The overall responsibility of SciMT is to advise and support the Director of Science on management issues that affect planning and delivery of science on both short and long timescales.
Specific responsibilities of SciMT are:
Chair: Dr Anna Jones, Director of Science
1 June, 2025 by Peter Convey
Fuel spills pose significant pollution threats to Antarctic terrestrial environments. Biological remediation offers a sustainable solution for restoring these polluted sites. Indigenous microorganisms capable of degrading diesel hydrocarbons at low…30 May, 2025 by Peter Convey
Additives such as stabilizers, plasticizers, and fillers are commonly used in relatively small amounts to enhance the structure of plastics. Notably, some of these additives, including moieties of compounds containing…29 May, 2025 by Peter Convey
We evaluated the fungal diversity present in ornithogenically-influenced soils of the polyextreme Brazilian Archipelago of São Pedro and São Paulo, using a DNA metabarcoding approach. We detected 1,596,919 fungal DNA…24 May, 2025 by Peter Convey
Seabirds like little auks (Alle alle) transfer chemical elements to terrestrial environments through faeces and other biological material, enriching Arctic soils with nutrients, organic matter, and marine-derived contaminants. We quantified…23 May, 2025 by Anna Jones, Evelyn Workman, Freya Squires, Katrin Linse
The Southern Ocean's role in the global methane (CH4) cycle remains uncertain due to limited measurement data from this remote region. It is unclear if the Southern Ocean acts as…Read more on Methane Emissions and Dynamics in the Weddell and Scotia Seas
21 May, 2025 by Melody Clark
Genomic data are lacking for most Antarctic marine invertebrates, predicating our ability to understand physiological adaptation and specific life-history traits, such as longevity. The environmental stress response of the Antarctic…17 May, 2025 by Anne-Pia Marty, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
The Antarctic seabed harbors significant biodiversity, and almost 90% of oceanic environments are permanently below 5 °C (i.e., deep sea and polar regions). However, organisms whose entire lifecycle occurs around…6 May, 2025 by Peter Convey
Polar regions are heavily impacted by climate change. Yet, vulnerability assessments suggest little concern about heat-related challenges for polar terrestrial ectotherms. These conclusions are based, however, on assumptions and extrapolation…Read more on Polar ectotherms more vulnerable to warming than expected
15 April, 2025 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Antarctica is a very cold, isolated continent surrounded by frozen seas, yet these extreme environmental conditions have not restricted life and diversity in the sea. The marine environment is seasonally…14 April, 2025 by Jasmine Lee, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Antarctica has been subject to direct human activity for a little over 200 years. In recent decades, the combination of sharp increases in human activity and regional climate change, particularly…Read more on Status assessment of non-native terrestrial species in Antarctica
4 April, 2025 by Povl Abrahamsen, Geraint Tarling, Alexander Brearley, Kate Hendry, Michael Meredith, Natasha Lucas
Ice-sheet mass loss is one of the clearest manifestations of climate change, with Antarctica discharging mass into the ocean via melting or through calving. The latter produces icebergs that can…Read more on Giant iceberg meltwater increases upper-ocean stratification and vertical mixing
1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey
Lichens play important roles in habitat formation and community succession in polar and alpine ecosystems. Despite their significance, the ecological effects of lichen traits remain poorly researched. We propose a…1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey
Rhizosphere microbial communities are intimately associated with plant root surfaces. The rhizosphere microbiome is recruited from the surrounding soil and is known to impact positively on the plant host via…1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey
Polar ecosystems are threatened by non-native plants, and this risk will increase with climate warming. Non-native plant growth depends on Antarctic environmental conditions and substrates, but these influences are poorly…1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey
Subaerophytic cyanobacterial diversity is poorly known in Malaysian rainforests generally and at Penang Hill specifically. A new subaerophytic species of cyanobacteria, Desmonostoc cockrellii sp. nov., was isolated from rocky surfaces…31 March, 2025 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The Cretaceous period is particularly well represented by a thick sequence of clastic sedimentary rocks exposed in the Antarctic Peninsula region of western Antarctica. This was an active margin throughout…Read more on Cretaceous stratigraphy of Antarctica and its global significance
31 March, 2025 by Peter Convey
We report new oribatid records from the western Antarctic Peninsula region obtained during the XXIV and XXVI–XXVIII Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions. Five species (including 2 subspecies) representing five families of oribatid…Read more on New oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) records in the Antarctic Peninsula region
28 March, 2025 by Ramesh Karanam, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Long-term variability and tendencies in monthly mean semidiurnal tide (12-hr) in zonal (U12) and meridional (V12) winds are investigated in northern polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT; ∼80–100 km) using…28 March, 2025 by Ayat Fekry, George Coombs, Harrison Abbot, Jonathan Smith, Maria Fox, Michael Thorne, Samuel Hall
An algorithm is presented for path-planning in a non-uniform spheroid mesh containing exclusion zones, vector and scalar fields. The mesh models physical environments such as ocean regions, together with a…Read more on Path-Planning on a Spherical Surface with Disturbances and Exclusion Zones
