu. Anyone with an e-mail address may register for this free educational event!

All activities/animals depicted were conducted pursuant to NMFS Permit No 87-1851.