Launch of new research program - 'Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future'

The ARC Special Research Initiative in Excellence in Antarctic Science Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future is a leading international research program which will deliver interdisciplinary research to forecast environmental change across the Antarctic region, to deploy effective environmental stewardship strategies in the face of this change, and to secure Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science.

Associate Professor Phill Cassey, Environment Institute Member and Head of the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department in the School of Biological Sciences, is the University of Adelaide's lead on the project and will be focusing on biosecurity planning and safeguarding Antarctica from new and emerging invasive species.

SAEF uses the benchmark social-ecological systems approach as the basis for reciprocal integration of theory, observations, modelling and data, with the information requirements of structured decision-making, to enable the delivery of informed, future-ready environmental policy. SAEF is led from Monash University’s Clayton Campus and brings together 30 organisations, both national and international, to deliver its program. The team includes 57 researchers and practitioners from across the disciplinary spectrum, including geology, atmospheric science, marine and terrestrial ecology, mathematical modelling, optimisation, conservation biology, conservation practise, evidence-based policy and law.

SAEF’s university partners include Monash University, University of Wollongong, Queensland University of Technology, University of New South Wales, James Cook University, the University of Adelaide and La Trobe University.

SAEF’s domestic partner organisations include Geoscience Australia, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, the Bureau of Meteorology, South Australian Museum, Western Australian Museum and in a program collaboration role the Australian Antarctic Division.

Internationally, partner organisations include the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Colorado Boulder, Berkeley Geochronology Centre, Tulane University, University of Waikato, University of Otago, Auckland University of Technology, Victoria University of Wellington, King Juan Carlos University, University of the Balearic Islands, University of Exeter, University of Pretoria, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, the Norwegian Polar Institute, Chilean Antarctic Institute, British Antarctic Survey, New Zealand Department of Conservation and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.

With over $46M investment from the ARC and contributing organisations, SAEF is in an extraordinary position to change the future of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Environments through the application of leading informatics, robotics, environmental technologies and decision-support approaches. Strong partnerships with those involved in decision-making and operations in Antarctica will ensure new environmental policies for new environmental challenges and a workforce ready to take forward the legacy.

Furthermore, to support this initiative we are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work with us at the University of Adelaide.  Applications close 3rd August 2022 and further details are available here: https://careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/510275/postdoctoral-research-fellow-a-with-phd-school-of-biological-sciences