Adrian McDonald

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.