“It might happen in Las Vegas, but whatever happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic: The frozen top of the world and the tropics are linked like Siamese twins. They share the same liquid veins, so climatic changes in either of them deeply affect the other. Colombia, the US and Canada are effectively daughters of the Arctic ice”
Angela Posada-Swafford
Rising seas, island changes, increased heat waves, damages to crops and wild life, new routes for large ships. These are a few of the effects of the accelerated changes in the Arctic that are transforming our coasts, lands and seas.
To learn about the specific effects in Colombia, the Embassies of Colombia in Canada, the United States and Noruega, organized a conversation on April 22nd ET about why we are closer to the Arctic than we might think.
Experts Angela Posada-Swafford, a Science Journalist and Researcher that has written books and articles about it, and Dr. Mario Londoño-Mesa, a Scientist and Researcher that has dedicated most of his career to studying these networks and interesting webs, will talk about these amazing new realities that are changing the present and the future for all.
Posada-Swafford and Londoño-Mesa are passionate about the topic and have participated in several of Colombia’s Antarctic Expeditions over the years. They will show you details of the current transformation that Colombia is experiencing due to the changes in the Arctic.
We are Celebrating Earth Day with this interesting conversation that will take you through a virtual tour guided by our experts, explaining the whys, the opportunities for Colombia and what should come next in order to take advantage of our location in the world.
The conversation will be moderated by Tim Lougheed, the Executive Director of The World Federation of Science Journalists
About the Experts
Angela Posada-Swafford
Colombian-American author, science journalist, educator and lecturer. Simón Bolívar Journalism Prize 2017. Author of 8 science and adventure novels for young adults and an illustrated Antarctic travelogue. Member of multiple polar, oceanographic, biodiversity and geologic expeditions. First Hispanic journalist selected as a Knight Fellow in Science Journalism at MIT. First Hispanic journalist selected by the US Antarctic Program to travel to the South Pole. Member, First and Third expeditions of the Colombian Antarctic Program, 2015 and 2017.
Has lectured about science communication for scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany; Dartmouth College, NH; the IceCube Neutrino Collaboration at U of Wisconsin-Madison; the Marine Biological Laboratory in MA; Los Andes University; Javeriana Uiversity, and others in Colombia. Is a Juror of the Logan Science Journalism Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole.
Has published articles on research, science, high tech, exploration and environment for National Geographic, Nature, Scientific American, New Scientist, El Tiempo, Banco de la República Cultural Bulletin, Semana, Muy Interesate, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, Astronomy, Discovery Channel, CBS News, National Public Radio. Selected for the first edition of 100 Distinguished Colombians Abroad, 2012. Gives talks on science, science diplomacy and science communication at Colombian embassies in various countries. She divides her time between the US and Colombia.
https://www.angelaposadaswafford.com/ Contact: angelapswafford@gmail.com; + 1-305-788-1232 (Miami Beach, USA) / twitter:@swaforini / Instagram: @aposadaswafford
Mario Londoño-Mesa
Biologist, Master in Science in Natural Resources, Doctor in Sciences on Ecology and Sustainable Development. Colombian Senior Researcher & Professor at the Institute of Biology, University of Antioquia, Medellin. Polar and Tropical Taxonomist of Marine Invertebrates, focusing on marine worms (Class Polychaeta), with more than 40 described species. Author of 25 scientific papers and 10 book chapters, and coeditor of one book. Referee of scientific papers for more than 20 science journals. Recipient of research fellowships from the American Museum of Natural History, the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. Visiting researcher at Museums in Canada (Ottawa), USA (Washington, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Miami, New Haven, New York, Utica); also, in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands. Researcher in Marine Global Change, specialized in marine invertebrates. Antarctic expedition member in the Second and Third Colombian Scientific Antarctic Expeditions, and member of the Colombian National Technical Committee of Antarctic Affairs. Contact: hernan.londono@udea.edu.co; +57-321-815-9996. Instagram: @mario_londono_m.
About the moderator
Based in Ontario, Canada, Tim Lougheed began his career with the Sault Star and the Windsor Star, subsequently working as a science writer for Queen’s University in Kingston. He has been a freelance science, technology, and medicine writer since 1991, producing articles that have appeared in Canadian Geographic, University Affairs, Canadian Medical Association Journal, New Scientist, Ensia, Nautilus, Environmental Health Perspectives, among others, as well as Canadian Chemical News, which he has edited for the past four years. Lougheed has also been a member of the Canadian Science Writers’ Association for more than 30 years, serving three terms as its president, most notably during the challenging constitution transition that transformed this organization into the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada in 2016. He has also been involved with the World Federation of Science Journalists for the past two decades, initially as an organizer of the 2004 World Conference of Science Journalists in Montreal and for the past three years as the organization’s treasurer.