In late January, our dear friend and colleague Andrés Barbosa passed away. Andrés was a leading scientist who dedicated his scientific career to bird research and conservation.

In the last 20 years, as a prominent CSIC researcher, he focused on understanding the physiology and behaviour of Antarctic penguins and the challenges they faced. His findings represent a crucial contribution to the study of Antarctic wildlife.

He was also involved for many years in the management of Spanish polar research projects and in policy, through his contribution to SCAR information paper to the Antarctic Treaty.
Those who were lucky to meet him will always remember not only his extraordinary generous nature and his endless dedication and devotion to Antarctic science, but also his passion for music, arts, and photography.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.  Andrés will be always with us, and greatly missed.

Content:

* News

* Publications

* Outreach activities

* Final Theses

* Upcoming Polar events

Vulcanismo antártico: ¡Explora los volcanes más remotos del planeta! book out now

The spanish version of Antarctic Volcanism: Explore the remotest volcanoes of the planet! is now available in the Creative Commons repository Zenodo. You can download it at his link.

Volcanic eruptions are some of the most spectacular and most destructive natural events. Antarctica is home to more than one hundred volcanoes, some of which are entirely buried beneath the ice sheet. Some of these volcanoes are active, and have attracted many explorers and scientists. In this book you will discover where volcanoes are located on Earth, how they erupt, what the different types of volcanic activity are, and how volcanoes can be dangerous and affect life and the environment around them. You will learn how many volcanoes are located in Antarctica, which are the largest and most active, what happens when a volcano erupts into ice, and how scientists are able to study volcanoes in a place as remote as Antarctica.

Citation: Geyer, Adelina, Van Wyk de Vries, Max, Smellie, John L., Cooper, Jennifer, Di Roberto, Alessio, Panter, Kurt S., Martin, Adam P., Pompilio, Massimo, Dunbar, Nelia, & Blankenship, Donald D. (2023). Vulcanismo antártico: ¡Explora los volcanes más remotos del planeta!. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7690609

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'Yo he vivido en la Antártida' book launch event

Last Wednesday, March 15, the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) hosted the presentation of the book 'I have lived in Antarctica' by Laura Morrón, from Next Door Publishers. This book is a second edition that includes illustrations by Yolanda González. It narrates Josefina Castellví's experience and impressions of Antarctica.

Through the voices of the author, together with the researcher Marta Estrada (ICM-CSIC) and María Jesús Guinea Castellví, Josefina's niece, we could feel those pioneering experiences in Antarctic polar research.

Some members of our PolarCSIC platform collaborated in updating the scientific data of the first edition, such as Carolina Gabarrò (ICM), Asunción de los Ríos (MNCN), Joan Riba (UTM), Marisa Montoya (UCM), Erica Sparaventi (U. de Cádiz), Andrés Barbosa (MCNC), María Gema Llorens (GEO3BCN) and Adelina Geyer (GEO3BCN).

See the presentation at this link.

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La Antártida en femenino. Investigando en lugares remotos

On the occasion of the Day of Women and Girls in Science, the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), in collaboration with the Army and the University of Navarra, made a live connection with the Spanish Antarctic base "Gabriel de Castilla", located on Deception Island.
In this connection, four researchers, including members of the PTI Polarcsic, such as Asunción de los Ríos and Virginia Morandini (MNCN-CSIC), as well as Josabel Belliure (Universidad de Alcalá) and Patricia Martín, 1st Sgt. Communications Officer in the XXXVI Antarctic Campaign of the Army, talked about their professional life, their goals and their references.

Did you miss it? See it in YouTube:

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The photographic exhibition 'Una mirada polar' obtain a special mention in the CSIC Awards for Dissemination and Citizen Science

The first edition of the CSIC Citizen Science and Dissemination Awards has awarded the photographic exhibition 'Una mirada polar', from the PTI PolarCSIC, with a special mention "for the visual quality of the contents", from a total of 233 works presented.

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The Marine Geology Resources and Extreme Environments Research Group at IGME joins PolarCSIC

We would like to welcome the new members of PolarCSIC, from the Marine Geology Resources and Extreme Environments Research Group at IGME (Intituto Geológico y Minero de España). This group, formed by Francisco Javier González, Luis Somoza, Teresa Medialdea, Esther Santofimia, Enrique López-Pamo, Ana Belén Lobato, Egidio Marino, Banca Rincón-Tomás and Wai Long Ng Cutipa,  has a broad experience in the field of the marine geology (tectonic, sedimentary and mineralization processes in continental margins and oceanic basins) and in the natural resources, especially in marine mineral deposits and mining wastes. The scientific group has organized and done different oceanographic cruises in Antarctica, focusing on the research of submarine volcanism, hidrotermalism, bio-mineralization and extreme environments.

Welcome on board!

SCAR Instabilities and Thresholds in Antarctica (INSTANT) Conference 2023 

The INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) Scientific Research Programme (SRP) will address a first-order question about Antarctica’s contribution to sea level. It encompasses geoscience, physical sciences and biological sciences, of the way in which interactions between the ocean, atmosphere and cryosphere have influenced ice-sheets in the past, and what expectations will be in the future with a special focus on quantifying the contributions to global sea level change

Find out more about the INSTANT Scientific Research Programme hereThe INSTANT Conference 2023 will be held in Trieste, Italy in September 11-14 (deadline for submissions is April 3). Please, find more information at this link. 

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SCAR Visiting Scholar: Jerónimo López-Martínez

Jeronimo Lopez-Martinez is an Emeritus Professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. His Visiting Scholarship was hosted by the Mexican Agency for Antarctic Studies (AMEA), supported by AMEA Director Dr Pablo Torres Lepe.

The report on the activities carried out, including meetings with scientists, students and political leaders can be found at the following link.

ANTARCTICA

Impact of particle flux on the vertical distribution and diversity of sizefractionated prokaryotic communities in two East Antarctic polynyas.

Puigcorbé, V., Ruiz-González, C., Masque, P. and Gasol, J.M. 2023. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14, p.332. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1078469

ARCTIC

Improving satellite-based monitoring of the polar regions: Identification of research and capacity gaps.

Gabarró, C., Hughes, N., Wilkinson, J., Bertino, L., Bracher, A., Diehl, T.,Dierking, W., González-Gambau, V., Lavergne, T.,  Madurell, T., Malnes, E., & Wagner, P. M. (2023). Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 4, 13.  https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2023.952091

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Moss and Liverwort Covers Structure Soil Bacterial and Fungal Communities Differently in the Icelandic Highlands.

Ortiz-Rivero, J., Garrido-Benavent, I., Heiðmarsson, S. and de Los Ríos, A., 2023.  Microbial Ecology, pp.1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-023-02194-x

SCAR Administrative Assistant Vacancy - Job details

iMOVE visit grants for PhD Students - Deadline: 11 April 2023

Greenland Ice Sheet workshop: The stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Lessons from the past. Bergen, Norway. 19-21 April 2023

International Symposium on Sea Ice Across Spatial and Temporal Scales. Bremerhaven, Germany. 4-9 May 2023

23^rd Karthaus Summer School: Ice sheets and glaciers in the climate system. Karthaus, Italy. 24 May to 2 June 2023.

6^th European Conference on Permafrost. Puigcerdà, Gerona, Spain 18-22 June 2023

International Symposium on the Edges of Glaciology. Limerick, Ireland. 2-7 July 2023

The 28^th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Berlin, Germany. 11-20 July 2023

Instant Conference 2023: Trieste, Italy 11-14 September 2023

International Symposium on Ice Drilling Technology. Bremen, Germany. 20-22 September 2023

International Conference on Physics and Chemistry of Ice (PCI-2023). Hokkaido University, Japan. 4-8 September 2023