New Zealand and International Polar Year
For New Zealand scientists International Polar Year (IPY) represents a unique opportunity to participate in a number of important Antarctic scientific collaborations. These are likely to produce major advances in Antarctic science and reinforce the position of New Zealand as a serious and high quality science partner, particularly in the Ross Sea region.
The Royal Society Committee on Antarctic Science (RSCAS) is the New Zealand organising body. In all cases, New Zealand researchers are aiming to contribute to national as well as international objectives. There are no projects under the International Polar Year umbrella in which New Zealand is the sole participant, but two (ANDRILL and CAML) in which it has taken a prominent leadership role.
The research funding announced in May has resulted in the development of a special three-year $4.5 million contestable research fund to be administered by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST). In addition a further $6.6 million has been allocated for the specific IPY project Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) to be administered the Ministry of Fisheries and the Government’s Ocean 20/20 initiative for marine survey.
17 March 2009
International Polar Day - Polar Oceans
March 18th, 2009 marks the eighth quarterly International Polar Day, this time focusing on Polar Oceans. This includes marine biodiversity, physical oceanography and more. Activities will occur throughout the last two weeks of March 2009.
... MORE27 February 2009
International Polar Year Report
As the International Polar Year winds up, the organisers have released a statement entitled The State of Polar Research. It gives an overview of work undertaken in the IPY, noting the observation of exciting new phenomena, fundamental scientific discoveries and the development of new methods and tools, and most importantly, gained new understanding of the role of the polar regions in the total Earth system.
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