The University of the Arctic (UArctic) Office for International Polar Year (IPY) Higher Education and Outreach (HEO) is located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks(UAF) in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. The UArctic IPY office is an integral part of the University of Alaska Office for IPY Education and Outreach.

The UArctic IPY office was created in June 2005 when the UAF Chancellor, Steve Jones, agreed to establish and maintain the office. In September 2005, Martin Jeffries (Research Professor of Geophysics, Geophysical Institute, UAF) was appointed Director and Anne Sudkamp was appointed Executive Director of the office. Ms. Sudkamp worked until December 2005 when she accepted another position at UAF. Dr. Jeffries accepted an appointment with the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Office of Polar Programs in September 2006.

In January 2007, Dr. Elena B. Sparrow assumed the position of Director of the UArctic IPY HEO office. Dr. Sparrow is the Director of Education Outreach at the International Arctic Research Center at UAF and a Research Professor of Soil Microbiology with UAF’s School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. She is also the Alaska Program Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), an international program that engages K-12 teachers and their students in earth system and environmental sciences. Barb Hameister assists Dr. Sparrow in the UArctic IPY HEO office by providing part-time administrative support.