Ukrainian Antarctic Researchers Participate in the European Polar Board Meeting

Representatives of the Ukrainian National Antarctic Scientific Center (NASC) took part in a meeting of the European Polar Board – a coalition of research institutions, logistics operators, and EU bodies coordinating strategic scientific priorities in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Ukrainian scientists briefed their European counterparts on the key outcomes of their activities in Antarctica during the summer season of 2023-2024, as reported by NASC.

Specifically, Ukrainian Antarctic researchers discussed their conducted studies and their involvement in the extensive EU project POLARIN – a large-scale scientific initiative uniting 64 research infrastructures in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, providing free access to all participants. The project includes over 50 scientific organizations worldwide engaged in polar research, including from the EU, Chile, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The project is coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

It is important to note that NASC became a member of the European Polar Board in April 2022. Currently, the organization comprises 31 scientific institutions from 18 EU member states, as well as scientific institutions from four associated partner countries (the United Kingdom, Iceland, Turkey, and Ukraine).

NASC emphasizes that no organization affiliated with Russia is a member of the Board. Furthermore, following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the plenary meeting of the European Polar Board on November 22-23, 2022, in Luxembourg, the Board decided to cease all forms of cooperation with organizations linked to Russia.

As a reminder, The Gaze reported that Ukrainian polar researchers conducted climate change research in Antarctica over the past 20,000 years. During the voyage of the icebreaker "Noosphere" from Chile to the Antarctic station "Academic Vernadsky," Ukrainian scientists collected seven samples of ocean floor sediments at seven different locations near the station.

The collected samples were meticulously described, photographed, and divided into parts for further study in Ukraine. They will be analysed in laboratories in Kyiv and Odesa. Studying these samples will help understand the history of climate change on our planet over the past 20,000 years.