The overall responsibility of SciMT is to advise and support the Director of Science on management issues that affect planning and delivery of science on both short and long timescales.
Specific responsibilities of SciMT are:
Chair: Dr Anna Jones, Director of Science
11 September, 2025
Scientists have detected the DNA of an invasive marine species in Arctic Canada suggesting the region’s waters are no longer cold enough to be a natural barrier.
1 December, 2025 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Amid 1. increasing anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems, standardised biodiversity monitoring is critical for assessing biodiversity change. Marine hard-bottom habitats, though ubiquitous and biodiverse, present challenges for biodiversity monitoring due to…28 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Microorganisms often occur in association with macroalgae, with the term “phycosphere” referring to the seaweed surface where they may be present. Phycosphere represents a poorly explored niche of marine diversity,…23 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Diversity, distribution and biogeographical aspects of polar macroalgae must be reassessed as they face contemporary environmental changes. Macroalgae are the basis of the marine food web, efficient carbon sinks, biogenic…15 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Plastic pollution has reached the remote terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica, but the extent to which microplastics are affecting native terrestrial invertebrates has not been assessed. Using Antarctica's only endemic insect,…12 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) adopted a work program (2019–2030) that included, under its first objective, the interlinkages between biodiversity and climate change (IPBES, 2019).…Read more on Editorial: Biodiversity of Antarctic and Subantarctic ecosystems
5 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Dryas octopetala is one of the most important botanical components of Arctic tundra. In parts of the Norwegian High Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard it can face strong grazing pressure, in…3 November, 2025 by Alison McLaren, Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao
There is an increasing need to understand how water is cycled and transported within the atmosphere, to aid water management. Here, atmospheric water tracers are added to the Met Office…Read more on Implementation of water tracers in the Met Office Unified Model
1 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Globalization has increased human movement, transforming ecosystems and introducing non-native species that threaten biodiversity, particularly in Antarctica. Due to its harsh climatic conditions, Antarctica has largely remained protected from biological…24 October, 2025 by Clara Manno, Florence Atherden, Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward
The Southern Ocean is a globally significant site of carbon sequestration with the copepod community exerting a strong influence on the carbon flux. Currently, a holistic understanding of Southern Ocean…Read more on Seasonal analysis of Southern Ocean copepod ecology using a moored sediment trap
23 October, 2025 by Peter Convey
We evaluated the diversity and biotechnological potential of culturable fungi from sediments of Florencia and Katerina lakes, James Ross Island, maritime Antarctica. A total of 57 fungal isolates, belonging to…21 October, 2025 by Ainsley Hatt, David Barnes, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Predicting how benthic assemblages respond to ocean warming remains a central challenge in marine ecology. Artificial units of habitat such as settlement plates have long been used to study marine…9 October, 2025 by Peter Convey
Maritime Antarctica experiences less extreme environmental conditions than much of the Antarctic continent and has further been impacted by considerable warming in recent decades. While inventories exist of macroscopic Antarctic…8 October, 2025 by Irene Malmierca Vallet, Louise Sime, Rahul Sivankutty, Sentia Goursaud
The Last Interglacial (LIG) period, approximately 130 000 to 115 000 years ago, represents one of the warmest intervals of the past 800 000 years. Here, we simulate water isotopes in precipitation over…1 October, 2025 by Peter Convey
Additives such as stabilizers, plasticizers, and fillers are commonly used in relatively small amounts to enhance the structure of plastics. Notably, some of these additives, including moieties of compounds containing…28 September, 2025 by Irene Malmierca Vallet, John Slattery, Louise Sime, Xu Zhang
Several general circulation models have now demonstrated the ability to simulate spontaneous millennial-scale oscillations that resemble Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events. It is often unclear how representative of DO events these simulations…24 September, 2025 by Irene Malmierca Vallet, Louise Sime
Given that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer within the next ten to twenty years, accurately predicting low-ice states is of crucial importance. Paleo-evidence shows that the strong orbitally-induced…23 September, 2025 by Lloyd Peck, Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
Snow algae form extensive blooms within Antarctica’s coastal snowpacks and are a crucial contributor to its scarce terrestrial ecosystems. There is limited knowledge about the factors that contribute to snow…22 September, 2025 by Alistair Crame, Teal Riley
We present a new 1:500 000 geological map of Alexander Island of West Antarctica. The map, combined with recent detrital zircon analysis, defines an updated chronostratigraphy for the Fossil Bluff…Read more on The geology of Alexander Island (Antarctic Peninsula): a new 1:500 000 geological map
15 September, 2025 by Peter Convey
Background/Objectives: We evaluated eukaryotic diversity in two cores obtained from abyssal sediments collected at depths of 4280 m and 4444 m in the equatorial Atlantic, between the Fernando de Noronha…
