Many BIOPOLE members are continuing to build on the programme’s success through major international initiatives such as Antarctica In Sync and the 5th International Polar Year (IPY). They have helped shape the future of polar science by contributing to white papers and leading or participating in national and international committees, working  groups and task forces, ensuring that BIOPOLE’s legacy continues to have a lasting impact. BIOPOLE researchers and partners have also secured 9M Euros in EU funding through the new SYNCHRONY programme which begins in Aug 2026. SYNCHRONY will utilise BIOPOLE data and help establish a coordinated standardised framework for collecting and sharing observations across the polar regions, supporting initiatives such as Antarctica InSync and IPY. In addition, BIOPOLE researchers have recently completed the EU-funded PolarRES programme, which developed advanced high resolution polar climate models to better understand (among other aspects) how climate change may impact Antarctic ecosystems. This work included studying the impacts on the diapausing copepod C. acutus  in collaboration with BIOPOLE.  Building on this success, BIOPOLE researchers have secured a further 9M Euros of EU funding through the new SnowPI programme. SnowPI will extend BIOPOLE’s research into how future climate change may alter the movement of nutrients from land into the polar oceans, and how these changes could affect marine ecosystems, carbon storage, and global nutrient and carbon cycles by using the latest set of climate models that include inland ice and snow processes. 

The Author of this Article Geraint Tarling (British Antarctic Survey) and Nadine Johnston (BAS)