|
ANTARCTICA NEW ZEALAND NEWS
2021 ANTARCTIC SCIENCE CONFERENCE
Registrations now open!
Registrations for the joint New Zealand Antarctic Science and NZ Snow and Ice Research Group Conference are now open. Visit the conference website to access the registration portal, and to get up to speed with the latest information. Please note that due to popular demand, additional workshops have also been scheduled for Friday 12th February.
All abstracts are currently being peer reviewed and delegates can expect to hear back regarding the outcome in early December.
Travel Grant applications close Monday 30th November - get in quick!
Travel Grants co-sponsored by NZARI and Bodeker Scientific are available for students and Early Career Researchers (within 5 years of PhD completion) who will be presenting either a talk or a poster at the 2021 Antarctic Science Conference.
Click here for more details and to download the application form. The completed form must be emailed to nzari@nzari.aq by 5pm Monday 30 November. Supervisors - please let your students know!
MARSDEN SUCCESS
Congratulations to all of the recently-announced Marsden Fund recipients! Special congratulations to the following PIs whose work has an Antarctic focus:
- Prof. Ken Ryan - Energiser microbes: shedding new light on rhodopsin bioenergetics.
- Assoc. Prof. Crid Fraser - How vulnerable are Antarctica's coasts to colonisation?
- Dr. Tanya O’Neill - Global environmental monitors: do penguins concentrate and record diffuse contaminants from global-scale anthropogenic events in pristine Antarctic environments?
- Dr. Kyle Clem - Understanding zonal wave three and its impacts on Southern Hemisphere climate extremes.
We also acknowledge and congratulate all other PIs and AIs who are involved with these and other Marsden projects.
LOGISTICS SUPPORT FOR 2021 FUNDING BIDS
A reminder to please contact Antarctica New Zealand's Science Programme Advisor, Dr Esme Robinson if you are considering applying for Marsden, MBIE Endeavour Smart Idea or Research Programmes that will require logistics support from Antarctica New Zealand.
2021 ANTARCTIC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
Applications for Antarctica New Zealand's 2021 postgraduate scholarship round will open on 9th February 2021. Find more information and updates here.
ANTARCTIC SCIENCE PLATFORM
For the latest Platform updates, please click here. And click here to explore the Platform's newly redesigned website!
National Modelling Hub opening
The Antarctic Science Platform was honoured to have Hon David Parker, Minister for the Environment, officially open the National Modelling Hub at Victoria University of Wellington on the 17th of November. The Hub is a collaboration between VUW, GNS Science and NIWA and brings together some of the brightest minds to provide updated future projections and collectively address urgent climate change questions ranging from sea level rise to ecosystem impacts.
Having visited Scott Base a number of years ago, the Minister shared stories from his Antarctic experiences and highlighted the high-quality Antarctic research carried out by Kiwi scientists. You can read more about the National Modelling Hub here.
Minister Parker at the National Modelling Hub opening. Photo: Image Services VUW.
Inaugural Antarctic Science Platform Conference
The inaugural Platform Conference was held in Wellington from 18-20 November. Over three days, 120 researchers and policymakers shared science updates and discussed policy-relevant outputs and urgent priorities. The conference sessions were followed by workshops focusing on Mātauranga Māori, science to policy translation, interdisciplinary coordination, new capabilities and research opportunities, and how to share our stories with New Zealanders.
The Platform would like to thank Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University for hosting its first conference. It was wonderful to connect with everyone kanohi ki te kanohi.
Panel discussion as part of the Antarctic Science Platform conference. Photo: Nancy Bertler.
Antarctic Science Platform on a Page in English and Te Reo
We are pleased to share our new flyers outlining the vision and mission of the Platform. We are particularly excited that our Kāhui Maori arranged for the flyer to be translated into Te Reo. The translated name of the Antarctic Science Platform is: Te Tūāpapa Pūtaiao o Aotearoa mō Te Tiri o Te Moana.
|
|
|
ANTARCTICA IN THE NEWS
Scott Base staff continue scientific project with coaching from NZ-based experts – The Sea Ice Mass Balance Station, a special probe that measures the thickness, temperature and formation of sea ice, and snow cover in McMurdo Sound, has been retrieved for the summer. University of Otago scientists based in New Zealand coached Scott Base staff, who drilled into the ice in McMurdo Sound and retrieved the probe. Watch the Newshub story here.
Contaminants expected in very old Antarctic penguin poo – New Zealand researchers expect to find centuries-old environmental contaminants such as lead, mercury and DDT in mounds of Adélie penguin poo. The team, led by Dr Tanya O'Neill at the University of Waikato, will use mounds of soil, guano, feathers, bones and eggshell fragments as natural archives to investigate timescales of contaminant transfer and provide insights into pollutant cycling in the Antarctic environment. Read more here.
Lorde writes her first book, from Antarctica – A visit to Antarctica in 2019 with Antarctica New Zealand has inspired Lorde to write her first book, Going South. The profits from the book will support a postgraduate Antarctic research scholarship, focusing on climate change research, to be awarded in 2022. Read more here.
|
|
|
AN ARCTIC SCIENCE ADVENTURE
Victoria University of Wellington snow scientist contributes to world’s largest polar research expedition
Dr Ruzica Dadic from Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre has recently returned from a three month visit to the Arctic, where she conducted research as part of the MOSAiC expedition. The expedition involved hundreds of scientists from 20 countries, who were investigating the role of the Arctic system in global climate change. Researchers joined the icebreaker Polarstern as it drifted through the Arctic Ocean, trapped in ice, to study the Arctic atmosphere, ocean, sea ice system and ecosystems. Read more about Dr Dadic’s scientific and wildlife experiences during the expedition here.
L: Ruzica Dadic with the SnowMicroPen®. Photo: Mario Hoppmann. R: The research vessel Polarstern on the ice floe on which it drifted through the Arctic. The researchers can be seen in the background, doing fieldwork. Photo: Jan Rohde.
|
|
|
PUBLICATIONS
Congratulations to our Antarcticans on these recent publications!
Fan, S., Hager, T.F., Prior, D.J., Cross, A.J., Goldsby, D.L., Qi, C., Negrini, M., Wheeler, J. (2020). Temperature and strain controls on ice deformation mechanisms: insights from the microstructures of samples deformed to progressively higher strains at −10, −20 and −30 °C. The Cryosphere, 14: 3875-3905. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3875-2020
Levy, J., Cary, S.C., Joy, K., Lee, C.K. (2020). Detection and community-level identification of microbial mats in the McMurdo Dry Valleys using drone-based hyperspectral reflectance imaging. Antarctic Science, 32(5):367-381. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102020000243
Lutz, F., Eccles, J., Prior, D. J., Craw, L., Fan, S., Hulbe, C., Forbes, M., Still, H., Pyne, A., Mandeno, D. (2020). Constraining Ice Shelf Anisotropy Using Shear Wave Splitting Measurements from Active-Source Borehole Seismics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125(9): e2020JF005707. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005707
|
|
|
Scott Base staff removing the sea ice probe in McMurdo Sound, November 2020. Photo: Jamie McGaw.
|
|
|
OTHER NEWS
NEW ANTARCTIC ENVIRONMENTS PORTAL LAUNCHED
The Antarctic Environments Portal was a New Zealand-led initiative to develop a portal to access high level summary information on Antarctic issues, based on the best available scientific knowledge. New Zealand was very pleased that SCAR took on the ownership of the portal and are very excited by the launch of the new look website.
We encourage scientists to ‘get involved’ by reviewing the ‘ content management plan’ which sets out what new summaries are planned. If you are interested in contributing to the portal, please have a look at the Guidelines for Authors and get in contact with the Portal Editor.
QUANTARCTICA - HAVE YOUR SAY
Quantarctica is a collection of Antarctic geographical datasets for research, education, operations and environment management. The team is looking for your input to help shape version 4. Please provide your feedback about datasets, data categories, and functions you want to see in this community survey by the end of November.
NEW PUBLICATION ON THE FUTURE OF KRILL
The SCAR Krill Action Group has published a new paper in Nature Communications Earth & Environment. The group has identified several research priorities that could advance the understanding of krill to improve the management of Antarctic krill fishery in the Southern Ocean. Read the full paper here.
ANTARCTIC OUTREACH KIT - WELLINGTON
The Extreme Cold Weather clothing as used by researchers and personnel in Antarctica is available for loan to Wellington-based folk who are interested in using it for school visits and outreach opportunities.
The clothing is stored at the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. For more information, or to make a booking please contact Michelle.
SPECIAL ISSUE - 'POLAR BIOLOGY'
A special issue of Polar Biology on the subject 'Pathways and impacts of biotically-mediated marine and other stored nutrient transfer between polar ecosystems' is seeking submissions of both review articles and original papers on this topic.
Please get in contact with the editors if you are interested in contributing.
CRYOSPHERE SYMPOSIUM
An International Symposium on Ice, Snow, and Water in a Warming World, has been postponed and is now scheduled to take place in September 2021. Click here for further details.
IPICS OPEN SCIENCE CONFERENCE
The International Partnership in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) third Open Science Conference titled "Ice Core Science at the three Poles", has been postponed and is now scheduled to be held in October 2021. More information can be found here.
|
|
|
If you have any news, updates, great images, or recent publications that you would like to feature in the monthly update, please send them to our Science Team.
|
|
|
|
|
