Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia’s Antarctic Program

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  • Casey station chef, Jordan Smith, puts the finishing touches on a cake in the kitchen

    The icing on the cake

    The wintering chef at Casey research station, Jordan Smith, has worked in kitchens from the French Alps to the Kimberley, but says the icing on the cake has been her time in Antarctica.

  • Scientists prepare to extract a fast-ice core to characterize sea-ice properties, including ice-crystal structure, salinity, density or chlorophyll content.

    Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

    The Australian Antarctic Division welcomes the opportunity to work with core partners the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology as part of the new Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP).

  • Aerial view of Mawson station

    Government response to Antarctic inquiry

    The Government has responded to recommendations from the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories (JSCNCET) inquiry into the adequacy of Australia’s infrastructure assets and capability in Antarctica.

  • Boulders being loaded from a barge onto Aurora Australis

    Rocky road from Antarctica to Canberra

    Two rocky pieces of the icy continent have arrived in Hobart on the way to a new home in Canberra, where they will go on display as part of a unique outdoor geological museum.

  • A large tractor

    Heavy tractors chosen for Australia's Antarctic inland ice quest

    The Australian Antarctic Program has procured five new heavy tractors to provide the pulling power for Australia’s new deep-field traverse capability, and the search for a million year ice core.

  • Expeditioners in Antarctica

    New Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine

    Highly specialised medical skills honed in the extreme Antarctic environment will be shared through a new Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine (CARMM) in Hobart.

  • Madi Gamble Rosevear working with the team on the Totten Glacier

    Seismic study allows scientists to see below glacier

    Australian Antarctic Program researchers have undertaken seismic studies on the largest glacier in East Antarctica, revealing for the first time a network of lakes beneath the ice.

  • Two men at a lathe

    Work begins on million year ice core drill

    Work has started on a high-tech ice drill that Antarctic scientists will deploy in their quest for the million year ice core – dubbed one of the holy grails of climate science. 

  • The 105 solar panel array installed, with a wind deflector visible down the length of the array on the left side of the building, to minimise the effects of high wind speeds during blizzards.

    First Australian solar farm in Antarctica opens at Casey research station

    The first Australian solar farm in Antarctica will be switched on at Casey research station today.

  • The Dash 8 on the runway at Invercargill with the nine person survey team standing beside.

    Sea floor survey from the sky

    Airborne surveyors are helping to map the shallow sea floor adjacent to Macquarie Island research station, in preparation for the arrival of Australia’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina.

  • Jane Allen and Jesse Blackadder in Antarctica

    Antarctica calling all artists

    Artists looking for the ultimate inspiration are encouraged to apply for the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship.

  • Four women standing at the stern of a ship

    Pioneering work of female scientists reflected in Macquarie Island lakes

    Several lakes on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island have been named after the first four female scientists to travel south with the Australian Antarctic Program.

  • group of whale observers with binoculars

    Technology provides new insights to Antarctic blue whales and krill

    Innovative technologies, including drones, shed new light on the distribution of endangered Antarctic blue whales and their food source krill.

  • Four Adelie penguins near the Casey station sign.

    Ice-free areas are hot property in Antarctica

    The principle of ‘location, location, location’ is as important in Antarctica as the rest of the world, with rare ice-free areas being highly desired real estate.

  • A jade green and white striped iceberg

    New clue in jade iceberg mystery

    Researchers have a new hypothesis that could solve the century-old mystery of why some Antarctic icebergs are green.

  • A south polar skua in flight.

    Enhancing biodiversity protection in Antarctica

    A review of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) has found that they are biased towards protecting the more charismatic species, such as penguins and seabirds, over less visible species.

  • Wilkins aerodrome control building

    New funding for upgrades of Antarctic research stations

    More than $450 million will be invested over the next ten years to upgrade our network of Antarctic research stations.

  • AAD Director Kim Ellis presents Casey station leader Christine MacMillian with a commemorative poster

    50 years of history at Casey research station

    Antarctic expeditioners celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of Casey research station today.

  • A helicopter and a jet aircraft on an ice runway

    Ice runway reopens

    Flights into Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome in Antarctica resumed yesterday, following a twelve week shutdown for major reconstruction works on the 3.5 kilometre runway strip.

  • Antarctic krill

    Giant krill swarms in 3D

    For the first time on an Australian research vessel, giant krill swarms are being captured in 3D using echosounders in the Southern Ocean.

See the news archive for previous news items.