ANTARCTICA INSYNC
ANTARCTICA INSYNC brings together researchers from around the world including British Antarctic Survey to study the continent and the Southern Ocean at the same time.
Louise Sime
IDP Science Leader IMP 3
Dr. Louise Sime is a leading climate scientist at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), specialising in polar climate dynamics and the study of ice sheets, sea ice, snow, and climate across timescales ranging from seasonal to multi-millennial.
Her research focuses on using water tracers including stable water isotopes (such as deuterium and oxygen-18) in ice cores to reconstruct past climate conditions and improve understanding of the hydrological cycle in polar regions. These water tracers and isotopes provide crucial data for evaluating the accuracy of climate models, especially in predicting future polar change.
As the Science Leader of the Ice Dynamics and Paleoclimate team at BAS, and head of the Earth System Modelling group, Dr. Sime leads several large-scale international projects. She plays a key role in advancing research on abrupt climate transitions, surface fluxes in Antarctica, and the stability of ice sheets under warming conditions. Her work integrates observational data with climate models to better predict the effects of polar changes on global climate.
With over 20 years of research experience, Dr. Sime’s contributions to polar science are recognized globally, and she continues to mentor a new generation of climate researchers. She holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield and has been with BAS since 2006.
Current responsibilities for BAS:
- Member of the Science Strategy Executive Group
- Team leader of Ice Dynamics and Paleoclimate (IDP)
- Group head of IDP Earth System Modelling
Current and Previous advertised PhD projects :
- Current: Earth system dynamics during current and past warm climates. (BAS and University Cambridge – ~Jan 15th 2026)
- Now filled: ARIA ECO-ICE project in Arctic sea ice thickening and tracing climate interventions (BAS and University Reading – now filled)
Current students and staff:
- Dr Max Thomas, Scientist, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Xu Zhang, Scientist, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Alison McLaren, Scientist, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Irene Malmierca, Scientist, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Mr Matthew Goodwin, PhD candidate (University of Reading and British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Ms Juliana Neild, Scientist (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Ms Oliva Reeves, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey and University of Cambridge, UK).
- Mr John Slattery, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey and University of Cambridge, UK).
- Ms Rachel Diamond, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey and University of Cambridge, UK).
Previous students and staff:
- Ms Huiling Zou, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Ms Eliza Ziegler, PhD candidate (University of Heidelberg, Germany).
- Ms Estelle Lonyem Ngoumtsa, PhD candidate (University of Bristol, UK).
- Dr Rahul Sivankutty, PDRA, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Qinggang Gao, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Matthew Chadwick, PhD candidate (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Vittoria Guarino, PDRA, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Ms Fiona Turner, PhD candidate (University of Sheffield, UK).
- Dr Kira Rehfeld, DFG Research Fellow (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Max Holloway, PDRA, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Emilie Capron, Senior scientist, (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
- Dr Gisela Hiess, PDRA (British Antarctic Survey, UK).
Funding and major projects:
- WP2 and UKESM lead: ARIA: Ecological Impact Assessment of Earth Cooling Experiments in the Arctic (Eco-ICE) [Ongoing, 2025-2029]
- WP1 and Institute Lead: EU-HE: Past-to-Future: Towards fully paleo-informed future climate projections (P2F). HE-101184070 [Ongoing, 2025-2029]
- Institute Lead: MBIE NZ: Antarctic Sea-Ice Switch – Preparing for New Threats: ASIS (RSCHTRUSTVIC2448, funded by the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, MBIE). [Ongoing, 2024-2028]
- Co-Investigator. NERC Directed. Drivers and Impacts of Extreme Weather Events in Antarctica: EXTANT (NE/Y503307/1) [Ongoing, 2024-2028]
- Co-Investigator. NERC National Capability Single Science (NC): UK Polar Research Expertise for Science and Society: PRESCIENT [Ongoing, 2024-2028]
- Co-Investigator. NERC Directed. The Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to +2C: SWAIS2C. NE/X009386/1 [Ongoing, 2024-2028]
- Co-Investigator. NERC Directed. Assessing ocean-forced, marine-terminating glacier change in Greenland during climatic warm periods and its impact on marine productivity: KANG-GLAC. NE/V006509/1 [Ongoing, 2023-2028]
- Principal Investigator. NERC National Capability International. SURface FluxEs In AnTarctica: SURFEIT. NE/X009319/1. [Ongoing, 2023-2027]
- Institute and ERC lead: EU DEEPICE: Understanding Deep Ice Core Proxies to Infer Past Antarctic Climate Dynamics, H2020 G.N.955750 [Completed, 2021-2025]
- Modelling lead: EU ERC Grant: ANTarctic Sea Ice Evolution from a novel biological archive: ANTSIE [Completed,2020-2025]
- UK and modelling lead: NZ Marsden: Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) Project [Completed, 2020-2025]
- WP2 and Institute Lead: EU-H2020: Tipping Points in the Earths System: TiPES H2020 G.N. 820970 [Completed, 2019-2024]
- Co-Investigator. AHRC: research grant: Materializing Data, Embodying Climate Change. AH/S00369X/ [Completed, 2019-2022]
- Co-Investigator. EU-ERC Grant: Warm Climate Stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet in the last Interglacial: WACSWAIN. [Completed, 2018-2024]
- Principal Investigator. NERC Standard Grant: Retreat of Southern Hemisphere Sea Ice, 130 000 to 116 000 years BP. NE/P013279/1. [Completed, 2017-2021]
- Principal Investigator. NSF-NERC Standard Grant: Paleoclimate signatures of the climate response to West Antarctic ice sheet collapse. NE/P009271/1. [Completed, 2016-2021]
- Co-Investigator. Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures Grant: Reconstructing the past and predicting the future: what can ice cores tell us about climate? [Completed]
- Principal Investigator. EPSRC-Feasibility Study Grant: Emulating the Isotope Response to Changes in the Geometry of the Greenland Ice Sheet. [Completed]
- Co-Investigator. NERC Standard Grant: Late Quaternary changes in Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean. NE/K004514/1. [Completed]
- Principal Investigator. NERC New Investigator Grant: The Age Structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet. NE/J004804/1. [Completed]
Research interests
One of the key questions which has motivated Louise’s recent work is the question of how we can best use evidence of change during past warm climate periods to help understand and predict likely polar change over the coming centuries. Closely linked to this, she has a strong interest in how we can evaluate, and improve, our climate models over the polar regions, and recently helped formulate the CMIP FastTrack modelling protocol that explores the impacts of abrupt sea ice loss (abrupt-127k). See also https://www.pmip-interglacials.de/.
Collaborations
| Year | Professional Activities |
|---|---|
| 2025- | Member Royal Society Fellowships Panel |
| 2024- | Co-Lead of the CMIP-PMIP Interglacials Work Group |
| 2024-2025 | Chair of Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) award Panel B (Climate, Cryosphere and ESMs), |
| 2023-2024 | Visiting Fellow University of Dunedin, Dunedin, NZ |
| 2022-2024 | Science Advisory Group – Centre for Polar Observations and Modelling (CPOM-UK) |
| 2021-2025 | Visiting Fellow University of Victoria, Wellington, NZ |
| 2018-2021 | Member of the NERC Large Grant panel |
| 2018-2020 | Chair of the University of Cambridge C-CLEAR NERC DTP Climate and Environment panel: Awards 3-12 NERC PhD studentships |
| 2018-2020 | Steering Committee: SCAR Past Antarctic Ice Sheet (PAIS) |
| 2017-2020 | Steering Committee: PAGES Climate Variability Across Scales (CVAS) |
| 2016-2022 | Core panel A member for NERC |
| 2016-2018 | Management board member: GW4+ NERC DTP: Awards 28 NERC PhD studentships |
| 2016-2017 | Chaired interview panel: For GW4+ DTP |
| 2015-2017 | Elected Work Group Leader: the Past Earth Network, Model-Data Comparisons |
Polar Data Centre Datasets:
- Guarino, M. V., & Sime, L. (2022). Last Interglacial summer air temperature observations for the Arctic (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9AB58D27-596A-472C-A13E-2DCD68612082
- Guarino, M. V., & Sime, L. (2021). HadCM3 and HadGEM3 LIG model outputs: A sea ice-free Arctic (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9B138820-EEC3-43AE-A49B-068A9F5931A4
- Perren, B., Hodgson, D., Roberts, S., Sime, L., Van Nieuwenhuyze, W., Verleyen, E., & Vyverman, W. (2020). Fossil diatom and geochemistry data from a 700-year core from La Grange Cop, subantarctic Marion Island. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/49A1EC0E-AE5F-4DF5-A59B-FA6DFF614678
- Malmierca Vallet, I., Domingo, D., Sime, L., & Voss, J. (2020). Surface elevation of 69 Greenland Ice Sheet morphologies and associated δ18O anomalies (with respect to Pre-industrial) simulated by HadCM3 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/35AED839-1634-4692-B6D6-4D6312953EB5
- Goursaud, S., Holloway, M., Sime, L., Wolff, E., Valdes, P., Steig, E., & Pauling, A. (2020). Global monthly outputs of orography, surface air temperature and water stable isotopes for the last interglacial for idealised Antarctic Ice Sheet simulations run by the isotope-enabled HadCM3 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/09330D14-7F2D-4C12-AD00-08A9CD1FB214
- Holloway, M. (2018). Southern Hemisphere winter sea ice concentration simulated by HadCM3 to best explain the early last interglacial Antarctic isotope peak [Data set]. Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation, UK. https://doi.org/10.5285/0F3D9228-2F4A-4F2C-BBE6-EE8A123DB58D
Publications from NERC Open Research Archive
Malmierca Vallet, I., Sime, L., Valdes, P., Klockmann, M., Vettoretti, G., & Slattery, J. (2024). HadCM3 model outputs: Spontaneous Dansgaard-Oeschger type oscillations (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/92b07757-3897-4a26-b93d-c508ffe93846
Guarino, M., & Sime, L. (2022). Last Interglacial summer air temperature observations for the Arctic (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9ab58d27-596a-472c-a13e-2dcd68612082
Guarino, M., & Sime, L. (2021). HadCM3 and HadGEM3 LIG model outputs: A sea ice-free Arctic (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9b138820-eec3-43ae-a49b-068a9f5931a4
Goursaud, S., Holloway, M., Sime, L., Wolff, E., Valdes, P., Steig, E., & Pauling, A. (2020). Global monthly outputs of orography, surface air temperature and water stable isotopes for the last interglacial for idealised Antarctic Ice Sheet simulations run by the isotope-enabled HadCM3 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/09330d14-7f2d-4c12-ad00-08a9cd1fb214
Perren, B., Hodgson, D., Roberts, S., Sime, L., Van Nieuwenhuyze, W., Verleyen, E., & Vyverman, W. (2020). Fossil diatom and geochemistry data from a 700-year core from La Grange Cop, subantarctic Marion Island. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/49a1ec0e-ae5f-4df5-a59b-fa6dff614678
Sime, L., Malmierca Vallet, I., Domingo, D., & Voss, J. (2019). Surface elevation of 69 Greenland Ice Sheet morphologies and associated δ18O anomalies (with respect to Pre-industrial) simulated by HadCM3 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01283
Holloway, M. (2018). Southern Hemisphere winter sea ice concentration simulated by HadCM3 to best explain the early last interglacial Antarctic isotope peak (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation, UK. https://doi.org/10.5285/0f3d9228-2f4a-4f2c-bbe6-ee8a123db58d
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Read more of: ANTARCTICA INSYNC
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Creating Standards for Climate Experiments
Read more of: Creating Standards for Climate ExperimentsEco-ICE studies whether making Arctic sea ice thicker could harm ocean life and creates tools to help decision-makers work out if climate projects are safe.
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PRESCIENT
Read more of: PRESCIENTPRESCIENT supports long-term, strategically important measurements and capabilities for the wider science community.
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Antarctic surface mass and energy exchanges
Read more of: Antarctic surface mass and energy exchangesSURFEIT unites UK and international scientists to study Antarctic ice and atmosphere interactions, improve sea-level projections, and support climate action.
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Adding water tracers to the UK Earth System Model
Read more of: Adding water tracers to the UK Earth System ModelThe project adds water tracers, including stable isotopes, to the UK Earth system model (UKESM2). These tracers follow water through the model’s hydrological cycle.
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Modelling Greenland’s abrupt ancient warming
Read more of: Modelling Greenland’s abrupt ancient warmingSDOO project investigates abrupt climate warming episodes recorded in Greenland ice cores, known as Dansgaard-Oeschger events, where temperatures rose by 10-15°C within a decade during the last glacial period.
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Past Westerly Winds
Read more of: Past Westerly WindsPast Westerly Winds research project used climate model simulations to investigate how Southern Ocean westerly winds behaved during the last glacial maximum.
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Weddell Sea ice sheet and climate
Read more of: Weddell Sea ice sheet and climateStudying ice response during past climate changes improves understanding of Antarctic ice sheet dynamics. This knowledge helps predict how ice sheets may behave under future warming scenarios.
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Climate and Ice during the Last Interglacial
Read more of: Climate and Ice during the Last InterglacialThis project studies the last Interglacial (129-116 thousand years ago, ka) when CO2 and global temperature were both higher than they were before human industrialisation. By examining Last Interglacial climate, we can gain insights into climate processes and feedbacks close to those expected by the end of the 21st century.
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Late Quaternary changes in the Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean
Read more of: Late Quaternary changes in the Westerly Winds over the Southern OceanIn this NERC-funded project, we are generating Southern Hemisphere Westerlies (SHW) proxy records from each of the three major sectors of the Southern Ocean, focusing on subantarctic islands situated in the core belt of the SHW.
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iStar-D The contribution to sea-level rise from the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
Read more of: iStar-D The contribution to sea-level rise from the Amundsen Sea sector of AntarcticaiStar-D will identify the potential contribution to sea-level rise, from ice locked in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
Some links to current major funded projects that I lead or co-lead:
NERC: Surface Fluxes in Antarctica: SURFEIT: Principal Investigator, Dr Louise Sime (£2.3m to BAS)
EU-H2020 Major European Grant: Tipping Points in the Earths System: Led by Dr Peter Ditlevsen (€8m in total): WP lead Louise Sime (€680K to BAS)
AHRC: research grant: Materializing Data, Embodying Climate Change. Led by Professor Tom Corby: University of the Arts London. AH/S00369X/1 (€685K), co-led by Dr Louise Sime.
ERC advanced grant: WACSWAIN. (€2.8m) Led by Prof Eric Wolff; co-investigator Dr Louise Sime.
NERC standard grant: Retreat of Southern Hemisphere Sea Ice, 130 000 to 116 000 years BP . Led by Dr Louise Sime: BAS (£360K)
NSFGEO-NERC standard grant: Paleoclimate signatures of the climate response to West Antarctic ice sheet collapse. Joint US and UK project. Led by Dr Louise Sime: BAS (£202K); and Prof Eric Steig; University of Washington (£300K).
Links to major funded projects now finished, that I led or co-led:
NERC standard grant: Late Quaternary changes in the Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean. Led by Dr Dom Hodgson, BAS (£650K)l; co-led by Dr Louise Sime.
NERC new investigator grant: The Age Structure of the Greenland ice sheet from Airborne Radar Data (ASGARD). Led by Dr Louise Sime: BAS (£79K)
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Ancient Antarctic ice loss offers insights into future climate scenarios
Read more of: Ancient Antarctic ice loss offers insights into future climate scenariosScientists from the University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey have used ice core records to draw new conclusions about how Antarctica was affected by increased global temperatures over 100,000 years ago.
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Record low Antarctic sea ice ‘extremely unlikely’ without climate change
Read more of: Record low Antarctic sea ice ‘extremely unlikely’ without climate changeScientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have found that the record-low levels of sea ice around Antarctica in 2023 were extremely unlikely to happen without the influence of climate change.
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Team heads for Antarctica to study global warming effects
Read more of: Team heads for Antarctica to study global warming effectsA research mission to Antarctica will study the effects of global warming on the West Antarctic ice sheet.
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DEEPICE: Network of young researchers to unveil past climate change in Antarctica
Read more of: DEEPICE: Network of young researchers to unveil past climate change in AntarcticaA network of international researchers launches a European collaboration this week ( 14 October 2021). This collaboration will train a new generation of scientists to understand how past climate changes […]
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Past evidence supports complete loss of Arctic sea-ice by 2035
Read more of: Past evidence supports complete loss of Arctic sea-ice by 2035A new study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, supports predictions that the Arctic could be free of sea ice by 2035. High temperatures in the Arctic […]
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Arctic sea ice loss in past linked to abrupt climate events
Read more of: Arctic sea ice loss in past linked to abrupt climate eventsA new study on ice cores shows that reductions in sea ice in the Arctic in the period between 30-100,000 years ago led to major climate events. During this period, […]
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FEATURED PAPER: Winds and sea ice
Read more of: FEATURED PAPER: Winds and sea iceIt is thought that wind changes over the Southern Ocean may have been critical in driving changes in CO2 between cold ice-world and warm-world climates. Because of inconsistencies between the […]
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FEATURED PAPER: Sea-ice reduction
Read more of: FEATURED PAPER: Sea-ice reductionA team of British climate scientists comparing today’s environment with the warm period before the last ice age has discovered a 65% reduction of Antarctic sea ice around 128,000 years […]
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New Antarctic ice discovery aids future climate predictions
Read more of: New Antarctic ice discovery aids future climate predictionsA team of British climate scientists comparing today’s environment with the warm period before the last ice age has discovered a 65% reduction of Antarctic sea ice around 128,000 years […]
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PRESS RELEASE: Warmer spells detected in ice cores
Read more of: PRESS RELEASE: Warmer spells detected in ice coresMysteriously warm times in Antarctica A new study of Antarctica’s past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. […]
Some recent invited talks:
2025 Interview for the New Scientist: Rapid Melt from Antarctica could speed up revival of crucial ocean current (Nov 2025)
2025 Brazil COP30: Invited panel member: Ocean Tipping Points (Panel +Q&A) (Nov 2025)
2025 Interview for the Guardian on Polar Tipping Points (June 2025)
2025 Cardiff University. Invited seminar on Sea Ice Extreme: Past and Future (March 2025)
2024 CMIP-IPO International series. Invited talk on CMIP7 abrupt-127k Fast Track protocol (Sept 2024)
2024 PMIP7-CMIP7 WINGS invited seminar on the abrupt-127k experiment (June 2024)
2024 LIGA workshop in Stockholm, Sweden, Invited speaker on Last Interglacials (May 2024)
2024 EGU2024, Highlight talk: The Last Interglacial and CMIP6 (April 2024)
2024 Bern University, Switzerland: Abrupt sea ice loss and polar changes (March 2024)
2023 GRISO workshop in Bergen, Norway: First Invited Keynote: Arctic and Greenland Ice Sheet change during the Last Interglacial (April, 2023)
2023 Dunedin University, NZ, Icesheet change during past Interglacials (Feb 2023)
2022 Wellington University, NZ, Sea level rise and icesheet change during past Interglacials (Dec 2022)
2022 EGU: Invited talk: Diversity in Interglacials – past warm periods (April 2022)
2022 DEEPICE FINSE winter school lecturer (Feb 2022)
2021 Glasgow COP26: Invited panel member: Climate Risk & Tipping Points in the Polar Regions (Panel + Q&A) (2021)
2021 University of the Arts, COP26 event speaker/panellist: Ask a Climate Scientist: COP, Science, Culture and Politics (2021)
Some press coverage of our groups work:
The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/19/sea-levels-could-rise-bysix-to-nine-metres-over-time-new-study-warns.html
The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-sea-level-rise-global-warming-climate-change-british-antarctic-survey-a7195481.html
The Mail Online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3743104/Antarcticas-sea-ice-said-vulnerable-sudden-retreat.html
The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/08/16/world/europe/16reuters-climatechange-antarctica.html?ref=world&_r=0
Beyond the Ice podcast
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Team Leader, Ice Dynamics and Paleoclimate
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BAS member of the NERC Peer review College, NERC Peer review College
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Member of the Sea Ice Prediction Network, Sea Ice Prediction Network