Staff in the Geophysical Institute’s Outreach Office recently created Cryospheric Connection, an online professional development course for secondary teachers. The NASA-funded course is focused on permafrost and examines how this changing element of the cryosphere affects Earth as a whole.

The program began in Fall 2009 and weaves the traditional knowledge of three Alaska Native Elders with the research findings and guidance from twelve scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The team of scientists includes GI Professor Vladimir Romanovsky, who sits on the program’s advisory board.

“The program is well-designed and already producing very good results,” Romanovsky said. “It can be used for K-12 education as it was originally envisioned, but also at the college level.” 

To view the suite of online resources Cryospheric Connection provides, visit http://www.cryosphericconnection.org.