“This will be the first Canadian Antarctic research expedition. It’s very exciting to lead a team to study the rapidly changing Antarctic environment, which has many similarities to Canada’s Arctic.”
— Thomas James, Chief Research Scientist, Canadian Antarctic Research Expedition, Geological Survey of Canada
Antarctic ice data helps scientists understand how the world is changing. (Photo Getty Images, Holger Leue)
The seven-second summary:
Canadian researchers are embarking on a first-of-its-kind expedition to Antarctica as part of Canada’s engagement in the Antarctic Treaty System to support global environmental standards. Thomas James of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is the chief scientist aboard the Royal Canadian Navy vessel, HMCS Margaret Brooke, helping coordinate all aspects of research — from testing for open-ocean contaminants to studying coastal oceanography and terrestrial geology.
While Canada’s marine research typically focuses on the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, this Antarctic expedition allows scientists to compare and contrast cold-region responses from Pole to Pole. Researchers will examine glacier retreat driven by climate change and how chemicals and plastics and other pollutants circulate globally. Antarctica’s ice is host to a variety of unique data that can help us understand how the region’s dynamic landscape and melting icebergs affect the Earth’s climate and, more generally, how the world is changing.
Shetland Islands mission plan.
Dates: February to March 2025
From Pole to Pole: A high-latitude analogue to the Canadian Arctic
With a detailed science plan and daily coastal and/or marine stops, the research team is conducting:
- water sampling for physical, chemical and biological oceanography
- sediment sampling and seafloor and shoreline mapping to examine glacier retreat, historical contamination and sea-level history
- air, water, snow and sea-ice sampling for contaminants such as mercury, chemicals and microplastics
- ocean-bottom photography and sampling
Heritage Moments: An all-Canadian team
This first-in-Canadian-history moment is being planned by an all-Canadian team. A team of fifteen research scientists aboard the vessel showcases the scale of collaboration and variety of partnerships among experts from coast to coast:
- Natural Resources Canada
- Royal Canadian Navy
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Polar Knowledge Canada
- Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR)
- Ocean Networks Canada
- University of Calgary
- Université de Sherbrooke
- Dalhousie University
- University of Victoria
- University of New Brunswick
“I am humbled at how people across five federal departments and agencies and five universities have worked together, with great effort and on a very short timeline, to assemble the team and material to undertake research across a range of environmental science disciplines.”
— Thomas James
For more information on this groundbreaking research mission, contact NRCan’s science communications team at sciencecommunications-communicationsscientifiques@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.