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
23 April, 2024 by Peter Convey
Aspergillus fumigatus is a common opportunistic pathogen in different animals, including birds such as penguins. For the first time, a fungal strain identified as A. fumigatus was isolated from soil…18 April, 2024 by Povl Abrahamsen, Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders, Sally Thorpe, Victoria Fowler
Kaartvedt et al. (2024; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 734:173–175) comment on the role internal waves played in the findings of Dewar-Fowler et al. (2023; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 715:27–39) that…16 April, 2024 by Ramesh Karanam, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Long-term variabilities of monthly zonal (U) and meridional winds (V) in northern polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT, ∼80–100 km) are investigated using meteor radar observations during 1999–2022 over Esrange…16 April, 2024 by Ramesh Karanam, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Long-term variabilities of monthly zonal (U) and meridional winds (V) in northern polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT, ∼80–100 km) are investigated using meteor radar observations during 1999–2022 over Esrange…4 April, 2024 by Peter Convey
We assessed the fungal diversity present in snow sampled during summer in the north-west Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands, maritime Antarctica using a metabarcoding approach. A total of…1 April, 2024 by Peter Convey
Snow is a unique microhabitat, despite being a harsh environment, multiple life forms have adapted to survive in it. While algae, bacteria and fungi are dominant microorganisms in Antarctic snow,…1 April, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Gravity waves (GWs) play an important role in the dynamics and energetics of the mesosphere. Geomagnetic activity is a known source of GWs in the upper atmosphere. However, how deep…Read more on Observations of mesospheric gravity waves generated by geomagnetic activity
29 March, 2024 by Elaine Fitzcharles, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Rebecca Smith, Rose Stainthorp, Simon Morley
Antarctic marine ectotherms live in the constant cold and are characterised by limited resilience to elevated temperature. Here we tested three of the central paradigms underlying this resilience. Firstly, we…28 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
Biological invasions are one of the main drivers of global biodiversity decline. At the same time, glacial retreat induced by climate warming is occurring at an alarming rate across the…18 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
Antarctic ice-free areas are dominated by wind-dispersed organisms. However, which organisms arrive and circulate in Antarctica and how remain poorly understood. Due to their proximity to South America and less…17 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
We studied the culturable fungal community recovered from deep marine sediments in the maritime Antarctic, and assessed their capabilities to produce exoenzymes, emulsifiers and metabolites with phytotoxic activity. Sixty-eight Ascomycota…9 March, 2024 by Andrew Meijers, Dani Jones
Subantarctic mode waters have low stratification and are formed through subduction from thick winter mixed layers in the Southern Ocean. To investigate how surface forcing affects the stratification in mode…8 March, 2024 by Alison Cleary, Anna Belcher, Cecilia Liszka, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jaume Forcada, Nadine Johnston, Philip Trathan, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding
Understanding and managing the response of marine ecosystems to human pressures including climate change requires reliable large-scale and multi-decadal information on the state of key populations. These populations include the…7 March, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh
Compositional NOx changes caused by energetic electron precipitation (EEP) at a specific altitude and those co-dependent on vertical transport are referred to as the EEP direct and indirect effect, respectively.…4 March, 2024 by Andrew Fleming, Scott Hosking, Jeremy Wilkinson, Maria Fox, Martin Rogers
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is the primary data type used for sea ice mapping due to its spatiotemporal coverage and the ability to detect sea ice independent of cloud…Read more on Sea ice detection using concurrent multispectral and synthetic aperture radar imagery
1 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
Antarctica has often been perceived as a pristine continent until the recent few decades as pollutants have been observed accruing in the Antarctic environment. Irresponsible human activities such as accidental…1 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
Given the substantial diesel demand in Antarctic operations, the means of addressing ecological restoration following its inappropriate release are attracting attention from researchers. The Madrid Protocol mandates the use of…1 March, 2024 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
This paper explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected science and tourism activities and their governance in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. The pandemic reduced the ability of Antarctic Treaty Parties…Read more on How the COVID-19 pandemic signaled the demise of Antarctic exceptionalism
26 February, 2024 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The Cretaceous period is particularly well represented by a thick sequence of clastic sedimentary rocks exposed in the Antarctic Peninsula region of western Antarctica. This was an active margin throughout…Read more on Cretaceous stratigraphy of Antarctica and its global significance
