international
polar
foundation

Here we see IPF engineer Mathilde Renard and IPF Founder and BELARE Team Leader Alain Hubert inaugurating the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica's new hydrogen production facility, which will be used to supply weather balloons with gas to float up into the atmosphere as they take measurements and eventually the backup generators for the station. Mathilde explains how the process of electrolysis works in the machine.

Planes including the Alfred Wegener Institute's Polar 6 aircraft at the PEA Airfield getting ready to take off to conduct aerial surveys of the the ice margin at the coast for the international RINGS project. Each year the International Polar Foundation assists scientists working on this project managed by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

Dr. Maaike Izeboud from the VUB was interviewed before heading out to the Nansen Blue Ice Fields to to do fieldwork for the FROID project in December 2024 and January 2025. The project is hoping to find million year-old ice that will give clues about past climates.

Etienne Legrain from the VUB was interviewed before heading out to the Nansen Blue Ice Fields to to do fieldwork for the FROID project in December 2024 and January 2025. The project is hoping to find million year-old ice that will give clues about past climates.

Riding in a Toyota Hilux towards PEA after spending some time at Perseus Airfield to prepare for the arrival of scientists in a few days!

This week two members of our team traveled to the coast when they just so happened to encounter a pod of Arnoux's beaked whales swimming and feeding amongst the seaice. These whales are very rarely seen, and marine biologists still know very little about their feeding habits and behavior, which made this sighting even more special!  

Every season we fly the flags of the nations that are represented by people at the station as an omen to the international collaboration and efforts required to work in such a remote location.

A member of our team works diligently to clear all the snow from in-front of the Princess Elisabeth station that had piled up over the winter months. 

This videos is a timelapse of the opening days of the 2024-25 season. We can see how snow is being cleared from around the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica!