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6 January 2023
#AntarcticLog: Happy New Year!
The South Pole is as mysterious to me as it is to you. I rely on other people’s stories to get a sense of what it’s like. This one’s from Guy Guthridge, and I appreciate it. Even more, I appreciate Guy, who founded the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers program. I’m always looking for ways to get back to the ice — in person or through stories like this.
9 December 2022
#AntarcticLog: Beyond the “Wall”
Yes, I’m shocked each time I see a scientist take time to get interviewed by someone debunking a false claim about climate change, Antarctica, space, you name it. Besides debunking the debunking, my contribution this week is a look back at just a few #AntarcticLog comics that focus on the work of scientists who worked in Antarctic’s interior.
28 November 2022
Excitement! Adventure! Sharing Science at #AGU22
Check out events on science communication, policy, art, multimedia, storytelling, and more at AGU22 (AGU’s Fall Meeting).
18 November 2022
#AntarcticLog: Under the Sheet
Artist Karen Romano Young explores some of the secrets of the Antarctic ice sheet and how science helps reveal them.
4 November 2022
#AntarcticLog: Trick of treat for UNICEF?
On Halloween I was doing a little research on Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan climate change activist, and learned that she has become a spokesperson for Unicef. Halloween… Unicef… climate and hunger? I switched gears quickly to create this trick-or-treat comic with a nod to my own early activist past.
5 August 2022
#AntarcticLog: Greetings from the Puerto Rico Trench
Greetings from the deepest place in the Atlantic Ocean! So far I’m reporting from the surface, but every day human-operated vehicle (HOV) Alvin carries scientists deeper. I mean, if you knew you had access to 99% of the seafloor — where before you had access to 2/3 — wouldn’t you head for the deepest spots?
15 July 2022
#AntarcticLog: Summertime
By Karen Romano Young The question of summer Arctic ice extent is up in the air — not to say it’s unknown. NASA goes to extra effort to assure the detailed accuracy of its measurements, including a new effort beginning this summer. Given the 40-plus-year coverage from space provided by the ICESat satellites, including ICESat-2, placed in orbit in 2018, our understanding of the volume of sea ice is exquisite any time …
8 July 2022
#AntarcticLog: Invisible Volcanoes
Artist Karen Roman Young shows us what we can learn about the below-ice geology of Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica.
3 June 2022
#AntarcticLog: Headed for Hawaii
Serendipity? My tickets to the big island of Hawaii were already bought when I read that the international nonprofit organization Mission Blue had designated its 141st Hope Spot — Hawaii’s second — right where I was headed. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be learning about — and posting about — the changes taking place on Kahalu’u Bay.
29 April 2022
#AntarcticLog: A small piece about a big deal
Artist Karen Romano Young explains through SciArt why tiny krill are a big deal for Antarctic food webs (and penguins, seals, orcas–and scientists).
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to encourage scientists to reach out to non-scientists and to do so with plainspoken discussion.