Investigate a real ice core from Greenland, survey microbes from the coldest parts of the world, explore an Arctic ice camp and meet with polar scientists – many of who are from the University of Washington.

It’s all part of Polar Science Weekend, returning to Seattle’s Pacific Science Center March 4-6. The three-day event features interactive exhibits and opportunities to talk with top polar scientists who work in some of the most remote and challenging places on Earth.

New this year is “Listening to the Arctic,” where Kate Stafford, an oceanographer with the UW Applied Physics Laboratory who uses sound to study marine mammals, will let visitors eavesdrop on the sounds of whales and seals underwater and under ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Another first-time offering is a presentation by Eric Regehr, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who will speak Saturday at 11 a.m. about studying polar bears up close in their natural Arctic environment.

Entrance is included with Science Center admission. Polar Science Weekend is a partnership between Pacific Science Center and the UW’s Polar Science Center and Applied Physics Laboratory, with support from PEMCO Insurance Company, the College of the Environment’s Future of Ice Initiative and the UW’s Quaternary Research Center.