3500 Feet Beneath the Ice: The Transmedia E&O Behind SALSA's Exploration to a Subglacial Lake in Antarctica In December 2018, the SALSA team burrowed 3500 feet through the ice to reach Lake Mercer. We discuss the E&O behind this research: a film for PBS, short science films, a social media campaign, a museum installation and PBS Learning Media modules.
Abstract
Antarctica's subglacial environment has been so scarcely explored that we know more about the surface of Mars. In 2007 NASA satellite imagery revealed over 300 lakes in Antarctica hidden beneath thousands of feet of ice. Though it remains one of the most remote places on our planet, Antarctica affects our globe through its influence on climate and ocean systems. As a reservoir for massive amounts of ice that will cause sea level to rise, what happens in Antarctica has potential to greatly influence our existence in the years to come. Understanding the historical dynamics of the ice sheet is therefore of critical importance for how we anticipate the effects of climate change on our planet. Driven to find these answers, in December 2018, a group of 20 scientists and 30 support staff flew in a ski-plane to a location 300 miles from the South Pole, where they spent 21 days camping on the ice. Using a 2-ton hot water drill, they burrowed almost a mile through the ice to reach Lake Mercer, for the first time ever.
SALSA (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access), funded by NSF, includes eight academic institutions across the US. Kathy Kasic, Assistant Professor in Film and SALSA Co-PI, documented the expedition along with graduate student, Billy Collins. The stories behind this research include a documentary film for PBS, short science films, a social media campaign, a museum installation and PBS Learning Media modules for high school students. The project was an enormous undertaking in one of the most remote locations on Earth - all to uncover clues about climate change and the possibility of life in an inhospitable environment in Antarctica and beyond on icy moons and planets in the universe. During this presentation, Kasic and Collins will discuss the transmedia approach that tells the story of the SALSA research.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMED21D1060K
- Keywords:
-
- 0799 General or miscellaneous;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0805 Elementary and secondary education;
- EDUCATION;
- 0815 Informal education;
- EDUCATION;
- 0850 Geoscience education research;
- EDUCATION