British Antarctic Survey

BAS-NL Science Day2024
2024-10-07 12:00 - 2024-10-08 17:00 (Europe/London) | Aurora Cambridge, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OET
The broad aim of the BAS-NL Science Day 2024 is to bring together researchers in BAS and researchers funded by the Netherlands Polar Program and Dutch Research Council (NWO) to showcase collaborative science and network.
Early Career Researchers are encouraged to attend! Registration is free, and refreshments will be provided.

Projects
ANT-MICI (developing indicators for monitoring the impacts of tourism, co-PI Stef Bokhorst), MACS (sea ice and DMS, PI Susanne Wilken), FIRN CAISSO (Firn cores at George VI Ice Shelf, PI Bert Wouters), Larsen C Firn project (PI Carleen Tijm-Reijmer), Marine bio invasions (PI Wilco Verberk), Hot history of Antarctic ice sheet (PI Peter Bijl), Antarctic Biota Count (PI Stef Bokhorst), the Dutch Cryosphere Consortium (PI Roderik van de Wal) & HiRISE (PI Bert Wouters).
Funded in June 2024: https://www.nwo.nl/en/news/five-projects-break-the-ice-on-antarctic-research

Preliminary programme
Monday 7 October
Morning: travel to Cambridge for external participants
14:00 – welcome with coffee and tea
14:30 – opening, introduction of BAS and NPP
15:00 – presentations of the projects
17:00 – room for practical topics (e.g. permitting, IPY, SCAR)
17:30 – drinks
A group dinner will be arranged, but will be at your own cost

Tuesday 8 October
09:00 – morning programme (ideas and topics welcome)
12:30 – lunch offered by BAS
13:30 – end of Science Day
Afternoon: time for project meetings or early travel home

British Antarctic Survey at Big Biology Day, Cambridge
2024-10-12 10:00 - 16:00 | Hills Road Sixth Form, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PE, United Kingdom
On Saturday 12 October join British Antarctic Survey for Big Biology Day held at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.
Hosted by Cambridge Biologists, Big Biology Day is the largest free-to-attend festival in the UK exclusively dedicated to the biological sciences.

This is a chance to get an up-close and personal experience with biology and to meet and interact with scientists.
Come along and talk to our experts as they share insights about life and research in Antarctica, shedding light on how animals and plants survive in extreme conditions and the challenges that lie ahead in the future.
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to embark on a career as a polar researcher or to work in Antarctica? This is your opportunity to talk to our team about careers in science.
Please be aware that parking is unavailable at the college, but you don’t need to buy a ticket or pre-book this event—simply show up and enjoy the day!
To find out more visit Big Biology Day

Protecting our planet day 2024
2024-11-12 09:00 - 16:30
Have you got your ticket to Antarctica? This is a unique chance for you to have your name sent to Antarctica in a time capsule and follow the voyage to the ice on the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Sign up and receive weekly interactive email updates packed with stories and activities along the way.
As part of the adventure, we will now be offering the chance to join Protecting Our Planet Day (POP24), an engaging live-streamed event tailored for schools on November 12.
The full-day program features live link-up sessions with inspiring experts dedicated to addressing climate change and is brought to you by STEM Learning in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency.

British Antarctic Survey will be taking part in the ‘Protecting Our Ice’ session, scheduled from 10:15 to 10:35 am. This captivating live link-up for secondary school children, will connect you with our scientists aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough and at the Rothera Research station in Antarctica.
Discover the state-of-the-art facilities on the research vessel, enabling scientists to explore the oceans, seafloor, ice, and atmosphere. Gain insights into the daily lives and work of our divers at Rothera and understand the vital role polar regions play in advancing our knowledge of the oceans, marine life, and the climate system.
For more details and to register for these sessions, visit the POP24 website. Choose to sign up for the entire day or simply drop in for the sessions with your class or the whole school!
For more information on how to sign up for Ticket to Antarctica, visit the website.

British Antarctic Survey at the Science Museum Christmas Lates
2024-12-18 18:30 - 22:00 | Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD, United Kingdom
The British Antarctic Survey invites you to join us at the Science Museum Christmas Lates. The halls will be decked for a festive celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that makes this season truly magical!
Chat with BAS scientists about their fascinating experiences conducting research in the icy extremes of the polar regions. Step inside our cosy polar tent, try on authentic polar gear, and discover what’s on the menu for scientists working in the field.
Camping in Antarctica

Immerse yourself in the diverse and extraordinary sounds of Antarctica. Listen to The Seventh Continent, a captivating new album blending stunning original music with field recordings from one of BAS’s 2023 science missions.
Hear the rumble of the RRS Sir David Attenborough at sea, the echoes of an inlet near the world’s largest iceberg, and the enchanting calls of elephant seals and skuas.
Get ready to eat, drink, and be merry at the Science Museum’s very first festive edition of Lates. We can’t wait to see you there!
Age: 18+.
General admission is free. VIP tickets are £12.

Join us for an 'Antarctic Adventure' - A family talk by a polar scientist at Cambridge Festival 2025
2025-03-29 13:30 - 14:30 | Cockcroft Lecture Theatre, (through the Pembroke Archway), Pembroke St, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3QY, United Kingdom
Come along to ‘Antarctic Adventure – Explore the Frozen Frontier’ – a talk aimed at anyone over 7 years old by British Antarctic Survey polar scientist Kate Hendry and marine biologist Dr Helen Scales.
Dive into an amazing Antarctic adventure to one of the most remote and challenging environments on Earth. Kate and Helen will show you how science is done around the icy continent of Antarctica. You’ll get the chance to discover incredible wildlife, help build an Antarctic food web, study giant sea spiders, listen to singing seals and find out why Antarctica is so important for the rest of the planet.

This talk is free to attend and aimed at ages 7 + – We look forward to seeing you there!

This talk is part of Cambridge Festival 2025 which takes place from 19 March to 4 April. The festival will run a series of events highlighting world-leading research happening at Cambridge. For a full round of events please visit the Cambridge Festival website.

Workshop on Polar Winter Climate and Processes
2025-04-23 11:00 - 2025-04-25 13:00 | British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Polar Winter Climate and Processes: Towards Filling Knowledge Gaps in the Understanding of the Coupled Climate System

Download the Workshop Programme PDF
Accommodations PDF

Polar winter plays a critical role in various processes, including sea ice growth, snow accumulation, surface energy balance, atmospheric dynamics and chemistry. Current climate models struggle to accurately represent polar weather and climate, especially during winter. These significant discrepancies hinder the reliability of these models in predicting and projecting future conditions in the Arctic and Antarctica.

While previous studies have predominantly focused on summer, it is crucial to explore winter conditions to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the entire climate system. To address this need, we organize a workshop titled “Polar Winter Climate and Processes.” This workshop aims to bring together diverse research communities to examine the physical and chemical processes in the interconnected atmosphere, cryosphere, marine, and terrestrial systems. Our goal is to facilitate the exchange of ideas, present recent findings, and identify knowledge gaps in our understanding of the overall climate system.
We invite contributions from all relevant disciplines and areas, including observation (in stiu and remote sensing), modeling, and theoretical research.

Themes to focus:
Theme 1: Polar winter storms and climate impacts, linking to

Extreme event

Blowing snow

Warm air intrusion

Cold air outbreak

Sea ice evolution (open leads, polynyas, melt)

Air-sea-ice interaction

Surface mass balance for icesheet/iceshelf

Surface energy budget

Permafrost deepening

Atmospheric boundary layer processes

Theme 2: Polar winter aerosol, clouds and chemistry

CCN, INPs and sources

Aerosol budget and composition

Cloud-aerosol interaction

Arctic Haze

Snow chemistry and climate impacts

Biogeochemistry

Theme 3: Polar-mid-latitude and polar-lower-latitude teleconnections, involving e.g.

Atmospheric river

Polar vortex

Jet stream

Storm track

Atmospheric blocking

Rossby wave

Theme 4: Knowledge gaps to fill

New theory or mechanism and parameterisations

New technology observation (from buoys, stations, ships, aircraft and satellites) active or automatic – via new international research programs, e.g. IPY, InSync, etc

New modelling approaches

Keynote speakers:

Ola Persson (CIRES/NOAA, USA) on storm/sea ice

Martin Radenz (TROPOS, Germany) on aerosol/cloud remote sensing

Irina Gorodetskaya (CIIMAR, Portugal) on atmospheric river and Winter YOPP SH project

Tom Bracegirdle (BAS, UK) on extremes and EXANT project

When: 23-25 April 2025
Format: Hybrid
Where: British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Cost: free of registration – (Early Career Researchers can apply for travel fellowship)
Please register via using this link – Note that registration closes on [March 14 2025]
Please submit your abstract using this link – Note that abstract submission closes on [March 14 2025]

Organising Committee:

Xin Yang (Chair), BAS, UK
Xiangdong Zhang (co-Chair), NCSU, USA
Alexandra Weiss, BAS, UK
Markus Frey, BAS, UK
Sergi González-Herrero, WSL Institute, Switzerland
Xianda Gong, Westlake Uni., China
Rainette Engbers, WSL Institute, Switzerland
Romy Hall, BAS, UK

What: This workshop is co-funded by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) and Surface Fluxes in Antarctica (SURFEIT), a NERC National Capability International research programme.
If you have any questions, please get in touch – Xin Yang – xinyang55@bas.ac.uk

New exhibition explores the intersection of art and Antarctic science
2025-09-12 09:00 - 2026-06-27 16:00 | Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, CB2 1EP, GB
From Friday 12 September 2025, step into a world where Antarctic science and art meet at the Scott Polar Research Institute’s new art exhibition – Through Ice & Fire. This is a striking collaboration between contemporary artist Rowan Huntley and polar geologist Dr Joanne Johnson from the British Antarctic Survey.
This unique event is free to attend and will be open every Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00am to 4.00pm until 27 June. The exhibition blends offers visitors a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on the icy continent and how it is being affected by the climate crisis.
A piece of artwork produced by Rowan Huntley, featured in the exhibition | credit: Rowan Huntley
For more information head to the exhibition webpage.
How to find the exhibition

Protecting Our Planet Day 2025: Livestream event for schools
2025-11-27 11:30 - 12:30
Have you got your ticket to Antarctica? Sign up and receive weekly interactive email updates packed with stories and activities following our journey around Antarctica on a Twin Otter plane. As part of this adventure, join Protecting Our Planet Day (POP25), as we livestream from Halley VI Research Station and the RRS Sir David Attenborough tailored for secondary schools on November 27.

Your class will get to hear from experts at both locations to find out about how they live and work on the icy continent. Discover the science happening there which is helping us understand how the climate is changing and how that effects the whole of planet Earth. British Antarctic Survey will be taking part in the ‘Protecting Our Ice’ session, scheduled from 11.30am to 12.10pm.
Join POP25 ‘Protecting our ice’ session to hear from experts on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough
The full-day program features live link-up sessions with inspiring experts dedicated to addressing climate change and is brought to you by STEM Learning in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency.
Halley VI Research Station
For more details and to register for these sessions, visit the POP25 website. Choose to sign up for the entire day or simply drop in for the sessions with your class or the whole school!

Open Day for schools: Ice Explorers - Icebergs, penguins and brrrilliant science!
2026-03-20 10:00 - 14:00 | British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Teachers, bring your students along to ‘Ice Explorers’ – an educational open day for schools at the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Our open day is part of the Cambridge Festival line up.
Step into our icy world and find out how scientists, engineers and innovators are uncovering the secrets of our frozen poles. From the bottom of the oceans to the edge of space, our research helps guard the future of our planet.
Explore. Discover. Experience.
Ice Explorers invites school students on an interactive journey into the polar regions – where the ice tells stories of Earth’s past and present, and holds the clues to its future. Through hands-on experiments, live demonstrations and fascinating exhibits, you’ll see how researchers study ice, wildlife and climate change in some of the planet’s most extreme places.

Meet polar scientists and engineers who are studying Earth’s most extreme environments.
Step inside a polar field tent and see what it’s really like to live and work in freezing conditions.
Try on real polar clothing to learn what it takes to survive in the icy wilderness.
Hop aboard a snowmobile and snap a photo with our friendly penguins!
Hear stories from Antarctica – from battling blizzards to studying the ice, oceans and wildlife that hold clues to our changing planet(Credit: Peter Fretwell)

The polar regions matter
Why are Antarctica and the Arctic vital for understanding climate change? What questions are scientists trying to answer, and how does what’s happening there affect the rest of the world?
Our research shows that the polar regions play a huge part in the Earth’s climate – by reflecting sunlight, storing frozen water and driving ocean currents. Understanding how these cold places are changing means we can better protect our planet’s future.
This ice-cool experience is open to schools!
Bring your class, uncover the science and take your first steps into the exciting world of polar research.
Tickets will be released in February 2026 and the event will be free to attend.
Suitable for year 3 and above.
Morning and afternoon sessions will be available.
This is an event for schools. If you are not a school and would like to visit British Antarctic Survey, we are having a family friendly open day too.
How to find us
Visit us in Cambridge.

Open Day: Ice Explorers – Icebergs, penguins and brrrilliant science!
2026-03-21 10:00 - 16:00 | British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Join us for Ice Explorers – a fun, family-friendly open day at the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Our open day is part of the Cambridge Festival line up.
Step into our icy world and find out how scientists, engineers and innovators are uncovering the secrets of our frozen poles. From the bottom of the oceans to the edge of space, our research helps guard the future of our planet.
This is a ticket-only event – but tickets are free and available here.
Explore. Discover. Experience.
Ice Explorers invites families on an interactive journey into the polar regions – where the ice tells stories of Earth’s past and present, and holds the clues to its future. Through hands-on experiments, live demonstrations and fascinating exhibits, you’ll see how researchers study ice, wildlife and climate change in some of the planet’s most extreme places.

Meet polar scientists and engineers who are studying Earth’s most extreme environments.
Step inside a polar field tent and see what it’s really like to live and work in freezing conditions.
Try on real polar clothing to learn what it takes to survive in the icy wilderness.
Hop aboard a snowmobile and snap a photo with our friendly penguins!
Hear stories from Antarctica – from battling blizzards to studying the ice, oceans and wildlife that hold clues to our changing planet

(Credit: Peter Fretwell)
The polar regions matter
Why are Antarctica and the Arctic vital for understanding climate change? What questions are scientists trying to answer, and how does what’s happening there affect the rest of the world?
Our research shows that the polar regions play a huge part in the Earth’s climate – by reflecting sunlight, storing frozen water and driving ocean currents. Understanding how these cold places are changing means we can better protect our planet’s future.
This ice-cool experience is open to everyone – from curious kids to lifelong explorers
Come along, uncover the science and take your first steps into the exciting world of polar research.
Tickets
Tickets are free and are available here.
A grounded iceberg seen from Lagoon Island in Ryder Bay, Antarctica
How to find us
Visit us in Cambridge.

Pop into the Polar Museum
2026-03-28 10:00 - 15:00 | Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, CB2 1EP, GB
As part of this year’s Cambridge Festival, why not drop into the Polar Museum in the heart of the city and enjoy a full day of ice-themed activities?
Meet artist Rowan Huntley and take the opportunity to talk with her about her work featured in the Through Ice and Fire exhibition. You’ll also be able to get hands-on with samples from her research and artistic experiments, offering a unique insight into her creative process.
British Antarctic Survey will have a field tent on display, giving you the chance to step inside and experience what it’s like to live and work in extreme polar conditions. Try on authentic polar clothing worn by researchers during field trips in remote parts of Antarctica and learn more about what it takes to survive in such a harsh, icy environment.
You can also explore the museum’s fascinating collection, with opportunities to handle objects connected to geology and scientific research in the polar regions across history. Chat with knowledgeable staff and volunteers as you examine geology samples and scientific equipment up close.
