Team UKCEH rendezvoused in the metropolis that is Alta airport before picking up their trusty vehicle steads and heading out to the soon to be named “cabin lab”, near Utsjoki in Finland. Despite team 1 undergoing a rigorous potato search at the border (fortunately potatoes were safely stashed in innocent looking team 2’s vehicle), we made it to our home for the next 10 days. Turns out the side cabin to our Airbnb cabin made an excellent little lab with the sauna providing the perfect tap to get our water purification system going.
Not the traditional use of a Finnish sauna, but “cabin lab” worked a treat
With the lab set up complete, operation science began, and we spent the next days driving up and down the river Tana taking water samples, greenhouse gas samples, running experiments, and Isabelle and Alex even managed to find some sediment amongst the sand and rocks. Never had we crossed borders so many times; fortunately the potato scare seemed to have passed and we were subject to no further potato searches. The basket ladies, Isabelle and Alex, got their basket experiments out and incubating away for a few days at some spots in the river and in Tanafjord, whilst the rest of the team headed out with friendly fisherman Sverre to sample the salinity gradients at the mouth of the Tana. Sverre didn’t bat an eyelid as drove around in circles hunting the gradient down, though suspect he was thinking “crazy British scientists”.
Field team treated to glorious weather for the boat sampling work
Granted an extra day to science with the news the cargo wouldn’t be picked up till later, we managed to grab some extra sites and rock various stylish waders to get some discharge measurements. A successful week, overseen by several curious reindeers visiting cabin lab to check out the work of BIOPOLE.
In a picture on the left:
Friendly Maurice the reindeer checking out the tasty grass next to cabin lab.
With boxes of samples to take back, and Alanna’s efficient packing, we managed to get the remaining cargo on one palette, leaving one palette spare…and as conscientious citizens not wanting to litter the Airbnb place, we decided it would make excellent fuel to finally be able to put the sauna to its proper use and have a fire in the firepit. Perfect way to finish up the week’s work before starting the long journey’s home with fingers crossed the samples arrive at the other end.
The KANG-GLAC expedition set out aboard RRS Sir David Attenborough (SDA) to East Greenland in July 2024 to study processes around marine terminating glaciers. The multidisciplinary scientific team contained experts in marine sediments, glaciology and geology alongside the more ocean-based sciences of physical and biological oceanography and biogeochemistry. Sampling for BIOPOLE was also allocated time to consider further aspects of nutrient dynamics and ecosystems processes. An ocean-ecosystems team, led by Clara Manno, and including Gabi Stowasser, Flo Atherden, Alena Sakovich, Luisa Patrolecco and Geraint Tarling used a combination series of nets, CTDs and floating sediment traps to sample physical, chemical and biological environment. Physical oceanographic measurements, including collection of isotopic tracer samples (e.g. O18), were carried out by Povl Abrahamsen and Bryony Freer while Rhiannon Jones sampled ocean sediments. There was also a land team collecting mud and lake samples around glacial margins, led by Dave Roberts, alongside Iain Rudkin, Jonjo Knott, Tim Lane, Blair Fyffe and Lev Tarasov. Both the ocean and land sampling was focussed around the Kangerlussuaq system, which is a major outflow of one of the largest icecaps in Greenland and one that is experiencing one of the greatest rates of ice loss.
Land-based sampling at glacial margins
The expedition was particularly unique in making use of the full capability of the SDA to manoeuvre scientists around this unique polar environment. As well as sampling from the SDA itself, a small but highly scientifically equipped launch was also used to sample right up to the edge of marine terminating glaciers. The land-based team used a helicopter, chartered from Air Greenland, to access the glacial margin environments. The use of aerial drones was also invaluable in obtaining a wider spatial context in which sampling efforts could be placed. A mooring containing physical and biogeochemical instrumentation, was sited within the outflow of the Kangerlussuaq system, to be retrieved in 12 months time so as to provide seasonal information.
RRS Sir David Attenborough sampling close to a marine terminating glacier in an East Greenland fjord during the KANG-GLAC expedition
The small launch Erebus returning from sampling at a glacial front
Clara Manno said “this was a highly successful cruise from which the data and samples will provide a number of insights into how marine terminating glaciers influence ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems”.
The KANG-GLAC Bio team (left to right): Gabi Stowasser, Geraint Tarling, Luisa Patrolecco, Flo Atherden, Clara Manno and Alena Sakovich
The 11th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference was held in August 2024 in Pucón, Chile. Around 1,500 international scientists, educators, and policy makers engaged in a week of talks, meetings, and workshops. EDI topics were well represented, including the first ever EDI themed plenary in the history of the OSC, parallel sessions, a workshop, and the newly formed ‘SCAR EDI Action Group’ business meeting. The UK was represented by members of the Diversity in UK Polar Science steering committee, including members of BIOPOLE.
The theme of the EDI session “Is Antarctic science ready to help tackle urgent global issues? Perspectives on strengthening equitable science communities” included talks on historic discrimination against women in Antarctic science, the values of present day national and international programmes, the perspectives of early career researchers and how to widen participation in polar science. Discussions included the structural problems facing the international community including language barriers and socioeconomic and cultural differences. The workshop “Synergistic approach to addressing DEI issues; learning from different contextual initiatives” gave participants a chance to describe how these issues impact current and emerging polar researchers. A recurrent theme across the conference was how western-centric most EDI (and other) activities are and how this needs addressing.
The highlight of the entire conference for many was the final plenary talk by Professor Meredith Nash “The reckoning: how #MeTooAntarctica is changing fieldwork”. This lecture, supported by the SCAR EDI Action Group, traced the conditions that gave rise to #MeTooAntarctica and Meredith’s experiences working with women around the world involved in the movement, often at significant personal cost. This powerful talk, delivered for 45 minutes without slides, captivated the entire audience with a thought provoking and often shocking description of a culture of sexual harassment within Australian polar science. Meredith ended with leading practice recommendations for National Antarctic Programs to productively seize the opportunity for robust prevention and response measures that underpin safe and respectful fieldwork environments. The talk received a standing ovation and sparked important and ongoing conversations within the international audience.
The full talk can be viewed below but please be aware that it contains themes that could be upsetting.
Kate Hendry (BAS) , Nathan Callaghan (UKCEH) and project partner Katie Howe (Dauphin Island Sea Lab) headed (back) to Ny-Ålesund in mid-July 2024 for the second instalment of the BIOPOLE Svalbard field campaign, joint with fieldwork for Kate’s NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant Silicon Cycling in Glaciated Environments (SiCLING) .
The overall aim of the BIOPOLE Svalbard campaign was to assess the flux of organic and inorganic nutrients into Kongsfjorden, the glaciated fjord near Ny-Ålesund. In 2023, the BIOPOLE Arctic team sampled a range of glacial and non-glacial rivers and fjord waters, and these samples have been analysed for a whole suite of nutrients, organic components and other elements.
Following last year’s successes, this year the BIOPOLE team wanted to focus on measuring the water flux from the different catchments. For this, Nathan used a method called ‘salt gauging’ (with Kate and Katie watching out for polar bears). Salt gauging involves placing conductivity loggers downstream, before adding a ‘spike’ of salt solution to a river upstream: the loggers can detect the increase in saltiness and their response can be used to determine the water flow rate. We were able to cover all the rivers that were analysed last year, with the exception of those that had dried up.
For the SiCLING project, the team collected river and fjord waters and marine sediments for geochemical analyses, to investigate the interaction between silicon and other nutrients and trace metals in glaciated environments. The samples will be shipped back to the UK and USA for analysis. In addition to using the UK boat for sampling waters, the team were also able to work on the King’s Bay R/V Teisten on two days to sample sediments from the fjord floor.
The BIOPOLE/SiCLING team would like to thank Paul Samways and Iain Rudkin (station managers at the UK NERC Arctic Station), the captains of the R/V Teisten, James Bradley, Bill Orsi, and Juan-Carlos Trejos for their help, as well as everyone from King’s Bay for all their support.
Amongst 1500 other delegates from around the world, Jen Freer (BIOPOLE Project Member, BAS), Amy Swiggs (BIOPOLE Project Member, CPOM) and Nadine Johnston (BIOPOLE Project Member, BAS), were lucky enough to be selected to attend and present at the first UN Ocean Decade Conference held in April 2024 in sunny Barcelona. The vision of the UN Ocean Decade is to generate “the science we need for the ocean we want”. The aims of this conference were to bring the global Ocean Decade community together, to celebrate and take stock of progress, and set joint priorities for the future. As an official Decade Action, we were there to showcase BIOPOLE’s research efforts and highlight how our science aligns with many of the Decade’s priorities and recommendations.
We were set to work from day 1 – as soon as we passed security, found our way around the 4-floor venue and located the coffee, Amy set up her fantastic BIOPOLE poster which attracted plenty of attention throughout the week. Nadine then presented work on ICED (a BIOPOLE Strategic Partner) and participated in a panel discussion in an on-site Satellite Event ‘A decade of international action in the polar oceans. Others on this esteemed panel included Anton Van de Putte (BIOPOLE Strategic Partner, ULB), as well as Antje Boetius (director, AWI), Alfredo Giron (World Economic Forum), and Salome Mormentyn (Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Polar Initiative), chaired by Stephanie Arndt (AWI) and Renuka Badhe (BIOPOLE Strategic Partner, European Polar Board). This set of talks led to a fascinating discussion around the future of polar research, the ongoing need for standardised high-quality data, and even greater collaboration between nations and disciplines such as arts and humanities, where the work of BIOPOLE was also highlighted as an excellent example.
A newly drafted set of white papers detailing how to succeed in achieving each of the Decade’s 10 challenges were key talking points of the conference. To round off day 1, Jen presented a quick-fire talk as part of a parallel session dedicated to Challenge 2: protect and restore marine ecosystems and biodiversity. It was fantastic to remind the audience of the importance of the polar regions and to ensure their representation in the Challenge 2 ambitions alongside the coastal and coral reef environments.
There were more interesting talks and policy discussions on day 2 of the conference, including on developing a sustainable and resilient ocean economy, and solutions for coastal resilience. There was also time later in the afternoon to see more of sunny Barcelona and enjoy some delicious Catalan cuisine.
On the final day of the conference, we all helped to represent JETZON (the Decade Programme which BIOPOLE sits within) at the “Deepening the Decade” booth – one of many stalls within the wonderful banquet hall. This stall was organised by the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) and arguably had the most beautiful artwork to attract passers-by! Our job was to engage with delegates about the deep ocean, particularly talking about how projects such as BIOPOLE and JETZON are tackling issues in deep sea science and are leading in developments to overcome them (e.g. observing and modelling nutrients, zooplankton and carbon transport to deep waters). We had many interesting and insightful discussions with other conference members about the importance of these key climate processes. We also test ran the BIOPOLE animation led by Clara Manno (BIOPOLE Project Member, BAS).
The plenary talks from each day (including those from various Heads of State and UN special envoy for the Oceans Ambassador Peter Thomson) can be viewed again here and a short highlights video here. The main outcome of this event was the Barcelona Statement which identifies priority areas for action for the Ocean Decade in the coming years. The conference was hugely successful and a wonderful way of showcasing the fantastic work of BIOPOLE to the wider scientific community and policymakers. We enjoyed the opportunity to experience the interaction of science and policy and discuss the importance of science and communication in achieving these outcomes. Thank you to BIOPOLE for encouraging and giving ECRs the opportunity to attend such an important event.
The workshop was kindly hosted by Philip and held under the auspices of the BIOPOLE East-West Antarctic Forum, which fosters greater international collaboration across the Southern Ocean with partners, institutes, and initiatives with similar research objectives.
Many of the workshop participants from BIOPOLE and ACEAS in the gardens of CSIROParticipants enjoying the workshop dinner and drinks – a fantastic BBQ enjoyed in the bar and on the terrace of IMAS where we recruited our youngest BIOPOLE ECR to date!
The workshop gathered BIOPOLE Community members (including Aidan Hunter, and contributions from Angus Atkinson, Programme Advisory Board member) and around 30 ACEAS researchers to consider similarities and differences between the Scotia-Weddell Sea and East Antarctic regions (zones and provinces, processes) and different approaches to understanding their ecology, biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling, and progressing modelling and observations in the regions.
The workshop also explored future opportunities for collaborations including the UN Decade of the Ocean, IPY etc.) and outputs are in preparation. A huge thanks to Philip, Nicole Hill, Elizabeth Shadwick, and the rest of the ACEAS participants for their incredible hospitality and contributions. Aside from the impressive presentations and volume of science discussions we managed to get through in two days, an additional highlight was the amazing workshop dinner served on the balcony of IMAS overlooking Sullivans Cove and Kunanyi/Mt Wellington on a gloriously sunny evening!
The BIOPOLE researchers each gave well received oral presentations. Aidan talked about his data mining, parameterisations and modelling of the copepod Calanoides acutus at a session on the dynamics and role of diapausing copepods in marine ecosystems. Nadine spoke on knowledge gaps and research priorities in zooplankton research at a session on zooplankton in a changing Southern Ocean. In other sessions, Dan talked about stoichiometry modelling and Kathryn, some associated work with the COMICS programme on carbon budgets. Geraint gave a keynote talk considering biogeographic shifts in copepod species in the Arctic and potential impacts on the lipid pump there.
Geraint Tarling, Vicky Fowler (BAS Post-doc), Aidan Hunter and Nadine Johnston at a reception
The BIOPOLE researchers also took part in a number of satellite workshops covering zooplankton trait data and time-series. Also notable was a zooplankton art session that commenced with the reading of a poem on zooplankton vertical migration by BIOPOLE WP2 co-lead, Jen Freer, entitled “A tale of Light and Fear”.
The symposium proved useful in assessing the latest methods and findings in zooplankton research and in establishing further collaborative links for the BIOPOLE programme.
Kate Hendry attended the Netherlands Polar Day on April 23rd in the Museon-Omniversum in The Hague. The NL Polar Day, arranged by the Dutch Research Council (NWO)’s Netherlands Polar Programme team, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), every year brings together researchers from around the Netherlands from universities, research institutes, tourism and industry who are interested in all things Arctic and Antarctic. The Netherlands have a strong history of polar research, and rely on international collaborations for infrastructure access: in the Arctic this is largely through their links with the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Germany, and in the Antarctic through their Memorandum of Understanding with BAS. For example, Rothera hosts the Dirk Gerritz lab, which was built in 2012.
This year’s NL Polar Day was ably hosted by Sietze Norder from the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University, and featured a plenary talk by René van Hell, the Netherlands Ambassador for the Arctic. Kate gave a presentation in the first of the parallel sessions, updating a packed room on the new BAS Science Strategy and giving some recent highlights from Rothera including the glider operations, the atmospheric aerosols lab, and the Windracer autonomous aerial vehicle (thanks to BIOPOLE’s Hugh Venables, as well as Tom Lachlan-Cope and Tom Jordan for their input!).
The poster session featured APECS members as well as more established scientists. Kate also gave a poster on the broader aims of BIOPOLE, and was able to engage with a number of existing colleagues and new contacts on the project objectives and successes so far.
Photo: NL Polar Day 2024 by Tom Doms
The day finished with a fully immersive IMAX Arctic experience in the Omniverson, including a “close encounter” with a polar bear (thankfully virtually!), and a drinks reception in the museum.
The meeting spanned through three days and was filled with fruitful discussions, great scientific talks, exciting presentations, interesting keynotes and much more. All sessions were chaired by BIOPOLE Early Career Researchers (ECRs).
The poster session followed. After the poster session, quick-fire talks took place, after which we had a discussion.
The second day started with the ECRs’ breakfast. After the breakfast, Guang Yang delivered a keynote on ‘Zooplankton mediated carbon pumps’.
Next, we learned about the major BIOPOLE fieldwork efforts in Arctic (Arctic ships), Ny Alesund, and Southern Ocean (BIOPOLE Cruise I).
Presentations on data management, the Decade Collaborative Centre for the Southern Ocean Region (DCC-SOR), and Arctic policy were delivered, along with updates from the ECRs.
We then had four breakout sessions before lunch and four afterward. After the breakout session, Katrin Linse delivered a keynote on ‘Benthic elements of BIOPOLE’. We closed the day with the Executive Board and Programme Advisory Board meeting.
The third and the last day of the meeting started with the ECR-led session on the ‘Imposter syndrome: taming your inner critic’. Following that, we heard the rapporteurs’ reports from the breakout sessions and engaged in a discussion. Further, the PAB delivered an insightful report for the project. Before we concluded the meeting, we had a couple of discussion sessions on ‘Interaction with partners and within the project to achieve key BIOPOLE objectives in Arctic and Antarctic’ as well as ‘BIOPOLE into the future and lessons learned’.
We would like to express our gratitude to every single individual for their work in BIOPOLE and for their participation in the meeting be it in-person or virtual.
British Antarctic Survey recently led the highly successful BIOPOLE Southern Ocean Cruise I (Nov-Dec 2023), which was the first ‘formal’ scientific voyage of the RRS Sir David Attenborough (SD033). Taking place over 10 days in an otherwise logistic-heavy six-week schedule, BIOPOLE I was the first funded scientific project undertaken on our new research vessel. The objectives of this cruise addressed a range of Tasks under Work Packages 1-3. It sought to understand the role that annual sea ice retreat plays in setting the conditions for the spring bloom and how this bloom acts to draw down carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the deep ocean. In addition, the fortuitous placement of the A23a megaberg allowed us to undertake opportunistic sampling of how the colossal chunk of the Filchner ice shelf, first calving in 1986, is modifying the physical and biogeochemical properties of the surrounding ocean as it moves northwards. This ‘encounter’ with the world’s largest iceberg and the associated drone footage also generated massive media interest across the globe.
BIOPOLE I was undertaken by an 11-person science team, including BIOPOLE scientists Andrew Meijers (Principal Scientific Officer, physics), Nadine Johnston (ecosystems), Gabi Stowasser (ecosystems), Alex Brearley (gliders), Petra ten Hoopen (data manager), and BIOPOLE PhD student Laura Taylor (biogeochemistry), brilliantly supported by BAS Antarctic Marine Engineering, IT, data and lab management personnel, during an intense 10-day period in early December. The small team was ably backed up by significant shore-based support, both for glider piloting but also troubleshooting, sample and data processing. The survey section stretched across the rapidly retreating ice edge from the northwest of the Powell Basin to well into the Weddell Sea and 100% pack ice; and back out again. Over 1640 individual water samples were taken from the more than 30 CTDs, along with 10 Mammoth and almost 30 Bongo net deployments. The voyage also deployed three autonomous gliders, including two capable of novel under-ice navigation. These presently remain in the water following the development of the spring bloom and further retreat of the ice, and are providing greater spatio-temporal context to the ship-based process study. Additionally, personnel were craned onto the sea ice to collect sea ice cores in support of BAS PhD projects, and a mooring rescued at short notice from the path of A23a.
SD033 crew and science party at one of the sea ice stations
BIOPOLE I’s objectives were to determine the dynamics, biogeochemical composition and structural change in the upper water column as the ocean moves seasonally from being fully ice covered to fully exposed, as well as determine the structure and composition of the spring phytoplankton bloom and associated mesozooplankton community, particularly the copepod Calanoides acutus. The emphasis on copepods is part of the core BIOPOLE objective of quantifying the lipid component of the biological carbon pump. Over the course of their development, C. acutus develop a large carbon-rich lipid sac, primarily to fuel their metabolism and aid buoyancy during their winter diapause (a form of hibernation used to survive low food levels and avoid predation) at depths of (potentially) up to 2500 m. This deep diapause acts to transport carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, but this transport has never been quantified despite the vast biomass that copepods represent.
Using a combination of respiration experiments together with investigations of their lipid sac concentration and size, population structure, distribution, and abundance, we can determine how much carbon this species is capable of transporting to the deep ocean, and its influence on nutrient recycling in the upper water column. The results of this cruise will be complemented by work carried out in the austral summer of 2022/23 onboard RRS Discovery (DY158) and a further BIOPOLE cruise in the austral autumn of Feb/Mar 2025 onboard RRS Sir David Attenborough where the late season condition of copepods will be assessed.
Despite fears of ‘first cruise’ teething issues the ship and personnel performed near perfectly. The SDA demonstrated its great capabilities; switching speedily between logistics and science, and easily handling challenging ice conditions, all whilst providing an unprecedented level of comfort for expeditioners! As ever a massive thank you must go to the officers and crew of the SDA, for delivering successful science with enthusiasm and skill, as well as to the science and support party who pulled together and supported one another at all times to produce some excellent and exciting new data.
BIOPOLE also attracted extensive media coverage during this cruise. The opportunistic science carried out at megaberg A23a had a high media profile, with the article initially in BBC News online leading to a number of further interviews by the global press of a number of scientists on board. These included lengthy interviews with Andrew on the BBC news channel and news hour as well as CBS streaming news, Laura on CBC News Canada, and Alex on CNN’s Tik Tok channel! Nadine gave interviews on the BIOPOLE 1 cruise and A23a on BBC Science in Action, BBC Inside Science, and BBC’s World tonight. Nadine also participated in STEM learning’s 2023 Protecting Our Planet Day Protecting Our Ice Session which was led by BAS PhD student Rosanne Smith and broadcast live from the RRS SDA and Rothera Research Station, and viewed by 54, 696 people (51,600 young people and 3, 096 adults).
Cruise track of SD033, with the inset showing the location of BIOPOLE I science across the sea ice edge
