Permafrost Comics: Bridging the gap between science and society

The “Frozen-Ground Cartoons” IPA Action Group has teamed up with artists Noémie Ross and Heta Nääs to come up with a series of entertaining comics aimed mainly at youth, but relevant to the general public. The comics focus on permafrost, permafrost research and the effects of climate change on northern communities and wildlife. The topics surrounding permafrost research have recently been evolving, garnering an interest to frozen-ground sensitivity and behaviour that extends beyond scientific researchers and organizations. The expression “permafrost is melting” (sic) now pops up frequently in the news, with such phenomena as “methane explosions” and “permafrost landslides” elevated to the honorable rank of click-baits on social media newsfeeds. While “permafrost” is a word now recognized by many, it is still a challenge to demystify the Arctic environment and the work that is done by researchers on this topic. The “Frozen-Ground Cartoons” address this gap between scientists and the public and are available as printed booklets (free giveaways at the poster!) and free public downloads of the comics on the website frozengroundcartoon.com. Available in English, the comics are to be translated in many languages in the near future, including northern native languages. This project was initiated exclusively from early career researchers who built on the networking opportunities of large projects such as ADAPT and PAGE21, as well as from the Arctic early career researcher groups APECS and PYRN. It is of great interest to every researcher, as outreach is now an important part of the work of scientists. The framework could also be applied to other disciplines, and we strongly hope this project can serve as an inspiration to budding outreach specialists across the ArcticNet community.