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Share What
You're Doing!
Check out the AAC descriptions
we've received so far on our new website. We'd like to keep this
up-to-date, so we hope you'll send updates twice a year--on June 1 and December 1--to Program Manager
Leah Knickerbocker.
If you prefer, we also keep track of your reports from Survey Monkey.
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PBI Resources
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Find PBI and AAC logos, Media Guidelines and Resources, and International Polar Bear Day and Be Cool Tour Resources in the AAC Dropbox Toolbox folder.
Learn all about polar bears and their arctic home in two recently published polar bear reference books by renowned polar bear scientists Dr. Ian Stirling and Dr. Andrew Derocher.
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Ambassador
Highlights
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Heather Kalka
Co-chair of Acres for the Atmosphere,
Arctic Ambassador, and
Keeper at the Toronto Zoo
Heather is an "early-adopter" and always willing to join in on PBI's new efforts to involve others in saving polar bears, including posting creative ideas in our new My Planet, My Part gathering place. This year, she also served as Keeper Camp facilitator, insuring that camp material was relevant for these professionals and outcomes were achieved.
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Conferences
 AZA Bear TAG will be holding meetings and workshops for polar bears and brown bears June 16 - 20, 2013,
in St. Paul, MN. The Como Zoo will be hosting and PBI will be sponsoring
the polar bear workshop.
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Cool Link
Scientific Visualization Studio
Check out this NASA site for
telling multi-media visuals
to support your presentations.
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Communicating in an Uncertain World
by Dr. Steven C. Amstrup
In the current "sound bite" environment, we need to be very careful how we describe the certain and the uncertain effects of global warming.
Planetary physics require the world to warm as CO2 concentrations rise. Natural fluctuations that will continue as the world warms mean we cannot precisely predict the first year it will be too hot to grow corn in the Midwest or the first ice-free summer in the Arctic.
But we are certain to cross both thresholds if we don't change our emissions patterns. The uncertainty that we don't know exactly when is only relevant if we don't care what kind of future we are leaving our children. Yet media and policy makers often have focused on those irrelevant uncertainties.
So when communicating, start with what we know and speak with confidence. Without stopping greenhouse gas rise, the world will continue to warm. Acknowledge what we don't know for sure, but focus on the fact that we are guaranteed to cross many undesirable thresholds even if we can't say exactly when it will happen.
And more importantly, thank your audience for what they are doing and encourage them to work on bigger issues--we have to get beyond changing our light bulbs and instead change the way we do business, moving away from a carbon-based economy.
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My Planet, My Part
PBI's new online community continues to grow through themed campaigns that tie in with our calendar. We're currently featuring a Green Your Holidays campaign. Please become part
of our momentum for change by taking part in our gallery and forums to share your ideas and look for new ones! This year's Project Polar Bear participants are joining in a forum and will post their actions later this winter as the contest continues.
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International Polar Bear Day
February 27, 2013
Some of you have already started planning how your institutions will invite your communities to join in making
every day a conservation action day for polar bears. Like last year, this year's theme focuses on energy conservation.
To get an early start on planning, you can find the Bundle Up for Polar Bears and Giving Tree resources from 2012 in the Toolkit Dropbox folder, Celebrate International Polar Bear Day. And PBI will soon be creating an additional tool to accommodate warmer regions where saving energy means adjusting air conditioning thermostats.
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Tundra Connections
After a successful Tundra Connections season, we've archived the 2012 webcasts on our YouTube channel. Scroll down on the Featured Playlists menu to Tundra Connections Webcasts. Of particular interest to AACs:
Panelists:
Cecilia Bitz (University of Washington, Associate Professor Atmospheric Sciences)
Eric DeWeaver (National Science Foundation)
John Whiteman (University of Wyoming, Graduate Student)
Moderator: Kyle Schutt (Discovery Educator Network)
#6: Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Tundra Connections Webcast for EAZA--A Warming Arctic and the Impacts on Arctic Biodiversity
Panelists:
Marga Gerritsen (Ouwehand Zoo)
José Kok (Ouwehand Zoo)
Frank Vigh (Scandinavian Wildlife Park)
Moderator: Andrew Derocher (University of Alberta, Professor of Biological Sciences)
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Project Polar Bear
Registration for the new and improved Project Polar Bear has been a great success. A big thanks to the institutions that helped us think through the changes to meet the program goals for an  appropriate conservation action, prize structure, project reporting, and team membership.
Our new registration format brought in a record 51 Project Polar Bear Teams from across Canada and the US! The teams range in size from small groups to full classrooms, from middle school-age to high school.
We will be connecting each of these teams to their regional Arctic Ambassador Centers--thank you all for your support of these young ambassadors!
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Leadership Camp
We've trained over 250 individuals through PBI Leadership Camp! Planning is underway for how to better support these individuals as community change agents and for our 2013 schedule. Please remember, we have more Arctic Ambassador Centers than we have slots available at Camp. Please stand by as we make decisions around the beginning of February.
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AAZK National Partnership/
Trees for You & Me Competition
PBI has renewed an agreement with AAZK National as a  Conservation Partner. The relationship will focus on excellence in animal keeping and support the conservation of polar bears and their habitat through conservation behaviors delivered within communities through the leadership and action of keepers.
On the subject of AAZK--the friendly Trees for You & Me competition between AAZK chapters to fundraise for tree planting is poised to launch its 4th year. For 2013--a local focus! Chapters will raise funds and use them for urban plantings in their local communities through Acres for the Atmosphere, the hands-on campaign started by the first Leadership Camp program in 2009.
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www.polarbearsinternational.org
Conservation through research, education, and action.
Join us on your favorite community sites and share
PBI with your friends and family!
     
We thank you for your continued support.
Photo Credits:
Dr. Steven C. Amstrup © Daniel J. Cox/NaturalExposures.com
Leadership Camp, Kaitlin Kunkler
Siku Diving © Dean Massalsky
© 2012 Polar Bears International. All Rights Reserved.
Marks and texts appearing in this resource guide including, but not limited to, Polar Bears International name, logo, and programs are trademarks, registrered trademarks, or service marks of Polar Bears International.
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