Antarctic Climate Change and Environmental Impact - Edx

Dr. Daniela Liggett serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Canterbury's Gateway Antarctica, where she combines her expertise in environmental management, Antarctic politics, and tourism research. Her current research portfolio spans multiple critical areas of Antarctic studies, including human impacts in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctic futures, gateway cities, and geopolitical decision-making processes. As a social scientist deeply involved in polar research integration, she has made significant contributions to the World Meteorological Organization's Polar Prediction Project, examining the relationships between weather information providers and users. Her work has been instrumental in embedding humanities and social sciences into Antarctic research programs, moving beyond traditional roles of science communication to demonstrate the essential value of social science perspectives in polar research. Through her involvement with various Antarctic research initiatives, she has helped shape understanding of human engagement with the Antarctic region, particularly in areas of environmental management and tourism politics. Her expertise extends to studying the complex interplay between scientific research, policy-making, and environmental protection in the Antarctic context.

Professor Adrian McDonald serves as the Director of Gateway Antarctica at the University of Canterbury, where he leads crucial research into atmospheric processes affecting Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, and New Zealand's climate systems. His distinguished career spans over two decades of Antarctic atmospheric studies, producing one of the longest records of Antarctic atmospheric winds and garnering more than 3,200 citations for his research contributions. As Principal Investigator on multiple major research grants, including the Antarctic Science Platform and Deep South National Science Challenge, he investigates how atmospheric processes affect Southern Ocean dynamics, Antarctic climate, and ice sheet surface mass balance, with particular focus on improving global climate models. His groundbreaking research has revealed significant insights, such as discovering that a single atmospheric river event in 2016 produced enough snowfall to offset an entire year of Antarctic melting. Using sophisticated tools like the medium-frequency radar system at Scott Base, satellite remote sensing, and surface observations, he continues to advance our understanding of climate processes in the Antarctic region, supported by substantial research funding including $255,836 for sea ice and carbon cycle feedbacks research and $729,780 for cloud and aerosol measurements studies.

Dr. Andrea Herbert serves as a researcher and polar specialist with expertise in Antarctic gateway cities and polar tourism, combining academic research with hands-on experience as a polar tour guide. Her doctoral research at the University of Canterbury focused on placemaking and tourism development in Ushuaia, Argentina's Antarctic gateway city, based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork examining the complex relationships between tourism, urban development, and socio-economic dynamics. Currently, she contributes to significant polar research initiatives, including serving as Project Manager for the 2020 SCAR Project "The impact of COVID-19 on Antarctica." Her work bridges theoretical understanding with practical experience, as she continues to work part-time as a tourist guide in both Arctic and Antarctic regions. As Senior Project Coordinator at Women in Polar Science, she actively promotes polar research while maintaining her research focus on human interactions with Antarctica, particularly in environmental management, governance, and tourism contexts.