Antarctica New Zealand: From IGY to IPY

20 Feb 2006 - Interviews

For New Zealand, the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 represents an opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Antarctic research station, Scott Base, and to strengthen and extend the scope of its research activities in the Antarctic. For the first time in its history, Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ) plans to lease a marine research vessel in order to take part in the IPY's flagship international Census of Antarctic Marine Life project.

SciencePoles interviewed Lou Sanson, CEO of Antarctica New Zealand, as part of its ongoing interview series with senior figures in polar research about their expectations and hopes for the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

Antarctica New Zealand

New Zealand is one of the smallest nations active in polar science and has no involvement in the Arctic. Nevertheless, its proximity to Antarctica and its jurisdiction over a number of sub-Antarctic Islands has meant that it was one of the original Antarctic Treaty signatories. It has also been able to play an important role in Antarctic research, especially since it set up, during the IGY of 1957-58, its all year research station, Scott Base, under the leadership of Sir Edmund Hillary.

Established in 1996 and currently funded to the tune of US million a year, Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ) is the governmental organization now responsible for developing, managing and administering New Zealand's research activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. ANZ's Chief Operating Officer, Lou Sanson, oversees around fifty staff, about half of which are based in ANZ's Christchurch headquarters, and the other half at Scott Base and its peripheral field research facilities.

Research in Antarctica

Scott Base is located just a few miles from the United States' largest Antarctic station, McMurdo, on Ross Island's Hut Point Peninsula. ANZ is therefore able to share transport and other logistics with the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), which also uses Christchurch as a logistics hub. Indeed, it is thanks to this strategic collaboration with the US that ANZ, a relatively small programme, is able to support a broad array of research themes, with a particular expertise in geology, sediment coring, and marine and freshwater research.

Over the last decade, ANZ's expertise has served international projects and collaborations such as the Cape Roberts and the more recent Antarctic Drilling Programme (ANDRILL) in the McMurdo Sound area. The purpose of ANDRILL has been to recover stratification records from the Antarctic region, and to help better understand the tectonic history (i.e.: how the continent has moved around over time). This will also provide insight into Antarctica's role in climate change over the last 65 million years.

ANZ has also been particularly active in promoting sound environmental stewardship for Antarctica, especially in the Ross Sea region. Its recent publication, Ross Sea Region 2001: A State of the Environment Report for the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica, was widely acclaimed by the international Antarctic community. It was praised for courageously tackling difficult conservation issues and for considering the environmental impact of Antarctic research programmes, including ANZ and USAP.

The International Polar Year

According to Mr Sanson, during the IPY, ANZ plans to continue its participation in ANDRILL, which will itself become part of the broader Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) project. ACE will study Antarctic climate and glacial history through paleoclimate and ice sheet modeling studies integrated with geological investigations.

As part of the IPY, ANZ will also participate in the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) project. Launched during the IPY, CAML is being led by Australia with contributions from at least 12 other countries. Its mission is to survey the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica to comprehend better the biological diversity of this unique and poorly understood environment. In particular, CAML will be looking at how the region's fauna are uniquely adapted to their extreme environments, and may be vulnerable to shifts in climate and water temperature.

Increasing Logistical Capacity

In order to participate in CAML, ANZ plans to lease and operate a polar research vessel for the first time in its history. This will require significant additional funding - something which Mr Sanson and his team are currently working on very hard. Indeed, because of the infrastructure involved, Mr Sanson hopes that: "Both ANDRILL and CAML will continue past the two years of IPY and that the infrastructure created around the two projects will be used past IPY".

Regarding the role of Scott Base during the IPY, Mr Sanson explained that it "will remain the hub of Antarctic operations for New Zealand and will therefore play a major role in ANDRILL. Because the CAML project is ship-based there will be a much smaller role for Scott Base directly connected to that project".

Away from pure IPY science, ANZ will also "be specifically funded by the government for education and outreach activities related to the coinciding 50-year anniversary of Scott Base" as well as for a very large ANDRILL education and outreach programme that will be used by all four partner countries.

Legacy

Asked about what legacy he expects to emerge from the IPY 2007-08, Mr Sanson replied that "the advance from International Geophysical Year 1957-58 was very significant because of the huge void between what had been done in the Antarctic and what could be accomplished. There were a large number of stations put into place during the IGY, many of which are still used today (for example Scott Base). The gains will be smaller but also very significant in IPY. The issues around understanding climate change and discovery are the focus for the IPY".

For Mr Sanson, as for many other researchers and directors of national and international polar organizations, the IPY 2007-08 will indeed play a key role in advancing public understanding and awareness of the regional effects of human induced climate change on the Polar Regions, and the effect of these changes on the Earth's delicately balanced ecosystem.

By: Jean de Pomereu