Award Abstract #0440659
A Season At Palmer

NSF Org:	ANT Antarctic Sciences Division
Initial Amendment Date:	June 28, 2005
Latest Amendment Date:	June 28, 2005
Award Number:	0440659
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Kim L. Silverman ANT Antarctic Sciences Division OPP Office of Polar Programs
Start Date:	October 1, 2005
Expires:	March 31, 2006 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$1
Investigator(s):	Joseph Montaigne fmontaigne@aol.com (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Montaigne Joseph F Pelham, NY 10803 / -
NSF Program(s):	ANTARCTIC COORDINATION & INFOR
Field Application(s):	0311000 Polar Programs-Related
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	5130

ABSTRACT

The author will write a book that tells the story of ecologist Bill Fraser's life and work by chronicling a season in the field with him at Palmer Station, Antarctica. Using this narrative device--following the birding team from the moment the Adelie penguins show up to nest in October until the last fledged chicks head out to sea in late February--he hopes also to paint a portrait of a dedicated field biologist, the breathtaking place at the heart of this scientist's life's work, and the changes affecting the lives of creatures there as a result of rapid warming. The end intent is to put a human, and animal, face on a situation that has left many people resigned and perplexed--climate change.

What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

The proposal describes a tightly conceived concept based on extensive preliminary research. The applicant is a Pulitzer Prize nominee with a strong background in writing about science. The scientist to be featured in the proposed book has spent a lifetime chronicling the population changes of a unique penguin species traced to the effect of global warming. The proposed story serves as a narrative line on which important science, philosophy, and environmental awareness are suspended.

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

The book is planned for a popular audience, the author is well known and has a good writing style in the nature writing tradition, and the subject and approach are interesting. With book reviews and potential public appearances by the author, the project should have a broad impact. With its planned narrative structure, it is likely to draw in readers who initially have little to no interest in Antarctica or climate change. Mr. Montaigne has a contract with a publisher to publish the book.

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