The Cooperative Institute for the Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Education and Outreach Team are creating The Arctic Speaks to Me, a book that is a curated collection of artworks, photography, poetry, free-prompt writing, diary/blog entries, etc. that explore themes around the experience of knowing and learning about the Arctic.

We want to co-create with the polar research community, and those who support the polar science community an anthology of multimedia that will help us create a thoughtful collective narrative of the Arctic. This book is where science meets storytelling and memoir, where we can investigate the relationships of placed-based identity, the multifaceted identities we hold as polar researchers, and how these relationships drive us to do the work we do and what it means for the future.

The questions we are trying answer together are as following, which can also be found on our guidelines page:

• What are transformative moments, experiences, or a story you have had in your life from the Arctic?

• How do you define the Arctic? i.e. what is the Arctic like?

• What does being a polar research scientist mean to you?

• Any stories, or multimedia art that helps us explore themes around light, time, the environment, challenges, people, and wildlife.

• What do you want people to takeaway from the Arctic story through the eyes of a polar researcher? i.e. why should people care?

Please refer to our guidelines page to see what kinds of content we are calling for.

If you are interested in submitting your work, please contact us or go to our submission form.

Definitions:

Placed-based identity is a versatile concept which sheds light on individuals’ subjective perceptions of a geographic space and gives us a deeper insight to a place and the ways we cultivate these relationships through social, cultural, cognitive, and environmental factors.

Multifaceted Identity: the complexities and many identities we hold that make up the singularity of being oneself and how they help us navigate different scpase (like academia, home with family, friends, etc.).