Exploring Australia’s Antarctic research

Coffs Coast residents will have the chance to hear about Australia’s contribution to research in the Antarctic at a free seminar on Wednesday, July 21.

Hosted by Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre and the Marine Parks Authority, the seminar will feature guest speaker Dr Simon Wright, principal research scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC.

An Antarctic Mid Winter Dinner, open to anyone who has visited the Antarctic for research, work or for pleasure, will be held after the seminar at the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort.

Associate Professor Graham Jones, from Southern Cross University’s School of Environmental Science and Management, said the talk would focus on the work done during the International Polar Year, which was organised through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to study a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics in the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Professor Jones said the IPY covered two years from March 2007 to 2009 to encompass full seasonal cycles in both polar regions, and involved scientists from more than 60 nations.

Dr Wright, who has spent 32 years researching the Southern Ocean, said Australian research during the IPY focused on three key areas: the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML); the Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem Experiment (SIPEX); and the Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (CASO) experiments.

“From the marine life perspective, the Southern Ocean is one of the biggest oceans in the world. There has been very little work done on the deep ocean fauna,” Dr Wright said.

“The researchers have been looking at what’s down there and how that contributes to diversity. That’s important in terms of conservation and in answering a lot of basic questions about ecology and evolution.

“Most of the research being done in the Antarctic is related to climate change.”

Dr Wright, who has been on 13 expeditions each lasting two to three months, said the environment was fascinating and spectacularly beautiful.

“It’s also a very difficult place to work. It’s remote and you spend a lot of time away from home. The Southern Ocean is one of the roughest in the world,” he said.

His work has focused on the marine microbial system, which comprises about 90 per cent of the living matter in the sea.

“They are hugely important because they basically feed everything else,” he said.

Professor Jones said the Antarctic Mid-Winter Dinner, which would follow the free talk, was open to anyone who had visited the Antarctic.

“We’d love to hear from anyone who has been down there – either as a researcher, as a tradesperson doing maintenance, photographers, artists or tourists. This is a great way of sharing our experiences of this fascinating environment,” he said.

The talk ‘Australia’s Antarctic Contribution to Science in the International Polar Year’ will be held on Wednesday, July 21, at the National Marine Science Centre, Charlesworth Bay, at 6.30pm.

The dinner will be held at Novotel Pacific Bay Resort, Coffs Harbour, from 7.30pm to 9pm. RSVP to Graham Jones at graham.jones@scu.edu.au

The talk is part of the International Polar Year Lectures Series and is sponsored by the National Committee for Antarctic Research (NCAR).

Photo: Dr Simon Wright on a research expedition to the Antarctic.