SCAR medals awarded at the SCAR XXIX and COMNAP XVIII meetings

The IPF attended to the SCAR XXIX and COMNAP XVIII meetings in Hobart (Tasmania), where three prominent international Antarctic scientists have been honoured for their outstanding achievements by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

 

SCAR is the world's leading Antarctic science organisation, charged with initiating, developing and coordinating international scientific research in the Antarctic region. Established in 1958, SCAR has 28 full member countries and four associate member countries.

As part of the opening ceremony for the SCAR Open Science Conference in Hobart, Tasmania, on 12 July 2006, Professor Jörn Thiede, President of Scar, awarded the SCAR President's Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Antarctic Science to Professor Peter Barrett of New Zealand; the SCAR Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research to Professor Paul Mayewski of the USA; and the SCAR Medal for International Scientific Coordination to Professor David Walton, of the United Kingdom.

Professor Barrett is a leader of the geological drilling community in the Antarctic and has been Chief Scientist for several projects investigating the history of the East Antarctic ice sheet. He has done much to communicate Antarctic science to a wider public audience, including through a BBC programme on the history of the Antarctic ice sheet and emphasising its importance in the global context.

Professor Mayewski's primary research interests are climate change and change in the chemistry of the atmosphere. He is the founder of a project to reconstruct Antarctic climate and atmospheric chemistry over the last 200 years and the Chair, since 1990, of the Executive Committee, which coordinates this programme.

Professor David Walton has been Chairman of the Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System since 2002 and has represented SCAR at 14 Antarctic Treaty Consultative meetings since 1992. He is Editor in Chief of the scientific journal Antarctic Science and has contributed to, compiled and edited six books on research in Antarctica. He has recently retired from his post as Head of the Environment and Information department at the British Antarctic Survey.