An interdisciplinary team lead by the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London has received a silver Geographical Association Publishers Award 2022 for the Antarctic StoryMap Collection.
Members of the Antarctic StoryMap winning team
The Antarctic StoryMap collection has also earned Royal Holloway a place on the UK shortlist for an Excellence in Community Engagement Award in the ESRI UK Customer Success Awards 2022.
The Antarctica StoryMap series is a freely available set of resources aimed at UK KS3 to KS4 students (age ~14 to 16) to use in schools, and for the general public interested in learning about Antarctica.
As a comprehensive body of work, the series introduces the concept of Antarctica, its biome and wildlife, its climate and sea level rise potential, and people exploring, living and working in Antarctica. The content comprises 18 individual StoryMaps, arranged into four sections covering an introduction to Antarctica; Antarctic wildlife; people in Antarctica; and Antarctica and climate change.
The scientific expertise behind the series was led by Dr Bethan Davies as Principal Investigator, a glacial geologist in the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, and an expert in the interaction between glaciers and climate over multiple timescales. Dr Davies commented,
“As Geographers we recognise the need to develop a better understanding of how the Antarctic continent as a whole will behave in the future, which is crucial for life on our planet. The Antarctic StoryMap collection seeks to encourage more interest in schools and beyond to explore the vital role that Antarctica plays in global oceanic and climatic systems.
It's fantastic that these awards have highlighted this series as a valuable national resource for teaching and learning, and we hope it will inspire and inform many people of all ages to engage with fundamental changes that affect our future.”
Other expert contributors to the project include Professor Klaus Dodds at Royal Holloway, Huw Griffiths of the British Antarctic Survey, Peter Neff of University of Minnesota, Sam Royston of University of Bristol, and Michael Hambrey of University of Aberystwyth, together with input from the British Antarctic Survey, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, technical experts from ESRI UK, and school teachers.
The materials for the Antarctic StoryMap collection were produced by Royal Holloway PhD candidate Laura Boyall and Jen Thornton from the Geography’s cartography unit, with help from students Benjamin Samingpai and Chloe Trimmer.
The project was funded by the Antarctic Science Bursary and by an educational bursary from Antarctic Science Ltd.
See more about the series on the Antarctic Glaciers website here:
