Ulyana Horodyskyj Peña, PhD
2025 Seed Grant Awardee
Project Description
Persistent Pollutants
This collaborative project integrates ship-based field science with classroom learning to address the presence and impact of anthropogenic pollutants, specifically microplastics and light-absorbing particles (LAPs), in Arctic environments. Through snow and seawater sample collection during a TransArctic expedition and complementary classroom science activities in Shishmaref, Alaska, the project engages high school students and adult citizen scientists in participatory data collection. These efforts are supported by NASA Earth observation products and GLOBE protocols. A "Snow & Seawater Science Symposium" will connect participants virtually, while educational resources and open-source data products will extend the project’s impact and build climate resilience in Arctic communities.
Target Audience Age
| 0-4 | 5-10 | 11-14 | 14-18 | 19-22 | 23-26 | 27-99 |
NASA Division
Earth
Grant Status
Learning Context
Digital Learning
Neighborhood /
Community
Informal /
Out of School
Home / Family
Citizen Science
Formal Education
SME Bio
The most exciting part is creating a real-time bridge between scientific research and classroom education- where Arctic youth and international participants can connect through hands-on science, satellite data, and storytelling. That’s where curiosity meets climate action.
Ulyana Horodyskyj Peña, PhD
Persistent Pollutants PI
Associate Scientist
University of Boulder-Colorado
Ulyana Horodyskyj Peña holds a Ph.D. in geological sciences, specializing in glaciology. Her work explores the formation of supraglacial lakes and glacial flooding in the Himalayas, and she has conducted research on the impact of black carbon and pollutants on snow and ice at high altitudes and latitudes. She has delivered a TEDx talk at MIT on black carbon, and in 2017, she was elected a National Fellow of The Explorers Club. Ulyana has received grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, USAID, PONANT Science, and The Explorers Club to support her field-based scientific research.
SciAct Team
Arctic and Earth SIGNS Description
Arctic and Earth STEM Integrating GLOBE and NASA (SIGNs) project team envisions a STEM learning environment where youth play an active role in understanding climate change and stewardship of climate change influenced resources in their own community. Climate change has already influenced the lives of rural and indigenous communities in the Arctic, and climate change in the Arctic has a profound impacts and feedbacks within the global climate system. We aim to provide rich opportunities for youth, educators, and community members from rural and indigenous communities in Alaska and beyond to learn about, observe, and act upon locally important climate change issues. We work to develop a STEM learning process that integrates GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) protocols that best fit the issue, local and traditional ecological knowledge, historical and current NASA data, direct contact with NASA subject matter experts, and collaboration with a team of Arctic scientists and other partners such as the Association of Interior Native Educators and the 4-H program.
We are very much excited about the opportunity for Ulyana's work to connect our work in the Arctic and Subarctic with the Antarctic and believe that the connection will impact the youth we work with to situate their own GLOBE snow research in a global context.