Associate Professor Nancy Bertler appointed Director of new Antarctic research platform
Associate Professor Nancy Bertler from Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre has been appointed the Director of the new Antarctic Science Platform.
The Platform was created by Antarctica New Zealand, the government agency who carry out New Zealand’s activities in Antarctica. The Platform is designed to host a research fund created by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment to exclusively support Antarctic research.
Associate Professor Bertler and her team will work to understand Antarctica’s current impact on New Zealand and the rest of planet Earth and how climate change will affect this.
“Climate change is one of the leading issues of our time. I feel privileged to be part of New Zealand’s dedicated Antarctic Science Community to help meet this challenge,” says Associate Professor Bertler.
The Platform will run two research programmes: one on ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions led by Professor Gary Wilson from the University of Otago and the other on Ross Sea region ecosystems led by Professor Ian Hawes from the University of Waikato.
“There is a strong cohort of world-leading Antarctic scientists in New Zealand; it is humbling to be able to work alongside them in this exciting Platform,” says Associate Professor Bertler.
Associate Professor Bertler will spend part of her time with the Platform and part of her time in her role at Victoria University of Wellington.