Expedition IceArc: Sea ice - ocean - seaflor interactions in the changing Arctic
54 international researchers including chief scientist Antje Boetius of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research study the central Arctic ocean on board the research ice breaker Polarstern. They will investigate the rapid sea ice decline, what lives in and under the ice, down to the deep sea floor. The biology, chemistry and physics of the Arctic Ocean appear to change drastically as a consequence of climate change, but how exactly the different factors and processes interact is unknown. This is why the researchers on board Polarstern plan to carry out comparative analyses of degraded and full sea ice cover in different areas of the the Arctic ocean, and the entire ocean system from the surface ice to the seafloor of the deep Arctic basins.
The scientists publish their impressions from the expedition in this blog. A German blog on the website of our media partner GEO shows additional informations including photos and videos.
Lobsters to be released off Helgoland
3 August 2012. Scientists from Helgoland Marine Biological Station / Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research are going to release 382 hatcherey reared juvenile lobsters on Saturday 4th August. They will be accompanied by 170 godparents who sponsor the Helgoland Lobster project. After transferring the animals to transport boxes, the scientists bring them on board the research cutter Aade and sail to suitable habitat. The colour-marked one to two years old lobsters will be released in darkness to protect them from predators. Since the start of the godparentships in Decembre 2007 more than 1,000 people have been sponsering young lobsters to increase the population of the heraldic animal of Helgoland island. The project is a coopartion between Helgoland Marine Biological Station and Helgoland community. Further information is given on this website of Helgoland community (German language only).
AWI director Karin Lochte is the newly-elected vice president of SCAR
1 August 2012. Prof. Karin Lochte, scientific director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, is one of the two newly-elected vice presidents of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). This way she becomes the first ever female member of the SCAR Executive Committee. SCAR is a committee of the International Council for Science and it is charged with the initiation, promotion and co-ordination of scientific research in Antarctica. SCAR also provides international, independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty system and other bodies.
"International cooperation in antarctic research is most important and SCAR is the best board to promote cooperation in an environment, which can be challanging", Karin Lochte said after the election. It is her goal to emphasize the similarities between arctic and antarctic research, and to bring in the work of the European Polar Board more often. "Europe and especially the Alfred Wegener Institute make a huge contribution to antarctic research", she said.
The second newly-elected vice president is Brian Storey from New Zealand. Jeronimo Martinez from Spain was elected as new SCAR president. You will find more information about SCAR here.