An overview of my research interests
I have been conducting research in Antarctica since 1998, primarily with the Australian Antarctic Division. Recently I have also worked with researchers from Santiago University in Chile as part of their Antarctic Program on King George Island.
Since plant growth in Antarctica is very slow, we use a range of chemical, molecular and physiological techniques to predict how terrestrial biodiversity in Antarctica will change as a result of climate change.
Our work is providing important insights into the biology of these plants that survive and grow in conditions equivalent to a freezer. Our research provides evidence that the Antarctic endemic moss Schisitidium antarctici is likely to be more susceptible to climate change than two co-occurring cosmopolitan species Ceratodon purpureus and Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Robinson et al 2005 PDF 681k, Wasley et al 2006 a, b).
A short video on Thermogenisis
This page is an overview of the sceince projects that I was involved with on our January 2015 trip to King George Island with INACH, the Chilean Antarctic Program. I was working with two Chilean scientists on this trip -
Angelica Casanova-Katny and Gustavo Zuniga.
Angelica is from Centro de Biotecnología, Universidad de Concepción.
Gustavo is from the University of Santiago, Chile and his projects for this trip were....
Here is my introduction to the work from the field site at Collins Glacier on Maxwell Bay.
We also worked with a team of scientists from Portland State University including Dr Todd Rosentiel and Dr Sarah Eppley. Here is Todd talking about one part of his research.
In January of 2015 I went down to Chile's Escudero Base on King George Island with the Chilean Antarctic Program - INASCH. I was working with Angélica Casanova Katny of the Universidad de Concepción and Professor Gustavo Zuniger from Santiago University. My partner Andrew Netherwood accompanied us as the expedition photographer on this trip and most of the photos you see on this page are taken by him.
This page is mostly about King George Island and Escudero Base where we stayed. For the science projects that we were attempting to accomplish see this page.
Physiological techniques can help to answer many questions in ecology, conservation biology and agriculture. These research areas involve collaboration with colleagues at Wollongong (weed ecophysiology - Kris French, Mangroves and salt marshes - Todd Minchinton) and around Australia (Phylloxera DPI Victoria and CSIRO Land and Water).
