Polar Diaries

On episode 9 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Matt Lamanna, the Mary R. Dawson Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology and senior dinosaur researcher at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of you mayalready know this, and others may not, but I’ve loved dinosaurs and palaeontology for as long as I can remember, and I even considered studying it at degree level for...

In episode 8 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Professor Audrey Giles from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Audrey is an applied cultural anthropologist who works with Indigenous communities in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Canada. Much of Audrey's research centres on three key areas. The first is injury prevention, especially drowning prevention in northern comm...

In episode 7 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Dr. Natalie Robinson. Natalie is a marine physicist with a passion for polar oceanography. Based in New Zealand at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Wellington as well as at the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, Natalie’s work dives deep into the icy world of Antarctica. From large-scale ocean c...

In episode 6 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Professor Ian Hawes who is an Antarctic scientist with Antarctica New Zealand and with the University of Waikato. Ian is a recognised expert in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and he specialises in the biodiversity and ecosystems of inland and coastal waters and has made significant contributions to knowledge of freshwater ecosystems in both New Zea...

In episode 5 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Dr Petra Heil. Petra is a sea ice scientist with the Australian Antarctic Programme and the University of Tasmania. Over the years working at AAD and as an associate researcher at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC at the University of Tasmania, her research has evolved to take in several aspects of sea ice science including coupled ocean/ice/a...

In episode 4 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Dr Hannah Cubaynes who is a research associate in the ‘wildlife from space’ team at the British Antarctic Survey. Hannah’s research interests are to develop the use of space technology for marine wildlife research in remote places, and to make this method applicable at a global oceanic scale by improving the efficiency of image analysis through crowd...

In episode 3 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Professor Richard Phillips who is the leader of the Higher Predators and Conservation group within the British Antarctic Survey Core Science Ecosystems programme. Much of Richard's work focuses on the evolutionary ecology and population demographics of seabirds including albatrosses, petrels, and skuas. Richard tells us about a recent project, ‘a...

Happy LGBTQ+ History Month! In episode 2 of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Dr Huw Griffiths. Huw is a marine biogeographer at the British Antarctic Survey and he mostly studies the animals that live at the bottom of the sea around Antarctica and the Arctic. Huw is passionate about equality and diversity in STEM and he co-organised the Polar Horizons Programme which has so far paired 85 early care...

In this first episode of Polar Diaries, we are joined by Professor Lloyd Peck who is a Science Leader with the British Antarctic Survey. Lloyd- who is chatting to us all the from Antarctica, tells us about his research on animal adaptations in cold environments, how he prepares to scuba dive in the Southern Ocean, and what it's like living and working on an Antarctic research base. You'll...