ANTARCTIC SCIENCE PLATFORM - Key Persons
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Adrian is investigating how atmospheric processes affect the Southern Ocean, Antarctic climate and ice sheet surface mass balance, and how they can be better represented in global climate models.
Adrian is Director of Gateway Antarctica at the University of Canterbury.
Professor Adrian McDonald's research focusses on understanding atmospheric processes relevant to the climate system in Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and New Zealand. He takes fundamental measurements using satellite remote sensing and surface observations, and evaluates climate model output relative to observations.
Job Titles:
- Operations Engineer & Polar Scientific Drilling Technologist
Alex Pyne has 40 years of experience designing, operating and managing polar drilling systems that have recovered continuous records of past environments in the most challenging situations imaginable, including geological, permafrost and ice cores from New Zealand, Antarctica and the Arctic.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alex is supporting the development and planning of the Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill for the SWAIS2C Project, which will drill from the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf and recover geological cores up to 200m below the sea bed, providing a record of West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics.
Alina is a pelagic marine biologist with a strong interest in active acoustics, environmental DNA, food-web dynamics, biogeochemical cycling and environmental governance and protection.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alina is collecting acoustic data and collecting environmental DNA samples to assess the abundance and ecology of commercially important and mesopelagic fish in the Ross Sea.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Geophysicist
- Geophysicist / University of Otago
Andrew Gorman's research interests are in the application of geophysical analytical techniques to geological problems, including high-resolution active source seismology to lithosphere-scale refraction seismology.
Dr Reisinger brings an internationally recognised scientific profile in climate change. Andy is a member of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and vice-chair of Working Group III (Mitigation), and played a key role in the successful approval of the IPCC's 6th Assessment Report on mitigation. He also served as coordinating lead author in two major IPCC climate change reports released in 2014. Andy is also serving as Commissioner for He Pou a Rangi, the New Zealand Climate Change Commission, which provides evidence-based advice to guide climate change action for Aotearoa. This includes advice to the Government on emission budgets and targets and related policies, as well as undertaking regular national climate change risk assessments. The Commission also monitors the Government's response to climate change through its Emission Reduction and National Adaptation Plans.
Prior to this role, Andy was Principal Scientist for climate change at the Ministry for the Environment, and Deputy Director (International) of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, a fully-government funded Centre working in partnership with industry to develop and extend ways of reducing New Zealand's and global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Anne-Marie is a research management professional, who brings a wealth of knowledge and decades of experience. Before joining the Platform, Anne-Marie was the Challenge Manager for the Deep South National Science Challenge at NIWA. Prior to that, she was the Challenge Manager for Resilience to Nature's Challenges National Science Challenge. Anne-Marie has 25 years of experience in university research management holding roles at Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University and University of Otago's Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Antonia Cristi is a PhD Candidate. Her research interests include phytoplankton, biological oceanography and microbial molecular biology.
Job Titles:
- General Manager
- General Manager, Policy, Environment and Safety
Job Titles:
- Geophysicist
- Geophysicist / University of Otago
- Professor
Professor Christina Hulbe is a Professor in the University of Otago School of Surveying. She studies how and why polar ice sheets change over time. Her speciality is in polar glaciology , thermomechanics of ice sheets and glaciers, and the numerical modelling of ice sheet processes. She integrates data from satellite remote sensing, field-based observations and numerical modelling to investigate modern systems and the recent past.
Professor Claudine Sterling's research focus is analysis of metallic element isotope systems with applications in geochemistry, environmental chemistry, paleoclimatology and cosmochemistry.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Claudine's research will provide information on past sea level variations, and the rise and fall of oxygen in Earth's early oceans, and atmosphere for modelling future-climate scenarios.
Job Titles:
- Microbial Ecologist
- Microbial Ecologist / University of Waikato
- Professor
Professor Craig Cary's expertise is in comparative physiology, biochemistry and ecology of microbial communities, with a focus on free-living syntrophic bacterial associations in extreme environments, including hydrothermal vents and Antarctic soils.
Professor and Principal Scientist, Craig's research focuses on the drivers and influences of ocean mixing in the stratified ocean. His interests include turbulent stratified flows in coastal (especially polar) environments, shelf-sea mixing, on-off shelf exchange, physical controls of ecosystems, biophysical interactions, observational infrastructure, and outreach. He is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Craig will investigate Antarctic ocean mechanics. He is co-leader of ASP Project 2.
Job Titles:
- Social Scientist
- Social Scientist / University of Canterbury
Daniela is a social scientist with a background in environmental management, Antarctic politics and tourism research. Her research interests include the governance of human activity in polar environments and the complexities of Antarctic values. She is currently involved in collaborative research on the topics of Antarctic futures, Antarctic gateway cities, Antarctic heritage, the use and provision of polar environmental forecasts, and Antarctic science-policy interactions.
She co-supervises Natasha Gardiner's PhD as part of her responsibilities within the Science Policy Interface Expert Group.
Job Titles:
- Field Operations Engineer
- Field Operations Engineer / Victoria University of Wellington
Darcy Mandeno brings a wealth of industrial engineering experience including maintenance, commissioning, equipment design, supervision and project management. He supports science and scientists with their research in Antarctica and New Zealand through design, construction, project management and operating science drilling equipment in challenging environments.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Darcy is developing and planning the Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill for the SWAIS2 Project, which will drill from the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf and recover geological cores up to 200m below the sea bed, providing a record of West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics during the past.
Job Titles:
- Antarctica New Zealand Senior Communications Advisor
Dr Alanna Alevropoulos-Borrill's research is in ice-atmosphere-ocean interactions in West Antarctica, using numerical ice sheet models. In her recently completed PhD, she explored the sensitivity of the ice sheet to ocean forced melting, to help project the future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the subsequent contribution of the ice sheet to future sea level.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alanna is working on the coupling of the ice sheet model BISICLES and the NZ Earth system (climate) model to improve predictions for the future.
Job Titles:
- Member of the National Modelling Hub
- Research Fellow
Dr Alena Malyarenko is a Research Fellow. Her research includes ice shelf-ocean interaction, ice-ocean boundary layer structure, coupled global ocean modelling and observations, and ice shelf-ocean modelling.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alena is a member of the National Modelling Hub. She will work towards coupling glaciological and oceanographic processes in numerical models required to explore ice sheet evolution arising from interactions with a changing ocean.
Dr Alexandra Gossart is a Research Fellow. Her expertise is in atmospheric modelling at high spatial and temporal resolutions, including detailed study of Antarctic climate processes and feedbacks.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alex is a member of the National Modelling Hub. Using regional climate models she will provide inputs to continental-scale ice sheet and ocean models, terrestrial geo-statistical models, glacial surface energy balance models and terrestrial hydrological routing models.
Job Titles:
- Microbial Ecologist
- Microbial Ecologist / University of Waikato
Dr Alexis Marshall uses next generation sequencing strategies (e.g. QPCR/RT-QPCR, metabarcoding, genomics, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics) to identify the environmental and anthropogenic factors that impact ecosystems and the organisms that live within them. She is particularly interested in the critical role microbial communities play in ecosystem functions.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Alexis is using bioinformatic techniques to generate a biological census across the Ross Ice Shelf, and to explore the biodiversity of the ecosystem under floating Antarctic ice shelves.
Job Titles:
- Senior Lecturer
- Community Ecologist
- Community Ecologist / University of Waikato
Dr Andrew Barnes is a Senior Lecturer. His research focuses on how environmental changes alter the seemingly complex relationships between biodiversity, the structure of communities, biotic interactions and ecosystem functioning.
Dr Andrew Pauling is a Research Fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Otago and has a background in climate modelling and atmospheric science. He has expertise in running global climate models and analysing output from model large ensembles for better understanding the climate system.
Andrew is part of the aligned modelling project with the Deep South National Science Challenge. He will run experiments with the physical core of the NZ Earth System Model with added fresh water from Antarctic ice shelves to better understand the impact on the Southern Ocean and Antarctic sea ice. These runs will be contributed to the Southern Ocean Freshwater Release Model Experiment Initiative (SOFIA), an international model intercomparison.
Job Titles:
- Member of the National Modelling Hub
- Research Fellow
Dr Angela Bahamondes-Domingues is a Research Fellow. Her research combines expertise in physical oceanography, earth system modelling and ecosystem dynamics.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Angela is a member of the National Modelling Hub. She will focus on carbon cycle and biogeochemical modelling at the regional scale, with emphasis on enhancing model representation of specific species and processes relevant to high-latitude Southern Ocean ecosystems.
Dr Bella Duncan is a Research Fellow. She specialises in organic geochemistry and paleoclimatology, with a focus on applying molecular and isotopic biomarker proxies to terrestrial and marine Antarctic and Southern Ocean Cenozoic sediments.
Dr Catherine Beltran's research is focused on the phytoplankton geochemical records, with a focus on applying molecular and isotopic biomarker proxies aimed at understanding the dynamic interactions between the climate and biosphere for various geological intervals on different timescales.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Co - Director of the International Centre of Terrestrial Antarctic Research
- Microbial Ecologist / Co - PI Project 3
- Microbial Ecologist / University of Waikato / Co - PI Project 3
Dr Charles Lee is an Associate Professor studying the microbial ecology and genomics of a wide range of unusual ecosystems, including terrestrial geothermal habitats, deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the Antarctic Dry Valleys, using molecular genetic and bioinformatic tools. He is interested in the development and validation of novel molecular techniques and bioinformatic analyses, and uses them in conjunction with geochemistry to examine the interactions between microbial communities and their environments.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Charles will examine the microbial biogeography and community assembly in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems. He is co-leader of ASP Project 3.
Charlie is co-director of the International Centre of Terrestrial Antarctic Research at the University of Waikato.
Dr Chris Moy is a Senior Lecturer. His research uses sediment cores to evaluate past changes in Southern Hemisphere climate, carbon cycling, and marine biogeochemical cycling. He uses the geologic record to identify how large-scale coupled climate modes and key components of the global climate system have changed in the past, and how the variability and magnitude of past change compare to modern observations.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Chris will be involved in understanding the role of the Southern Ocean as a carbon sink.
Dr Clare Adams is an environmental geneticist with a research background in environmental DNA for managed populations. She has a passion for marine life, ecology, and conservation.
In a joint role between the Antarctic Science Platform and the Ministry for Primary Industries, she is helping to bridge the gap between science and policy in support of New Zealand's interests in the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.
Dr Dan Lowry specialises in numerical modelling of Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics. His research investigates how ice sheet dynamics change under different climatic conditions.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Dan will use numerical models to understand ice sheet and ice shelf sensitivity to changes in air and ocean temperatures during past warm periods in Earth's history, as well as project Antarctica's future sea level contribution under different emissions scenarios. Dan works closely with the ASP's National Modelling Hub and he is co-leader of ASP Project 1.
Job Titles:
- Geophysicist
- Geophysicist / University of Canterbury
- Research Fellow
Dr Dan Price is a post-doctoral Research Fellow. Dan's research interest include satellite remote sensing of polar regions, satellite altimetry, sea ice and crevasse detection.
Dr Dean Anderson's research interest include spatiotemporal population dynamics, animal movements and hierarchical Bayesian modelling.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, he will focus on the how changes in the lower part of the marine food web will impact on higher predators.
Dr Denise Fernandez's research interests are in modern air-sea interactions in the South Pacific, paleoclimatogy and remote sensing techniques.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Denise will analyse water masses and heat content to understand how oceanic heat transports are changing.
Job Titles:
- Installation Artist / ECR
Job Titles:
- Aquatic Ecologist / Science Leader
Job Titles:
- Climate Scientist / Co - PI Project 4
Job Titles:
- Ocean Instrumentation Engineer
Dr Adrian Tan's research interests include microwave circuits, antenna design and measurement, time-domain analysis, radar systems and ultra-wideband radio.
In the Antarctic Science Platform, Adrian will measure snow depth over sea ice in the Ross Sea.
Job Titles:
- Data Scientist / Co - PI Project 4
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Co - PI Project 4
- Early Career Researcher
Job Titles:
- Strategic Projects Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Microbial Ecologist and Oceanographer