CONGRATULATIONS ASSOC. PROF. DR. SALMIZA SALEH SPONSOR BY YAYASAN PENYELIDIKAN ANTARTIKA SULTAN MIZAN

PolarQuest: Bridging Polar Science and Local Climate Realities to Enhance Climate Literacy among Malaysians 

Antarctic science is pivotal to understanding global climate dynamics, particularly in relation to sea-level regulation, ocean circulation, and the intensification of extreme weather events. The accelerated changes occurring in Antarctica are not geographically remote; their impacts cascade globally, with direct risks to Southeast Asia. For Malaysia, these changes are evident in recurrent flash floods, intensifying heatwaves, unpredictable rainfall, and agricultural disruptions. Despite this urgency, Antarctic science is given limited attention in the national curriculum, leaving students with limited understanding of how polar changes are linked to local climate challenges. This knowledge gap runs counter to priorities articulated in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Horizon Scan, which emphasizes the urgent need to embed polar literacy in education. It also constrains Malaysia’s ability to address climate justice, particularly in rural societies where educational disparities and limited access to resources mirror the vulnerabilities of the global “bottom billion” most affected by climate change. Such challenges undermine progress toward the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the National Policy on Climate Change, and the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025, all of which stress sustainability, resilience, and global competencies.

To address these challenges, the project will develop PolarQuest, a bilingual, mobile-friendly digital learning platform with offline capability. PolarQuest is designed to make complex knowledge of Antarctic science accessible and relatable, linking global polar processes with Malaysia’s local climate realities such as floods, heatwaves, and agricultural disruptions. In doing so, it will bridge the gap between scientific research and public understanding, fostering climate literacy among students, educators, and the wider community. Guided by an instructional system design model and employing a mixed-methods approach, the project will assess baseline literacy, design curriculum-aligned content, pilot the platform with students, and evaluate its effectiveness through pre/post-assessments, platform analytics, and stakeholder feedback.

The anticipated outcomes include enhanced climate literacy and Antarctic awareness, the creation of a scientifically robust educational resource for Malaysian schools and communities, and a scalable model adaptable across Southeast Asia. Beyond formal education, PolarQuest aims to broaden the dissemination of climate and polar science knowledge to the general public, ensuring that the platform remains accessible and comprehensible even to individuals without prior scientific background. More broadly, the project advances educational innovation, supports Malaysia’s digital transformation agenda under policies such as the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) and the National Policy on Science, Technology, and Innovation (NPSTI), strengthens climate resilience, and contributes to the nation’s international climate commitments, while aligning with the SCAR Horizon Scan vision of embedding Antarctic science within societal responses to global environmental challenges.