British Antarctic Survey

Guest blog: Why Pride matters for doing better polar research

15 November, 2023 Pilvi Saarikoski

Polar research often conjures images of scientists operating in remote, arduous conditions at the ends of the world reminiscent of the likes of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen during the ‘Heroic Age’ of polar exploration at the turn of the 20th century. However, 21st century polar research is so much more than this.

Ny-√Ölesund International Research Village

Poet Laureate visits UK Arctic Research Station

14 July, 2023

The UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE has travelled to the UK Arctic Research Station, where he will create new works inspired by the visit. While hosted at the UK …

British Antarctic Survey Director honoured

4 May, 2022

The director of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Professor Dame Jane Francis has been awarded the prestigious Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) Patron’s Medal for contributions to earth and environmental sciences.

Reflections on Black History Month and lessons for the Polar Research community

5 October, 2021 Huw Griffiths

Black History Month recognises and celebrates the achievements of people with African or Caribbean heritage and takes place every October (in the UK). It marks the contributions of Black people …

GUEST BLOG: Saving Antarctica! The 30th Anniversary of the signing of the Protocol on Environmental Protection

4 October, 2021 Amanda Wynne

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was agreed in 1991 and came into force in 1998, once it had been ratified by all 26 (currently 28) Antarctic …

Polar Zero: visual arts take centre stage at COP26

29 June, 2021

Immersive science-art ice core research exhibition to be displayed at Glasgow Science Centre during COP26

Celebrating International Women’s Day

8 March, 2021

On International Women’s Day (8 March 2021), we mark and celebrate women working at British Antarctic Survey (BAS). We showcase the diversity of roles and specialities of those working in …

Underrepresented groups welcomed to polar science

5 March, 2021

This week over 100 early career researchers and students from underrepresented groups, particularly BAME, LGBTQ+ and the Disabled, took part in Polar Horizons 2021. The Polar Horizons Initiative, funded by …

A group of people posing for a photo in front of a building

Small islands in the middle of nowhere

15 October, 2020 Sharon Grant

To celebrate Black History Month Sharon Grant describes her time working for British Antarctic Suirvey in this guest blog.

Carrying the PRIDE message to the ends of the earth

5 July, 2019 Huw Griffiths

BLOG. Biologist Huw Griffiths shares his personal experience of research as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

NEWS STORY: 2nd award for BAS manager

5 February, 2015

Long serving BAS manager awarded second honour Mike Pinnock, one of the British Antarctic Survey’s longest serving managers, has been awarded a Second Clasp by HM The Queen. The Second …

JCR Arctic Final Update

15 August, 2013 BAS Bloggers

This is the final update from the James Clark Ross from the JR288 Arctic cruise. The science is now almost complete and the ship is on passage to Dundee, from …

JCR Arctic Update 29th July 2013

30 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

Monday proved to be an interesting day for us all on the JCR. Just after mid-day a BAS Twin Otter aircraft did a fly past, having taken off from Longyearbyen …

JCR Arctic Update 28th July 2013

30 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

Another busy day of sampling on board the James Clark Ross. Noon Position Report for Sunday 28th July 2013 Latitude: 78° 53.1 N Longitude: 007° 07.5 W Bearing: 278 °T, …

JCR Arctic Update 27th July 2013

28 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

The highlight of the day for Friday was the sighting of a mother polar bear with two cubs on an ice-floe. Alas weather conditions were poor for good photography but …

JCR Arctic Update 26th July 2013

27 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

Most of Friday was spent amongst pack ice, which at times made deployment of equipment interesting. The weather continues to be good, with light winds and clear skies. As the …

JCR Arctic Update 25th July 2013

26 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

The JCR spent much of the day in sight of Greenland, with a heat haze seen across the pack ice. Not a great deal of wildlife in the past twenty …

JCR Arctic Update 23rd July 2013

25 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

The science work being carried out on board the RRS James Clark Ross is very varied, with underway air sampling, CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth), which includes collecting samples from …

JCR Arctic Update 22nd July 2013

24 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

Another day of thick fog in the morning and then clearing during the afternoon. The ship was only a few miles off the coast of Greenland and it was lovely …

James Clark Ross Arctic Cruise 2013 – JR288

22 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers

The James Clark Ross is currently engaged on a month long science cruise, designated JR288, to the Arctic. Initially the ship is working to the east of Greenland, slowly heading …

JR Update 14th January 2013

14 January, 2013 BAS Bloggers

Today did not start well and I was not sure that I would have much to write about this evening. I did consider taking pictures of banoffee pie as the …

JCR274

14 January, 2013 BAS Bloggers

The RRS James Clark Ross is currently on science cruise JR274, Ocean Acidification, and will be spending the next few weeks sampling rather a lot of water. The above image …

Northbound

21 May, 2012 BAS Bloggers

THe RRS Ernest Shackleton departed Stanley on the 29th April heading north for the UK, after a very busy and successful Antarctic season. The trip north was pretty uneventful and …

Mooring – 3rd April 2012

11 April, 2012 BAS Bloggers

The JCR left the Falkland Islands at the end of March for the final Antarctic science cruise of the season, this time with oceanographers and geologists.

Week 5: wrapping up and travelling home – March 21st, 2012

11 April, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Jen Jackson, BAS This week we bios have all been busy wrapping up our science work for this cruise: Adam (link: meet a scientist) is finally completing his bivalve experiments …

Ocean Chemistry on the JCR – March 21st 2012

23 March, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Douglas Hamilton, University of East Anglia Water chemistry is employed during cruises to look for various things of interest to Oceanographers like temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll. Temperature and …

James Clark Ross diary – March 15th 2012

19 March, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Melanie Mackenzie – Museum Victoria Now that we’ve finished collecting specimens, the EVOLHIST biology team on board the James Clark Ross is busily working away in the ship’s labs. Dr …

Week 4: Monday 27th February to Sunday 4th March: Completing our biological sampling in the eastern Weddell sea

6 March, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Rachel Downey (British Antarctic Survey) We have been working in some amazingly calm waters for the last two weeks, and are now breaking through the sea ice again as we …

Meet a team member

27 February, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Adam has joined us from Southampton University where he studies the reproduction and morphology of bivalve molluscs in the Southern Ocean. Like their clam and mussel relatives, Adam’s tiny Antarctic …

Week 3: Biological surveys in the eastern Weddell Sea

27 February, 2012 BAS Bloggers

Jen Jackson (British Antarctic Survey) Hello from the eastern Weddell Sea! On Sunday 19th February we reached the most southerly point of our expedition. At 77.36 degrees south we had …

RRS Ernest Shackleton at the Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica, for relief of Halley Research Station.

Antarctica 2011-12

2 January, 2012 BAS Bloggers

We are back down south again in the Weddell Sea once again involved in the annual Halley relief operation. We departed Immingham in the UK in early November and had …

North Sea 2011

3 August, 2011 BAS Bloggers

The Shackleton has been through quite a lot since you last heard from us down south. We departed Stanley in April and headed North for warmer climes. We had an …

JCR Refit 2011

9 June, 2011 BAS Bloggers

The James Clark Ross entered Portsmouth Naval Base on Wednesday 1st June to start the annual refit period. The James Clark Ross entered Portsmouth Naval Base on Wednesday 1st June …

Antarctica 2011

17 February, 2011 BAS Bloggers

After a rather long leave of absence the “Shackleton Blog” is once again back in action. With a crew change completed on the 29th January in Stanley, behind us, we …

Weddell Sea

15 February, 2011 BAS Bloggers

For the past few days we have been steaming through the Weddell Sea, stopping every now and then to do more science. Yesterday was a day of coring using the …

RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR244 to the southern Weddell Sea

11 February, 2011 BAS Bloggers

RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR244 to the southern Weddell Sea British Antarctic Survey scientists on this cruise are carrying out marine geological and geophysical studies to determine the long-term …

Lynx helicopter from HMS Endurance landing on HMS Polar Circle.

North Sea July 2010

10 July, 2010 BAS Bloggers

The RRS Ernest Shackleton has been through quite a bit since you heard from us. The trip north from the Falklands and arrival in Grimsby, a crew change and Dynmaic …

The Antarctic Peninsula And Back…

3 May, 2010 Adam Bradley

Radio Officer Patrick and the Crew got off the Mighty Ernest Shackleton in Stanley, Falkland Islands in Mid-March. Pat told me he was doing a monthly blog and would I …

Ice cliffs of the Brunt Ice Shelf near Mobster creek

Back at Halley

28 February, 2010 BAS Bloggers

Well the Science section of our cruise duly came to an end and we made or way out of the Weddell sea pack ice towards Creek IV at Halley. The …

Weddell Sea Wanderings

15 February, 2010 BAS Bloggers

Our Science program kicked into gear quite smoothly and we have had a very high success rate with our buoy retrieval efforts so far. Our first task was to …

Cape Town and Back

7 February, 2010 BAS Bloggers

Well Cape Town has come and gone and we are we are entering the pack ice once again after a rather rough trip down. Our trip North was largely uneventful …

Creek 3 Halley – Discharge

11 January, 2010 BAS Bloggers

New Years Greetings to you all. After a difficult final passage through compacted pack ice we finally broke through into open water and made our way down the coastline towards …

Read more on Creek 3 Halley – Discharge

Southward Bound 2009

31 December, 2009 BAS Bloggers

Capt Marshall’s team joined the ship in Immingham, in late November, which was a surprise to us all as we had been due to join in Cape Town. We departed …

North Sea ramblings

28 July, 2009 BAS Bloggers

Greetings from the North Sea, the Shackleton has had a busy time of it since you last heard from us. After The Norwegian job and demob in Kristiansund the ship headed …

Grab Sampling in the Norwegain Sea

3 June, 2009 BAS Bloggers

On her latest charter the RRS Ernest Shackleton has been involved in Environmental Monitoring for Statoilhydro in the Norwegian Sea. Since the 1980’s, Norwegian legislation has enforced Environmental Monitoring around …

The Humber to Norway

3 June, 2009 BAS Bloggers

Greetings once again, well here we are, floating about in the North Sea on contract and earning our keep. After a fairly hectic stay in Immingham with repairs and new …

Stanley to the Humber

12 May, 2009 BAS Bloggers

Greetings once again, it has been quite a while since we you heard from us. Much water has passed under the hull since then and we are currently heading for …

Crew Change – Stanley to Rothera

26 April, 2009 BAS Bloggers

Capt. John Mashall’s team duly arrived in Stanley and joined the ship on the Tuesday the 10th March. We spent three days in Stanley which was a good opportunity to …

Some Earth Observation Imagery used on JR200

25 March, 2009 BAS Bloggers

jr200 Autumn Science Cruise in the Scotia Sea The current series of Ecosystem Science cruises have run since 2006. The series is examining latitudinal changes in the biology of the …

Okay, Okay, so it’s C-o-l-d

19 February, 2009 BAS Bloggers

TEMPERATURES DROP IN ANTARCTICA Since I have working for the Antarctic Survey, I have been telling people back home that it is NOT so cold down here in Summer. You …

South Georgia Visit

13 February, 2009 Michael Gloistein

The RRS James Clark Ross made a brief visit to Grytviken and King Edward Point on Thursday morning. Members of the science team managed to get ashore and enjoy the …

The Shackleton in February 2009

12 February, 2009 BAS Bloggers

SO WHERE ARE WE PRESENTLY ? Presently, the RRS Ernest Shackleton is in the Weddell Sea of Antarctica. And what are we doing here ? Science… The Shackleton is primarily …

Ice…..

4 February, 2009 Michael Gloistein

When is a Ship not a Ship ??….

31 January, 2009 BAS Bloggers

When it’s an aquarium ! One of the many jobs undertaken onboard the Shackleton is a continual battle against the elements to ensure the ship remains in tip-top condition. From …

The RRS Ernest Shackleton is back On Line …