The team has been working hard to create inspiring outreach materials for FjordPhyto that highlight the importance and beauty of science, tourism, and phytoplankton. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS that on June 8th, Monday there will be TWO short presentations (12 minutes each) by Masters students in the same masters program FjordPhyto was created through. 

They'll present their work at the following times (Pacific Standard Time):

• 9:30 am Gabriela Lamanna (from El Salvador) has created a documentary film about phytoplankton citizen science in Antarctica with interviews from Dr. Maria Vernet, myself, and a polar guide Caitlyn Webster using footage I've gathered over the past 3 years. Drifters of the Sea: Antarctic Citizen Science

• 10:00am Celeste Kroeger-Campodonico (from Chile) is creating a non-scientific phytoplankton Identification guide about Antarctic Phytoplankton beautifully illustrated by Ingrid and Celeste, including microscope images taken by graduate student Martina Mascioni.  Science goes on Vacation: A Book for Travelers Discovering the Antarctic Microscopic Forest

Hope you are able to tune in (time in PST). 

Livestream Link: https://bit.ly/2XHAXpw 

Full Schedule: https://bit.ly/2M837EM  

Feel free to share with others who might be interested, widely! 

If you can't make the live presentations, we will share the final products when they're ready! 

Thank you for being a part of and supportive of the Phyto Team! 

Dr. Maria Vernet has been elected as AAAS Accomplished Scientist Fellow for 2018 Biological Sciences.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest general science organization in the United States, and publisher of the journal Science. AAAS has bestowed upon 416 of its members (since 1874) the lifetime honor of being an elected Fellow in recognition of their extraordinary achievements in advancing science.

Maria Vernet, an emeritus researcher in the Integrative Oceanography Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, was recognized “for distinguished contributions to understanding the dynamics of polar phytoplankton communities, especially in the context of polar ice-shelf breakup and ice melt.”

Congratulations! 

The past couple of years have been a great whirlwind of activity! So far we have been working hard to share this project worldwide by attending the following conferences:

• Citizen Science Association conferences, March CitSci 2017 & 2019 in the USA
• Gordon Research Conference  (GRC) – Polar Marine Science Conference March 2017 in the USA
• Polar Field Staff Conference (AECO/IAATO), Two Poles: One Mission October 2017 in Iceland, and September 2019 in the USA.
• Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) Online Conference – Butterfly Effect – May 2018 and received Winner of Best Innovative Communication prize for a short documentary (here).
• Polar 2018 Open Science Conference June 2018 in Davos, Switzerland
• Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research’s (SCAR) Standing Committee on Antarctic Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS) SCAR- SC- HASS May 2019 in Ushuaia, Argentina
• Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego California 2019 in the USA

For more information visit the blog post:

https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/fjordphyto/sharing-the-fjordphyto-project-through-conference-presentations/

**update** This fellowship opportunity has been postponed for summer 2020 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. We look forward to Martina arriving in the USA to work in the Vernet Lab ASAP! 

Congratulations to Martina Mascioni who is one of the recipients of the first IAATO Antarctic Fellowship!

Martina is currently a graduate student (PhD) from the University of La Plata, Argentina, and with this fellowship she will be able to will come to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to visit Dr. Maria Vernet and Allison Cusick in the Vernet lab to continue advancing the work through FjordPhyto citizen science project.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

FJORDPHYTO IS PUBLISHED IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

Our FIRST scientific peer-reviewed publication came out August 2019 in Polar Biology showing the results from the first year of sampling. Check it out here Mascioni et al., 2019   https://rdcu.be/b4BnuThis publication was lead by first-author and graduate student Martina Mascioni. 

Our second scientific peer-reviewed publication came out shortly after online January 2020, and in print March 2020 in Oceanography detailing the development process of the citizen science framework as an effective way to further science and engage the public in active polar research. Check it out here Cusick et al., 2020. This publication was lead by first-author and graduate student Allison Cusick.

A scientists very FIRST first-author publications is a BIG DEAL for new scientists!! Congrats to Martina and Allison. 

Also, a HUGE thank you to all involved in this work.

This project could not happen without a team of enthusiastic partners, and we appreciate every person who has been supportive along the way!

There is no better way to feel like we made an impact on someone, as scientists, than to hear testimonials from passengers who participate in the polar FjordPhyto citizen science projects onboard. Thank you so much to Navya from this Antarctic season who interviewed Robert W. Gilmore and Allison Cusick and wrote her experience up in the UC Berkley University newsletter 

"Citizen science gives people of all ages the chance to participate in research and re-discover the most curious parts of themselves." "There’s still a way for people of all ages to re-discover the joy of exploration, tinkering, and experimentation — what science is actually about"

That IS what its about!! Please take a read and share!

https://www.planetforward.org/idea/first-class-citizen-science

This week (March 13-17) we’ve been at the #citsci2019 Citizen Science conference in Raleigh, North Carolina learning, networking, sharing, and growing. Allison Cusick gave a presentation on the FjordPhyto project in Antarctica and presented a poster for the Polar Citizen Science Collective. It’s been fun to run into some familiar faces and meet many more new ones! At the end of the presentations she received some fantastic questions and comments and even met one of the first citizen scientist passengers of FjordPhyto who participated in 2017-2018. We love love love the enthusiasm of this community! 

Conferences are a great way for researchers and educators to come together, learn from each other, and leave inspired.  

https://www.citizenscience.org/association/conferences/citsci2019/

Graduate student Martina Mascioni from Argentina, presented the FjordPhyto project at the SCAR Standing Committee on the Humanities and Social Sciences [SC-HASS] conference (April 3-5). This conference brings together researchers in the humanities and social sciences with an interest in the Antarctic region. Attending conferences is a great way to network, gather and share ideas, and talk to the broader community outside of the words we publish in primary literature! After the conference is over, its always good to build in some fun activities that let you explore the area! 

Fodor's Travel lists top 15 things you should know before you travel to Antarctica, and participating in science is listed as #5! We couldn't be happier to engage travelers in the polar research we are doing here in the Vernet Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. If you're heading on down to The Ice, as to participate in FjordPhyto! You'll come away in awe of the microscopic life hiding within the icy waters. If you can't join on a trip, live vicariously through our social media posts and share these links with your friends and family! Thank you to all for your support!