Chris Linder is the principal investigator and field photographer for Live from the Poles, an education and outreach project funded by the US National Science Foundation. During four scientific expeditions to the polar regions, Chris and a science writer will chronicle the process of conducting scientific fieldwork “on the ice” through stunning still photographs, insightful written essays, and audio and video clips posted to the project’s Polar Discovery website: www.polardiscovery.whoi.edu. In addition, at select times during the expeditions, they will place satellite phone calls to eight partner museums so that the public can ask the science team questions in real time. The first expedition will be from April 18-28, 2007, to the North Pole Environmental Observatory, an ice camp established to study climate change at the top of the world.

Chris cites his background in physical oceanography as his primary asset when photographing science: “understanding the science, especially how scientific equipment is deployed, allows me to anticipate the action. When people see my shots, I want to draw them in, to make them feel like they are there. To achieve that effect, I get in close and use wide-angle lenses to show the researchers at work in the context of this stunning polar environment. The final challenge, to me, is to use the light and my equipment to elevate the photographs from mere documentation to art.”

Chris first visited the Arctic in 2002 when he was enlisted to document an icebreaker-based expedition to the Western Arctic as part of the Shelf-Basin Interactions project. He documented the adventures of the science party and crew through photographs and written dispatches on the Arctic Edge website: www.whoi.edu/arcticedge. That initial cruise led to three subsequent month-long voyages to the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska.

In addition to his polar work, Chris also photographs close to home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His first book, The Photographer’s Guide to Cape Cod and the Islands, will be published in June 2007. To learn more about Chris and to see portfolios of his work, visit his website at www.chrislinder.com.