Libertyville High School Teacher Chosen for NASA Polar Project

A Libertyville High School science teacher Mark Buesing is one of onlyl 15 educators to be chosen from a pool of 300 to participate in NASA's global polar projects.

Buesing ventures to Greenland in April for Operation IceBridge, a six-year mission to map polar ice in unprecedented detail to better understand processes that connect the polar regions with the global climate system, posted Libertyville High School on its Facebook page.

"What an amazing experience for an amazing teacher!" posted Suzanne Swanson Baumruk.

"Congratulations! What a fantastic opportunity and adventure!" posted Jill McPartlin Schwartz.

Before coming to Libertyville High School in 1995, Buesing worked as a Motorola engineer and received recognition as a bicycle racer. He rode in the 1992 Olympic Trials and was twice named Illinois Rider of the year, according to his biography on the school's Website.

Buesing is also an author of The Physicist's Guide to Weight Loss, which is in the school library and can be purchased at www.lulu.com.

Buesing learned of the once-in-a-lifetime polar ice project opportunity from a former student who is oceanographer with the US Antarctic Program and applied to be part of the research team via PolarTREC, which pairs teachers with researchers, reported the Lake County News-Sun.

"PolarTREC and I share many of the same goals, chief among them is to get students interested in science, technology, math and science (STEM) careers," said Buesing.

During his mission, Buesing will fly over Greenland's ice sheet and glaciers to map the ice with various tools and equipment. He'll also blog, post on social media, create videos and keep connected with his classroom.

Learn more about PolarTREC at www.polartrec.com.