– Commemorating the agreement of the Antarctic Treaty –
On the 1st of December 1959, 12 Nations (including South Africa, the only African signatory) signed the Antarctic Treaty agreeing to 14 commands, including that Antarctica will be used for peaceful purposes only. Today, Antarctica is seen as “a natural reserve, devoted to peace and SCIENCE”.
South Africa has been part of scientific exploration in the Antarctic since 1960, the year of the first South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE). Scientist travel annually with South Africa’s research vessel, the S.A. Agulhas II, to the Antarctic. Once the vessel has reached the ice shelf, cargo and passengers are swung over with the ship’s crane. The helicopters onboard also assist in this regard. Passengers then travel about 200km to SANAE IV, which is situated in Dronning Maud Land (71°S, 2°W) where an overwintering team consisting of 10 people are housed.
South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) – this is the name of the South African government’s programme for research in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions.
You might be wondering how we will be celebrating Antarctica Day/Month – keep an eye on Antarctic Legacy of South Africa’s Facebook Page or Instagram as from Monday (3 December 2018).
The Antarctic Treaty document can be downloaded here.
The 58th South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) team is almost done with 3 weeks of training. As from tomorrow this team will be prepared for their 14 month expedition to South Africa’s Antarctic base, SANAE IV.
They will depart today in a week’s time, 06 December 2018, and return around middle February 2020.
Watch this video to learn more about Antarctica, South Africa’s involvement in the Antarctic Continent and South Africa’s research vessel (S.A. Agulhas II) built by STX Finland.
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 29 November 2018.
The Belmont Forum, in collaboration with Future Earth and JPI Oceans, is launching a call for proposals on “Transdisciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainability”. The call is aiming at bringing together researchers and other expertise across the globe to innovate solutions to accelerate sustainable use of oceans and minimize the effects from global change (www.bfgo.org).
Call Timeline:
Call Opens: 29 October 2018
Pre-Registration Open: 12 November 2018
Pre-Registration Closes: 31 January 2019 23:59 UTC
As South Africans we celebrate our Heritage during the month of September. Also, during the second last week of September all over the globe researchers celebrate ‘International Polar Week’. In 2017 Antarctic Legacy of South Africa came up with a slogan to combine the two celebrations: “Celebrating South Africa’s Polar Heritage’.
This slogan is to remind all South Africans of our involvement in the Antarctic region since 1947/1948, when South Africa Annexed the sub-Antarctic Marion and Prince Edward Islands. In 1955 the first South African (Hannes la Grange) set foot on the Antarctic Continent and the foundation was laid for all future South African Antarctic expeditions. On 3 December 1959 South Africa’s first Antarctic overwintering team (South African National Antarctic Expedition – SANAE1) departed from Cape Town Harbour on the Polarbjørn.
This year South Africa’s Polar Heritage will be celebrated by four events (three organised and hosted by APECS South Africa and one event hosted by Iziko Museums of South Africa):
Organiser
Event
Location
Date
More information
APECS-SA
Talk: CHEMTAX determination of southern ocean phytoplankton distribution and adaptation.
Why is ‘Polar Week’ celebrated in September (and also in March)?
“The equinoxes in September and March are the only time when everywhere on earth the day length is 12 hours, a perfect opportunity to celebrate the poles on a global scale!” (APECS – Association of Polar Early Career Scientists).
Click here to see where Antarctic Legacy of South Africa was in involved in 2017.
Author: Anche Louw (Antarctic Legacy of South Africa), 14 September 2018
May you be inspired by the women within South Africa’s Antarctic Programme.
All the women that attended the 5th South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) Symposium, earlier this month in Hermanus.
Women sitting here have been dreaming about a career in science and science related positions within the South African National Antarctic Programme. These are all ordinary women, but due to ambition and extremely hard work they are, or are becoming the best in their fields of research.
There is an increasing trend with regards to female Principal Investigators (PI’s) within South Africa’s Antarctic Programme (See Figure below). Of the 29 DST-NRF funded research projects within SANAP (for the period of 2018 to 2020), the Principal Investigator for 13 of these are women.
Women are represented in all four research themes within SANAP (Themes: Earth Systems, Living Systems, Human Enterprise and Innovation: Southern Ocean and Antarctic technology and engineering). Read more about these themes in South Africa’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research Plan for 2014 to 2024 (Click here).
Who is the Principal Investigator (PI)
“A Principal Investigator is the primary individual responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of a research grant in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and institutional policy governing the conduct of sponsored research.” (www.umass.edu)
Women are represented in all four research themes within SANAP (Themes: Earth Systems, Living Systems, Human Enterprise and Innovation: Southern Ocean and Antarctic technology and engineering). Read more about these themes in South Africa’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research Plan for 2014 to 2024 (Click here).
To all the women who:
are or have been principal investigators of research projects within SANAP;
obtained an Honours, Master’s, PhD or Post-Doc through South Africa’s Antarctic programme (SANAP);
still study to become a scientist through SANAP;
worked on research vessels, studying towards a scientific degree;
overwintered on Marion Island, Gough Island or SANAE (Antarctica);
spent a take-over on Marion Island, Gough Island or SANAE (Antarctica);
started their careers within South Africa’s Antarctic programme;
work behind the scenes of the Antarctic Programme (DST, NRF and DEA);
feel SANAP meant the world to them by being the stepping stone for their futures,
…may you keep inspiring women to become what they want to be!
Only a few of the ladies who are or were involved in SANAP.
Inspiring female SANAP Scientist: Prof Isabelle Ansorge (UCT, Department of Oceanography) – Read her inspiring story here!
Prof Isabelle Ansorge, as a young researchers, on the Marion cruise onboard the S.A. Agulhas I in 2003.
Author: Anché Louw (Antarctic Legacy of South Africa), 28 August 2018
