Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, measuring past climate from tiny, ancient, ice bubbles entombed in the Antarctic ice sheet. Current projects and roles:

– Team member on ‘REWIND’ ice core drilling project, drilling a new high-resolution ice core in field seasons 24/25 and 25/26. Leading on deployment of firn-air analytical system and development of analytical system for carbon dioxide.
– Team member of Beyond Epica Oldest Ice (BE-OI) consortium, drilling the oldest continuous ice core record ever retrieved at 1 Million years old, part of the team measuring chemical climate markers using the British Antarctic Survey ‘Continuous Flow Analysis’ system.
– Lead on development, staff training and analysis of ‘Total Air Content’ analytical system at the British Antarctic Survey Gas Analysis Lab, a developing proxy for past ice sheet elevation.
– Lead on Ice Core Forum, bringing together a consortium of ice core (and related) researchers from across Cambridge research institutes in monthly meetings and seminars

Research/Education Overview:

Aug 2019 – July 2024: Postdoctoral Researcher, British Antarctic Survey, UK. Initiating and working in the ice core gas analysis lab at the British Antarctic Survey. Developing a new, highly-precise, dry extraction analytical system for CO2 and C isotopes in ice core samples.

May 2019 – Aug 2019: Research Assistant, WACSWAIN project, processing Skytrain ice core. University of Cambridge, Dept. of Earth Sci, UK.

Oct 2015 – May 2019: PhD, ‘Organics in Ice: Novel organic compounds in ice cores for use in palaeoclimate reconstruction’. University of Cambridge, Dept. of Chemistry and British Antarctic Survey, UK.

Oct 2014 – Oct 2015: MSc Polar and Alpine Change, University of Sheffield, UK and University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Svalbard.

Oct 2010 – Oct 2014: BSc (Hons) (Int) Geology and Physical Geography, University of Leeds, UK, and University of Queensland, Australia.

• King, A., Thomas, E., & Jackson, S. (2019). Records of isotopes, anions, cations and organic compounds measured in the Bouvet Island ice core for the time period 2001-2016 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/96dc0dd7-b5db-4444-97af-8ddfab1e7f78

1. How Antarctic winds shaped CO₂

   SIWHA investigates how westerly winds and sea ice have influenced CO2 uptake and release in the Southern Ocean.

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2. Sub-Antarctic Ice Coring Expedition (SubICE)

   SUBICE, the Sub-Antarctic – ice coring expedition, part of the international Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), successfully drilled several shallow ice cores, from five of the remote and globally significant sub-Antarctic islands.

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1. Listen to ancient air escaping from polar ice cores at Royal Society

   Climate scientists from University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, showcasing how they are using Antarctic ice cores to unlock the past and uncover clues to our planet’s future.

   Read more of: Listen to ancient air escaping from polar ice cores at Royal Society

   

2. Hold polar ice at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   British Antarctic Survey, in partnership with the University of Cambridge, will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, showcasing how, using Antarctic ice cores to unlock the past, we can understand more about the future of our planet in a changing climate.

   Read more of: Hold polar ice at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   

3. Ice on show at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, talking all about how we’re unlocking the past using ice cores from […]

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4. Antarctic ice explains dip in CO2 levels

   Small bubbles of air from ice in Antarctica resolve a long-standing debate about why there was a decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during the 16th and 17th centuries.

   Read more of: Antarctic ice explains dip in CO2 levels

   

5. Ice Core Gas Lab

   Specialist ice core facility to measure concentration and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases

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6. Immersive science-art exhibition opens at Glasgow Science Centre

   A new immersive exhibition, Polar Zero, opens at Glasgow Science Centre this weekend (2 October), injecting an artistic and cultural dimension to the climate negotiations at the Conference of the […]

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7. Celebrating International Day of Women & Girls in Science

   International Day of Women and Girls in Science today (11 February) is a celebration of women and girls in science and is organised by UNESCO and UN-Women. To mark this […]

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8. Ice core aquisition and analysis

   UK national facility and capability

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• Committee Member, Ice Core Young Scientists (ICYS)