The BAS Science Strategy Team ensures that the organisation delivers world-leading science underpinned by a clear polar science strategy, that science in BAS is well-managed and has funding that is appropriate and secure.
Director of Science David Vaughan
Terms of Reference
To develop, maintain and implement a science strategy that keeps BAS at the forefront of polar science, meeting the current NERC science strategy and delivering the BAS Vision
To ensure the delivery of the BAS science programme, assessing progress, and ensuring excellent scientific outcomes
To foster a vibrant and fertile intellectual environment within BAS, in which all scientists are challenged to develop bold and exciting scientific ideas, and to develop their personal and professional skills
To ensure that BAS leads and participates in scientific initiatives that lead to major advances in knowledge and expertise
To identify opportunities and ensure innovation, beneficial contact with stakeholders and to maximise the impact of BAS Science
To identify and initiate opportunities to maintain, diversify and increase funding available to BAS science; agreeing any changes or adjustments required ensure the sustainable funding of crucial science activities
To monitor performance of BAS’s science, and ensure its scientists perform in-line with the expectations of BAS and NERC, highlighting and praising excellence, and where required, implementing measures to improve performance
To identify, and seek to overcome, impediments to scientific progress; reporting those that cannot be overcome to the BAS Executive
CAMBRIDGE: British Antarctic Survey (BAS) continues to plan its operational support to the UK and international polar research community during global challenges posed by COVID-19. Halley and Signy Research Stations …
The British Antarctic Survey has been awarded National Capability funds for polar science which will strengthen UK national security, resilience, economic growth and societal benefit
A new UK-U.S. Antarctic research programme to improve the prediction of future sea-level rise is launched this week (Monday 30 April 2018) at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Cambridge. The £20 …
The RRS Sir David Attenborough has begun its polar science trials in Antarctica. A team of 30 national and international scientists, engineers and technical staff are working on the ship …
The nutrient-poor soils of Antarctica are sensitive to change. Recent increases in the number of anthropogenic introductions mean that understanding the impact of non-native species on Antarctic soils is pertinent,…
We provide the first assessment of fungal diversity associated with historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay (Heritage Monument 71), Deception Island, maritime Antarctic, using DNA metabarcoding. We detected a total…
Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands include some of the world’s most extreme and pristine terrestrial habitats. While they are characterized by low biodiversity and terrestrial communities comprise small, often microscopic,…
Antarctic soils provide an excellent setting to test biogeographical patterns across spatial and environmental scales given their relatively simple communities and the dominance of physical factors that create strong environmental…
Free-living terrestrial mites (Acari) have persisted through numerous glacial cycles in Antarctica. Very little is known, however, of their genetic diversity and distribution, particularly within the Ross Sea region. To…
Invasive non-native species (INNS) are recognized as a major threat to island biodiversity, ecosystems, and economies globally. Preventing high-risk INNS from being introduced is the most cost-effective way to avoid…
In this study, we use approximately 3 years of observations from the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG/Arase) satellite to statistically study the meridional distribution of wave power…
The Arctic has a diverse terrestrial microarthropod fauna which overwinters in situ in soil and vegetation. This fauna is involved in key ecosystem process, for example decomposition and pollination, and…
We studied the fungal diversity present in soils sampled along a deglaciated chronosequence from para- to periglacial conditions on James Ross Island, north-east Antarctic Peninsula, using DNA metabarcoding. A total…
A high-resolution ocean model is used to characterize the variability of the shelf circulation and cross-shelf transport around the South Georgia island (SG). The time-mean shelf circulation consists of a…
Mapping spatiotemporal changes in the distribution of blue ice regions (BIRs) in Antarctica requires repeated, precise, and high-resolution baseline maps of the blue ice extent. This study demonstrated the design…
Intensive human exploitation of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) in its primary population centre on sub-Antarctic South Georgia, as well as on other sub-Antarctic islands and parts of the…
Climate change is increasingly affecting Antarctica and the rest of the world. Urgent policy responses are needed to mitigate its associated impacts. Engagement of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM),…
Measurements of atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO) amount fraction and flux density above snow were carried out using a long path absorption photometer at Halley station in coastal Antarctica between 22…
Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity is simple compared with other regions of the Earth, with many higher taxonomic groups not represented owing to the continent’s isolation, the severe climatic conditions and the…
The dynamics of marine systems at decadal scales are notoriously hard to predict—hence references to this timescale as the “grey zone” for ocean prediction. Nevertheless, decadal-scale prediction is a rapidly…
Seasonal cycling in carbon, alkalinity, and nutrients in landfast sea ice in Hangar Cove, Adelaide Island, West Antarctic Peninsula, were investigated during winter, spring, and summer 2014–2015. Temporal dynamics were…
Few ice cores from the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Sea sectors of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) extend back in time further than a few hundred years. The WAIS is…
Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity faces multiple threats, from invasive species to climate change. Yet no large-scale assessments of threat management strategies exist. Applying a structured participatory approach, we demonstrate that existing…