Millions of dollars for Antarctic research

The Antarctic Science Platform is thrilled to announce $26 million will be awarded to long-term Antarctic research projects.

The projects are led by well-known researchers from multiple universities and research organisations across the country.

Platform Chair Gillian Wratt says it’s exciting for the future of Antarctic research.

“We are funding world-leading research programmes which will help project sea level rise, predict how the ocean will react to climate change and provide insights that will help make communities around the world more resilient,” she says.

Platform Director Associate Professor Nancy Bertler says as the world acts to implement the Paris Agreement, the Platform’s research will provide a detailed assessment of global consequences of Antarctica’s response to warming.

“New Zealand is acknowledged as a leader in this field. This new, coordinated programme builds on decades of frontier research and will support urgent and highly interdisciplinary research, along with new technology, to critically improve future projections,” she says.

In 2018 MBIE contracted Antarctica New Zealand to host the Antarctic Science Platform. The Platform aims to conduct excellent science to understand Antarctica’s impact on the global earth system. The investment is for $49 million over seven years through the Strategic Science Investment Fund.

Antarctica New Zealand Acting Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr Fiona Shanhun, says this long-term certainty of funding is important for the Antarctic research community.

“It means we can plan research that spans multiple seasons on the ice and collaborate with international Antarctic programmes to achieve globally significant outcomes.

“This research will help New Zealanders understand and adapt to our changing environment,” she says.

The money also supports four research fellowships that will focus specifically on improving the accuracy of future projections.

The Antarctic Science Platform is hosted by Antarctica New Zealand. For more information about the Platform, projects and researchers involved please visit our website

Researchers from NIWA, GNS Science, Constantia Consulting Ltd, the University of Canterbury, University of Otago, University of Waikato, University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington are involved in the projects.

A formal announcement will be made at the New Zealand Antarctic Science Conference in Christchurch this afternoon.