HR: 0830h
AN: ED21B-1212    [PDF]
TI: {\it A Friend Acting Strangely}: an Exhibition on Climate Change in the Arctic
AU: * Stauffer, B W
EM: stauffer.barbara@nmnh.si.edu
AF: Office of Exhibits, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution MRC 101 PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 United States
AU: Fitzhugh, W W
EM: fitzhugh.william@nmnh.si.edu
AF: Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560 United States
AU: Krupnik, I
EM: krupnik.igor@nmnh.si.edu
AF: Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560 United States
AU: Mannes, J
EM: jmannes@cox.net
AF: Freelance Writer, 10445 Hunter View Rd., Vienna, VA 22181 United States
AU: Rusk, K
EM: rusk.katherine@nmnh.si.edu
AF: Office of Exhibits, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution MRC 101 PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 United States
AB: {\it The Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely} is a new exhibit being developed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) as a part of the museum's {\it Forces of Change} exhibit series on global change issues. The exhibit will open to the public in Summer 2004 and is the third component of the series. The other two components are about El Ni\~{n}o ({\it El Ni\~{n}o's Powerful Reach}) and atmospheric chemistry ({\it Change is in the Air}). The Arctic exhibit's underlying theme is that current global change is causing such rapid shifts in Arctic weather and the polar environment that it has become `strange,' - or unpredictable - to its residents. The speed of change in Arctic ice and climate patterns, ocean and terrestrial ecosystems, and wildlife creates a great challenge for polar scientists; but it also advances beyond the experience and memory of northern indigenous people, who know it so well. The key issues the NMNH team faces in preparing the new exhibit are: how to document and display the forces and consequences of rapid change; how to make complex scientific processes and research comprehensible to visitors; and how to engage the general public in the on-going discussion. Because current shifts in the Arctic environment have been observed and recorded in much detail by scientists and Native residents alike, this topic offers unique opportunities beyond the museum presentation, including outreach through public programs and the Internet. The exhibit is being developed jointly by the NMNH Arctic Studies Center and Office of the Exhibits, and in close collaboration with NOAA' Office of Arctic Research, NSF' new Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) initiative, and NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. Exhibit components will include objects, text, graphic panels, video, and a computer interactive. Special efforts will be made to present the voices and opinions of Arctic indigenous people who experience new challenges to their traditional subsistence activities and face new risks in their daily life. Specimens, artifacts, and photographs from the NMNH and other museum collections will be used to interpret the biological and cultural adaptations required to understand the once `friendly' Arctic that is now behaving `strangely.'
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (3309)
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 9315 Arctic region
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting