The Smithsonian Institution is convening a polar science symposium called 'Smithsonian at the Poles: Contributions to International Polar Year Science' May 3-4, 2007, as one of the inaugural U.S. contributions to celebrate the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. This two-day symposium will present findings by polar scientists from Arctic and Antarctic research, with particular attention to changes in polar systems past, present and future, and their global impact. The symposium will carry on a tradition of polar science that began at the Smithsonian nearly 150 years ago and resulted in some of the world's foremost collections and archives of Arctic and Antarctic materials. The expected audience includes researchers, university-based scientists and students, program managers and representatives from federal agencies, congressional staff, news media and the general public. More than 35 scholars will discuss their papers on the following six themes: polar astronomy; systematics and biology of polar organisms; environmental change and polar marine ecosystems; IPY histories and legacies; methods and techniques of under-ice research; and, cultural studies. Sessions will feature disciplinary presentations from both the Arctic and Antarctica. Speakers will include research leaders from National Science Foundation-supported polar projects and Smithsonian research staff. A special aim of the symposium is to network government-funded research projects during the International Polar Year. This symposium is planned to start early on within the March 2007-2009 International Polar Year. The symposium venues (Castle and NMNH) in Washington, DC, will promote attention among a broad community of IPY scholars and the public. The panel discussions provide a forum and opportunity for interaction among scientists, policy makers and the public and how they can engage in the IPY campaign. Symposium proceedings will be published by Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, and is planned to be in print by March 2008, midway through this IPY. This symposium will highlight programs, collections and data supported by NSF (e.g., Antarctic meteorites, USAP invertebrate collections, polar marine mammals, Antarctic photobiology, anthropology, astrophysics, and scientific diving.)
