News & Events
Upcoming events
October 2025
21octAll Day22Antarctica InSync Theme V workshop on Anthropogenic Signatures
Event Details
Developing an integrated Monitoring Concept for Human Impact Research in Antarctica Human activities are increasingly impacting Antarctica, despite its remote and pristine
Event Details
Developing an integrated Monitoring Concept for Human Impact Research in Antarctica
Human activities are increasingly impacting Antarctica, despite its remote and pristine nature. The theme V “Anthropogenic signatures in Antarctica” explores how pollution, climate change, underwater noise, tourism, and invasive species affect this fragile ecosystem. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), microplastics, carbon emissions, and underwater noise disrupt Antarctic environments, while the growing human presence through tourism and research operations raises concerns over habitat disruption and the introduction of non-native species. Understanding and modifying anthropogenic influences is significant to protect Antarctica’s unique ecosystems and ensure its role as a natural regulator of the planet´s health.
The following Working Groups are suggested:
- Biosecurity and invasive species prevention
- Systematic monitoring of chemical pollution and management
- Underwater noise monitoring and mitigation
- Tourism impact assessment and management
Theme V – Anthropogenic signatures in Antarctica
Workshop Program
21 October 2025 – Day 1
Opening and welcome
11:00 -11:15 | Technical instructions | Marcus Lange (Hereon, Germany) |
11:15 – 11:30 | Opening and welcome | Ralf Ebinghaus (Hereon, Germany) |
11:30 – 12:00 | Antarctica InSync: a global effort to synchronise research across Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, connecting ice, ocean, climate, and life | Alexander Haumann (AWI, Germany) |
Session 1: Underwater noise monitoring and mitigation – Brian Miller (AAD, Australia), Co-Chair: Virginia Sciacca (CNR, Italy)
12:00 – 12:20 | Title: Investigating polar marine ecosystems through passive acoustic monitoring | Karolin Thomisch (AWI, Germany) |
12:20 – 12:40 | Title (tbd) | Max Schuster (JASCO ShipConsult, Germany) |
12:40 – 13:00 | Discussion | |
13:00 – 13:40 | (Lunch-) Break |
Session 2: Tourism impact assessment and management – Chair: Rita Fabris (UBA, Germany), Co-Chair: Andrea Spolaor (CNR, Italy)
13:40 – 14:00 | Antarctic tourism: impacts and management | Daniela Cajiao (Uni Wageningen, NL) |
14:00 – 14:20 | From Presence to Data: Exploring Pathways for Tourism Monitoring in Antarctica | Rita Fabris (UBA, Germany) |
14:20 – 14:30 | Discussion |
Session 3: Systematic monitoring of chemical pollution and management – Chair: Roland Kallenborn (NMBU, Norway), Co-Chair: Annika Jahnke (UFZ, Germany)
14:30 – 14:50 | Challenges in Environmental Research and Monitoring of Emerging and Legacy Contaminants in Antarctica | Zhiyong Xie (Hereon, Germany) |
14:50 – 15:10 | Towards Consistency: Monitoring Chemical Contamination in Antarctica | Anette Küster (UBA, Germany) |
15:10 – 15:30 | Plastic monitoring in Antarctica | Clara Manno (BAS, UK) |
15:30 – 16:00 | Discussion |
Session 4: Biosecurity and invasive species prevention – Chair: Stephanie Groß (TiHo Hannover, Germany), Co-Chair: Arlie McCarthy (HIFMB, Germany)
16:10 – 16:30 | eDNA for invasive species detection, investigation of zooplankton for pollutants | Charlotte Havermanns (Uni Bremen, Germany) |
16:30 – 16:50 | Biosecurity and mitigating invasive species introductions in Antarctica | Arlie McCarthy (HIFMB, Germany) |
16:50 – 17:00 | Discussion |
22 October 2025 – Day 2
Ideas Market / 1-Slide Pitches – Chair: Marcus Lange (Hereon, Germany)
11:00 – 12:00 | Arlie McCarthy, HIFMB, Germany: Suggestion for sustainability across all research projects |
Emilie Pillon, UMR, LAVUE, CNRS, France: Humanities – Social Science to Policies | |
Olaf Krüger, Hereon, Germany: Signatures of the coupling between water and carbon cycles and effects on Southern Ocean phytoplankton | |
Tina Kaiser, Uni Marburg, Germany: Antarctic Men-Ocean-Narratives, communicating and narrating climate change | |
Andrea Spolaor, CNR, Italy: Photochemistry process and contaminants degradation | |
Luisa Patrolecco, CNR, Italy: Anthropogenic impacts and emerging contaminants | |
Nicoletta Ademollo, CNR, Italy: Temporal trends of emerging and legacy POPs in penguin eggs from the Victoria Land and Ross Sea regions | |
Silvia H. Coria, Instituto Antárctico Argentino, Argentina: Establishing natural baselines for mercury (Hg) in freshwater and snow | |
Stephanie Groß, TiHo Hannover, Germany: Assessing Antimicrobial resistance in Antarctica as environmental pollutant | |
Klas Ove Möller, Hereon, Germany: Biological carbon pump and biodiversity | |
Marco Grotti, University of Genoa, Italy: Tracing sources and pathways of heavy metals through isotopic analysis | |
– – – > Room for more ideas and pitch presentations! | |
12:00 – 12:30 | Break |
Breakout groups
12:30 – 12:35 | Introductions into Breakout groups – Zhiyong Xie (Hereon, Germany) |
12:35 – 13:30 | Underwater noise monitoring and mitigations Chairs: Virginia Sciacca, Hauke Flores (tbc) |
Tourism impact assessment and management Chairs: Rita Fabris, Andrea Spolaor |
|
Systematic Monitoring of Chemical Pollution and Management Chairs: Roland Kallenborn, Annika Jahnke |
|
Biosecurity and invasive species prevention Chairs: Stephanie Groß, Arlie McCarthy |
13:30 – 14:00 | Breakout Group Reports |
14:00 – 14:30 | Report on ongoing national planning (tbc) |
14:30 – 15:00 | Questions for Stefanie Arndt (AWI, Germany) |
Closing remarks and end of workshop (A. Küster, Z. Xie, R. Ebinghaus)
Time
Organizer
February 2026
28febAll Day09marSaroma Sea Ice School 2026By BEPSII, CIce2Clouds, CATCH
Event Details
DESCRIPTION Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is designed for early-career scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply)
Event Details
DESCRIPTION
Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is designed for early-career scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply) interested in exploring the complex interactions between sea ice, snow, clouds, and aerosols in polar regions.
Participants will engage in hands-on data collection such as sea ice coring, snow, seawater, atmospheric samplings, field experiments, and workshops led by experts, focusing on processes critical to the Arctic and Antarctic climate systems. Key topics include aerosol-cloud interactions, ice-atmosphere linkages, and cutting-edge observational techniques.
The program combines classroom lectures, practical fieldwork, and data analysis, comprehensively understanding these vital Earth system processes and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is preparation for next generation scientists for the International Polar Year. The BEPSII, CIce2Clouds, and CATCH working groups are organizing this winter field school.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM (planning)
Frontal lectures, daily field and lab work on topics such as:
· Sea ice and snow physics and biogeochemical processes
· Sea ice biogeochemical modelling:
· Gas fluxes at the ocean–ice–atmosphere interfaces
· Primary and secondary aerosols in the sea ice environment
· Atmospheric observation and modelling
· Clouds formation in polar marine boundary layer
· Interactions with underlying water
· Sea ice one day cruise with ice breaker Aurora in Abashiri
TARGET
About 30 international Early Career Scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply).
LECTURERS (planning)
· Daiki Nomura (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Naoya Kanna (University of Tokyo, Japan)
· Takenobu Toyota (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Jessie Creamean (Colorado State University, USA)
· Jennie Thomas (Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, France)
· Lisa Miller (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada)
· Emelia Chamberlain (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA)
· Nadja Steiner (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada)
· Letizia Tedesco (Finnish Environment Institute, Finland)
· Yannick Ilunga (Digital Communication and Marketing Expert, Finland)
· Bruno Delille (University of Liège, Belgium)
· Emiliano Cimoli (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Odile Crabeck (University of Liège, Belgium)
· Pat Wongpan (University of Tasmania, Australia)
· Karley Campbel (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)
· Brent Else (University of Calgary, Canada)
· Anoop Mahajan (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, India)
· Megan Willis (Colorado State University, USA)
· Eeva Eronen-Rasumus (Finnish Environment Institute, Finland)
· Jacqueline Stefels (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
· Paul Zieger (Stockholm University, Sweeden)
· Sakiko Ishino (Kanazawa University, Japan)
· Hakase Hayashida (JAMSTEC, Japan)
· Keiichiro Hara (Fukuoka University, Japan)
Time
Location
Hokkaido, Japan
Organizer
March 2026
28febAll Day09marSaroma Sea Ice School 2026By BEPSII, CIce2Clouds, CATCH
Event Details
DESCRIPTION Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is designed for early-career scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply)
Event Details
DESCRIPTION
Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is designed for early-career scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply) interested in exploring the complex interactions between sea ice, snow, clouds, and aerosols in polar regions.
Participants will engage in hands-on data collection such as sea ice coring, snow, seawater, atmospheric samplings, field experiments, and workshops led by experts, focusing on processes critical to the Arctic and Antarctic climate systems. Key topics include aerosol-cloud interactions, ice-atmosphere linkages, and cutting-edge observational techniques.
The program combines classroom lectures, practical fieldwork, and data analysis, comprehensively understanding these vital Earth system processes and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Saroma Sea Ice School 2026 is preparation for next generation scientists for the International Polar Year. The BEPSII, CIce2Clouds, and CATCH working groups are organizing this winter field school.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM (planning)
Frontal lectures, daily field and lab work on topics such as:
· Sea ice and snow physics and biogeochemical processes
· Sea ice biogeochemical modelling:
· Gas fluxes at the ocean–ice–atmosphere interfaces
· Primary and secondary aerosols in the sea ice environment
· Atmospheric observation and modelling
· Clouds formation in polar marine boundary layer
· Interactions with underlying water
· Sea ice one day cruise with ice breaker Aurora in Abashiri
TARGET
About 30 international Early Career Scientists (preferably Ph.D students, but master students and early post-docs are also eligible to apply).
LECTURERS (planning)
· Daiki Nomura (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Naoya Kanna (University of Tokyo, Japan)
· Takenobu Toyota (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Jessie Creamean (Colorado State University, USA)
· Jennie Thomas (Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, France)
· Lisa Miller (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada)
· Emelia Chamberlain (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA)
· Nadja Steiner (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada)
· Letizia Tedesco (Finnish Environment Institute, Finland)
· Yannick Ilunga (Digital Communication and Marketing Expert, Finland)
· Bruno Delille (University of Liège, Belgium)
· Emiliano Cimoli (Hokkaido University, Japan)
· Odile Crabeck (University of Liège, Belgium)
· Pat Wongpan (University of Tasmania, Australia)
· Karley Campbel (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)
· Brent Else (University of Calgary, Canada)
· Anoop Mahajan (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, India)
· Megan Willis (Colorado State University, USA)
· Eeva Eronen-Rasumus (Finnish Environment Institute, Finland)
· Jacqueline Stefels (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
· Paul Zieger (Stockholm University, Sweeden)
· Sakiko Ishino (Kanazawa University, Japan)
· Hakase Hayashida (JAMSTEC, Japan)
· Keiichiro Hara (Fukuoka University, Japan)
Time
Location
Hokkaido, Japan