Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

Friday 28 September 2018 1:45pm

polar-image
Research on ice ... Otago's Associate Professor Andrew Gorman, MSc student Laurine van Haastrecht and Dr Christian Ohneiser on the Ross Ice Shelf collecting seismic data last summer.

The University’s recent Polar Symposium showcased the breadth of Otago’s polar research community which organisers say is the most diverse in any New Zealand university.

The one-day symposium, held in late August, was organised by the University’s Polar Environment Research Theme. It brought together about 30 Otago researchers as well as Wellington-based NIWA scientist Dr Vonda Cummings and Otago graduate Kate Turner (BSc 2010) who is now a PhD student at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

"Every year several different research groups travel from Otago to Antarctica which means the University has an annual presence in the deep south."

Dr Christian Ohneiser of the Department of Geology, who was among the symposium organisers, says Otago is a national leader on polar research.

“Every year several different research groups travel from Otago to Antarctica which means the University has an annual presence in the deep south.

“We are leading two multi-million dollar, multi-institution, international Antarctic research campaigns, the ‘Ross Ice Shelf Programme’ (Professor Christina Hulbe is the principal investigator) and the Deep South NSC ‘Targeted observation and process-informed modelling of Antarctic sea ice’ (Professor Pat Langhorne is the principal investigator). The programmes involve numerous Otago researchers and students.

“Our expertise and track record in polar research and exploration is outstanding.”

The symposium highlighted this, he says, with topics ranging from how to communicate science, how to measure and make sense of sea ice, the microscopic evolution of crystals and macroscopic (10s of km) growth of fractures in glacier ice, geological records of ancient ice retreat, space weather and the polar atmosphere, to how ice sheets can be destabilised by a small perturbations that lead to unstoppable large scale retreat.

"It’s a great opportunity to learn about what is happening and where we are going."

“The symposium brought together researchers from across so many different departments,” Dr Ohneiser says. “I am a geologist and normally I would not spend much time with an astrophysicist or a biologist. In this setting we can and we do. We also have to share our research with a group of non-specialists which means breaking it down so that everybody is engaged. And we get to hear what students in other departments are up to.

“It’s a great opportunity to learn about what is happening and where we are going.”

Dr Ohneiser says Polar research is vital.

“Antarctica used to be considered as a cold, stable ice block on the bottom of the world which we should not worry about in the near future with respect to climate change. But we see signs that Antarctica is changing and we don’t even understand it properly yet. So we need to push on and gather as much information as we can.”

Back to top