Wellington hosts the SIRG Workshop 2020 On 3-5 February, the New Zealand Snow focused on Antarctica, with talks on The student talk prize winners included and Ice Research Group (SIRG) held its modelling sea ice, and sea ice movement, Florence Isaacs (SGEES) who presented annual meeting, organized this year by as well as Antarctic ice sheet processes, links between sea ice and East Antarctica the ARC. The meetings are usually held in from large scale ice shelf fracturing and and El Niño, and Maren Richter unique locations around New Zealand, subglacial drainage, to smaller scale (University of Otago), who presented a with this year’s meeting held on deformation and ice mechanics. new method to more-accurately measure Matiu/Somes Island, located in the sea ice thickness. Thanks to the New The newly established International Wellington Harbour. Zealand Alpine Club, Bivouac Outdoor, Glaciological Society’s Early-career and Icebreaker for the student prizes. About 30 participants presented, Glaciology Group (EGG), whose aim is to IceSked including New Zealand-based research on provide more support and community Thank you to our major sponsors NIWA, mapping snow cover using drones, for young glaciologists, held a mixer on Antarctica New Zealand, and the Antarctic Issue 34: July 2020 Newsletter of Te Puna Pātiotio — Antarctic Research Centre measuring snow accumulation in the the first night. Thanks to the Garage Science Platform for their support, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Southern Alps, investigating the drivers of Project and Good Buzz Kombucha, for enabling the meeting to have free calving of Haupapa/Tasman Glacier, direct supporting this event. registration for students. Lauren Vargo measurements from Rolleston and Fox/Te Winner's of the 2019 Prime Minister's Science Prize Moeka o Tūwae glaciers, and using Led by the Antarctic Research Centre, team members, Peter Barrett (founding During the past six years, members of cosmogenic dating to understand past the “Melting Ice and Rising Seas” team ARC Director) and Alex Pyne (world- the team have produced a plethora of glacier history. Lynda Petherick and Cliff comprising 23 earth and social scientists leading polar science drilling specialist), papers, with 205 published in peer- Atkins (SGEES), who recently received from Victoria University of Wellington, which laid the foundations. Geological reviewed journals, and an incredible list funding to study dust on glaciers in the GNS Science and NIWA has been and ice drill core records acquired in the of 30 papers in the world’s leading Southern Alps, gave a talk to get feedback awarded the New Zealand Prime 80s, 90s and early 2000’s by NZ-led interdisciplinary scientific journals from the snow and ice community. This Minister’s Science Prize for 2019. Due to international projects in the Ross Sea (e.g. Nature & Science). Three members of was especially timely, as the fires in COVID-19 the usual ceremony at region have provided many this year’s winning team have also been Australia from October 2019 through Parliament was abandoned, and Prime fundamental insights, that are now recipients of Prime Minister’s Science January 2020 have deposited huge Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the central to our understanding of current Prizes in the past. Rob McKay won the amounts of dust on New Zealand’s winner in a delayed event online via concern over the future stability of PM’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist glaciers. Research outside of New Zealand livestream on 30 June Antarctica’s ice sheets. Peter was well- Prize in 2011, while Rebecca and James both secured the PM’s Science The SIRG Workshop attendees on Matiu/Somes Island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLe ahead of the time, when in 2004 he 43P1GboI. The Prize recognises world- prophetically stated, “civilisation as we Communication Prize, in 2016 and 2018, Welcome to new staff class, excellent research conducted in know it will be over by the end of the respectively. Tim, James, Nick and Judy The ARC welcomed four new staff in is to provide expertise in regional climate and publish these data alongside other New Zealand, that has had impact and century if we don’t change course”, have also been lead authors for the fifth 2020. In February, Liz Keller and modelling by running climate cosmogenic datasets previously benefit. It comes with a $500,000 award. based on what he was learning from and sixth IPCC Assessment Reports, Alexandra Gossart joined as part of the simulations at a range of spatial and collected and analysed by expeditions The majority of this ($400,000) has been Antarctica. while Andrew was lead author on the Antarctic Science Platform National temporal scales. The climate model will led by the ARC. invested into the ARC Endowed IPCC’s Special Report on the Oceans and Other ARC key team members included Modelling Hub, a joint Victoria University be integrated with regional scale ocean Development Fund and will be used to the Cryosphere. Judy and Rob Bell are Nancy Bertler (Director of the Antarctic of Wellington, GNS Science and NIWA and ice sheet models used by other fund a PhD scholarship in perpetuity. also lead authors of the Ministry for the Science Platform), Lionel Carter, Nick facility, with a space hosted by the ARC. members of the Hub. The remaining $100,000 was split up Environment’s 2017 document on Golledge, Huw Horgan, Richard Levy Liz, also at GNS Science, joined as evenly amongst the 23 members with Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: (Leader of the NZ SeaRise Programme), Modelling Hub Co-leader alongside Nick Then in April, the ARC employed Lauren suggestions they may like to spend it on Guidance for Local Government. and current ARC Director Rob McKay, Golledge. Her role is within the ‘Future Vargo and Jamey Stutz who both lowering their personal carbon along with Brian Anderson, Ruzica Projections Expert Group’ a component completed their PhDs recently within footprint. The winning team project of the Antarctic Science Platform the ARC. Lauren has a three-year role as Dadic, Warren Dickinson, Michelle Dow, and will contribute to the delivery of Postdoctoral Fellow in New Zealand ARC’s, Tim Naish, led the team and says Gavin Dunbar, Sean Eaves, Liz Keller, research goals as well as help mentor the Glacier Monitoring & Modelling and will Liz Keller Alexandra Gossart the impact of their work can already be Andrew Mackintosh (now Monash junior research fellows within the Hub. continue her research on climate seen around New Zealand. “Our science University), Darcy Mandeno, and Dao Together, Liz and Nick have successfully change and the resulting influence on on Antarctic ice melt and sea-level rise Polsiri. Other leading climate change led the international search for four new the cryosphere through NIWAs ongoing projections feeds directly into national researchers at the University were also research fellows to be employed across monitoring of New Zealand glaciers. policy and guidance on how to manage key members of the team: James the three institutes involved in the Hub. Jamey, has been employed as a sea-level rise. We are working with Renwick (Head of SGEES), Rebecca The University’s appointment, Alexandra, Research Fellow in Antarctic Geology for central government, regional councils Priestley (Director of the CSIS), and completed her PhD at Université Libre de one-year to analyse cosmogenic and local authorities.” adaptation expert Judy Lawrence (CCRI). Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, prior to samples collected during the 2019/20 Nancy, Richard, and Liz also hold arriving in New Zealand. Alexandra’s role Antarctic field season to Byrd Glacier, Lauren Vargo Jamey Stutz While the Prize recognises research positions at GNS Science, and the other over the last five years, the team key team member, Rob Bell (NIWA), is acknowledges the pioneering New Zealand’s leading coastal hazards contribution of over 30 years by key expert.

Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand www.wgtn.ac.nz/antarctic | +64-4-463 6587 | [email protected] On Ice Off Ice The first Antarctic Science Platform field season completed Antarctic science and sea-level rise impacts feature in Chile’s Congresso Futuro The 2019/20 Antarctic field season NIWA recording the previously unknown Then in January, Nick Golledge and PhD In January, Tim Naish along with ex- deployed 17 ARC staff and students to temperature and salinity structure of the students Alanna Alevropoulos-Borrill, Prime Ministers, Nobel Laureates, leading Antarctica, making it one of the largest water column at this remote and Laurine van Haastrecht, and former PhD thinkers and scientists were invited to Victoria University of Wellington important location. student Dan Lowry (now GNS Science), give talks at Chile’s annual Congresso Antarctic Expeditions ever! headed down to Scott Base to install Futuro (Congress of the Future). The global positioning system receivers on Congress aims to open a national debate The season saw the Antarctic Ice the Ross Ice Shelf. The project aims to regarding the urgent need for Chile to Dynamics Project team working measure the velocity of the ice shelf have more and improved science and alongside the NZARI Ross Ice Shelf continuously through at least two full technology, for the benefit of the society, Project to directly access the ocean years, in order to identify whether any economy and environment. Speakers cavity beneath the Ross Ice Shelf near seasonal changes occur. If so, this would were invited to share insights based on the grounding zone of Kamb Ice Stream indicate that short-term environmental their experience. Tim spoke on climate on the Siple Coast. The Antarctic Ice changes influence the flow of the ice change in an event in Santiago, visited Dynamics Project is a collaborative study sheet and would allow modellers to the ALMA radio telescope array in the led by GNS Science as part of the MBIE- improve the way that such processes are north of the country at 6000 m in the funded Antarctic Science Platform’s incorporated in simulations used for Atacama Andes, and travelled to Punta (ASP) Project-1 and will be a major focus Gavin Dunbar and MSc student Theo Calkin future projections. The field event Arenas in the south to present a public preparing the gravity corer for the ARC over the coming years. The managed to successfully install half of talk on Antarctic ice sheet melting and interest in the Siple Coast region is Beyond the Siple Coast, Jamey Stutz and the receivers, but a run of bad weather sea-level rise along with Dr Marcelo motivated by the knowledge that the Shaun Eaves were on Byrd Glacier, one unfortunately prevented access to many Leppe, Director of INACH, the Chilean West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has an of the largest glaciers in East Antarctica of the field sites. Nick and the team will Antarctic Institute. Tim Naish presenting at Congresso Futuro, Santiago important role to play in future sea-level working on a project aimed to provide hopefully return to the sites in the Chile is an incredible country dictatorship. This year’s Congress was a new constitution for the country, there rise. A key control on whether the WAIS terrestrial constraints on past changes in 2021-22 season to download data and geographically that spans from the more important than ever as it was set was a real feeling of positivity. Tim and a grows, or shrinks are the large ice ice sheet geometry using cosmogenic set up new receivers to extend the data tropics to Antarctica, and the Pacific on the backdrop of months of civil selection of the invited speakers streams by which most ice leaves the ice surface exposure dating. The priority coverage. coast to the high Andes. It is 90% disobedience and riots following the including, 2019 Nobel Prize Winner in sheet and enters into the floating ice was Byrd Glacier as it’s a major outlet renewable for domestic electricity and is social uprising that began on Chemistry Professor Frances Arnold, shelves and ocean. These ice streams glacier draining approximately 10% of developing a plan to be net carbon zero 16 October 2019. were invited to meet with the President are capable of speeding up and slowing the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to the Ross by 2050. It is also incredibly proud of its of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, and Science down (or even stopping) on geologically Ice Shelf – the gatekeeper of the marine- The Congress is organised at the highest connection with Antarctica. It is Minister Andrés Couve Correa. The short (years to centuries) timescales, and based WAIS. They targeted Lonewolf governmental level by the Chilean endowed in natural resources, but its meeting, which was held at the our limited understanding of the Nunataks, a remote site situated Senate and is largely co-ordinated and economy and social well-being are still President’s Palace in Santiago, discussed processes governing these behaviours upstream of the Byrd Glacier fjord, on run by young people, the same young weighed down by the legacy of years of how science and technology could help introduces significant uncertainties to the edge of the polar plateau. At each of people who were also protesting in the extreme free market nationalism and improve the social and economic issues models used to conduct future the three nunataks visited, they found uprising. With the government now oppression under the Pinochet facing Chile. projections. the dolerite bedrock to be littered with consulting the people via referendum on cobbles of exotic lithologies – a clear The 2019/20 field location, sign that ice had previously covered approximately 850 kilometres from these outcrops. The collected samples S.T. Lee Lecture in Antarctic Studies Scott Base, was primarily supported by will be analysed in the University’s The 17th Annual S.T. Lee Lecture in Andrea is very active in communicating inform us about the dynamics of a traverse of sleds that took 14 days to Cosmogenic Laboratory to unveil when Alanna Alevropoulos-Borrill on the Antarctic Studies titled “Tropical Tales of her research to the public and her Antarctic ice sheet retreat during past Ross Ice Shelf at the first of the K045 Polar Ice” was presented on the 16 June, combined impact within academia and warm periods and what that means for reach the site. A 584 metre access hole and how fast the Byrd Glacier changed GPS installations was melted through 150 tonnes of ice in the centuries and millennia prior to by Professor Andrea Dutton, in the sphere of public outreach has the future of coastlines around the using the University's Hot Water Drilling human observations. Overall, ASP Project-1 is off to flying Department of Geoscience, University of earned her numerous accolades, world under future sea-level rise. system. The hole was kept open for nine start, and we are grateful to everyone Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Andrea is a including being named as a fellow of the days before the deployment of a long- who pitched in to help make it happen - world-renowned expert on past climate Geologic Society of America, as one of term oceanographic mooring. in particular, Antarctica New Zealand for and sea-level change. Her main research Rolling Stones’ “25 People Shaping the Numerous experiments were run getting us to this remote, but critically focus is to establish the behaviour of sea Future”, and most recently, as a throughout the season, examining the important region. level and polar ice sheets during past MacArthur Fellow. ice shelf, ocean cavity, and underlying warm periods to better inform us about Andrea came to visit New Zealand in sediment properties. Highlights future sea-level rise. One hallmark of January as a United States Fulbright included retrieving shallow cores that Andrea’s approach is the strong Scholar and has been working with record past ice sheet and ice shelf interdisciplinary nature of her work that ARC’s Tim Naish, Rob McKay and Nick behaviour, seeing the underside of the blends field geology, geophysics, coral Golledge. Her captivating, S.T. Lee ice shelf through the eyes of our US reef ecology, sedimentology, and Shaun Eaves and Jamey Stutz Lecture focussed on describing how her collaborators tethered ROV (Icefin), and collecting samples geochemistry. work on the impacts of sea level on fossil coral reefs on tropical islands has helped Andrea Dutton presenting her lecture 2 3 Wellington hosts the SIRG Workshop 2020 On 3-5 February, the New Zealand Snow focused on Antarctica, with talks on The student talk prize winners included and Ice Research Group (SIRG) held its modelling sea ice, and sea ice movement, Florence Isaacs (SGEES) who presented annual meeting, organized this year by as well as Antarctic ice sheet processes, links between sea ice and East Antarctica the ARC. The meetings are usually held in from large scale ice shelf fracturing and and El Niño, and Maren Richter unique locations around New Zealand, subglacial drainage, to smaller scale (University of Otago), who presented a with this year’s meeting held on deformation and ice mechanics. new method to more-accurately measure Matiu/Somes Island, located in the sea ice thickness. Thanks to the New The newly established International Wellington Harbour. Zealand Alpine Club, Bivouac Outdoor, Glaciological Society’s Early-career and Icebreaker for the student prizes. About 30 participants presented, Glaciology Group (EGG), whose aim is to including New Zealand-based research on provide more support and community Thank you to our major sponsors NIWA, mapping snow cover using drones, for young glaciologists, held a mixer on Antarctica New Zealand, and the Antarctic measuring snow accumulation in the the first night. Thanks to the Garage Science Platform for their support, Southern Alps, investigating the drivers of Project and Good Buzz Kombucha, for enabling the meeting to have free calving of Haupapa/Tasman Glacier, direct supporting this event. registration for students. Lauren Vargo measurements from Rolleston and Fox/Te Moeka o Tūwae glaciers, and using cosmogenic dating to understand past glacier history. Lynda Petherick and Cliff Atkins (SGEES), who recently received funding to study dust on glaciers in the Southern Alps, gave a talk to get feedback from the snow and ice community. This was especially timely, as the fires in Australia from October 2019 through January 2020 have deposited huge amounts of dust on New Zealand’s glaciers. Research outside of New Zealand The SIRG Workshop attendees on Matiu/Somes Island Welcome to new staff The ARC welcomed four new staff in is to provide expertise in regional climate and publish these data alongside other 2020. In February, Liz Keller and modelling by running climate cosmogenic datasets previously Alexandra Gossart joined as part of the simulations at a range of spatial and collected and analysed by expeditions Antarctic Science Platform National temporal scales. The climate model will led by the ARC. Modelling Hub, a joint Victoria University be integrated with regional scale ocean of Wellington, GNS Science and NIWA and ice sheet models used by other facility, with a space hosted by the ARC. members of the Hub. Liz, also at GNS Science, joined as Modelling Hub Co-leader alongside Nick Then in April, the ARC employed Lauren Golledge. Her role is within the ‘Future Vargo and Jamey Stutz who both Projections Expert Group’ a component completed their PhDs recently within project of the Antarctic Science Platform the ARC. Lauren has a three-year role as and will contribute to the delivery of Postdoctoral Fellow in New Zealand research goals as well as help mentor the Glacier Monitoring & Modelling and will Liz Keller Alexandra Gossart junior research fellows within the Hub. continue her research on climate Together, Liz and Nick have successfully change and the resulting influence on led the international search for four new the cryosphere through NIWAs ongoing research fellows to be employed across monitoring of New Zealand glaciers. the three institutes involved in the Hub. Jamey, has been employed as a The University’s appointment, Alexandra, Research Fellow in Antarctic Geology for completed her PhD at Université Libre de one-year to analyse cosmogenic Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, prior to samples collected during the 2019/20 arriving in New Zealand. Alexandra’s role Antarctic field season to Byrd Glacier, Lauren Vargo Jamey Stutz

Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand www.wgtn.ac.nz/antarctic | +64-4-463 6587 | [email protected]