Palmer LTER Education & Outreach
The Palmer Station Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) station is located along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Palmer LTER scientists study the polar marine biome with research focused on the Antarctic marine ecosystem, including sea ice habitats, regional oceanography and terrestrial nesting sites of seabirds. The Palmer LTER is one of more than 26 LTER research sites located throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Tahiti; each focused on a specific ecosystem, that together constitute the LTER Network.
The Palmer LTER team brings Antarctica to classrooms across the country through live video teleconferences (VTCs), data-rich programs, ask-a-scientist events, and more. Explore our resources and opportunities to find the perfect fit for your students!
For more information about the Palmer LTER and additional resources, please visit the Palmer Station LTER web site.
Live Video Teleconferences (VTCs) with Scientists
Can’t bring your students to the poles? No worries, bring polar scientists into your classroom!
Your students can participate in a real-time video teleconference (VTC) with scientists at the Palmer Station LTER project in Antarctica. Students can learn about Antarctic food web ecology, as well as how scientists are conducting long-term experiments and observations along the coast of Antarctica to understand our changing climate.
Educators, if you are interested, please check out the registration page for the 2023 VTC series.
Information for the winter 2024 field season will be posted in the fall of 2023.
Teachers, we encourage you to work with your students to develop detailed, science-based questions to insure you get the most out of your live call with the scientists. To help you get started, check out this list of example questions for scientists.
Live Scientist-to-Classroom VTC Archive
Students interested in learning more about science at Palmer Station can check out our archive of live calls from previous seasons.
You can also check out this 20-minute tour from the 2017 field season, featuring scientists from the PAL microbial ecology group.
I.D. Antarctica
Help identify some of the amazing marine organisms that live in Antarctica!
Join Andrew Corso, a PhD candidate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and identify “mystery” creatures from his Winter 2020 research cruise off the coast of the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
