Six ACEAS researchers secure prestigious ARC Future Fellowships
Six researchers from the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) have been awarded prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowships, securing funding to advance new knowledge and expertise in Antarctic ice-sheet change, Southern Ocean heat and carbon storage, sea-ice decline, paleoclimate reconstruction, and Antarctic governance.
The fellowships recognise outstanding mid-career researchers and support innovative projects that support Australia’s national interests by addressing key scientific and societal challenges facing Australia and the world.
ACEAS Director, Professor Jo Whittaker from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, congratulated the recipients on their success.
"ARC Future Fellowships are among Australia's most competitive research funding schemes, and these awards are a testament to the exceptional calibre of researchers across ACEAS national research community."
"The projects being supported through these fellowships address critical questions about Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and their significance for Australia and our planet’s future. We are delighted to see our researchers recognised for their leadership and innovation."
The successful ACEAS researchers are:
- ACEAS Chief Investigator, Associate Professor Jacqueline Halpin from the University of Tasmania, who will investigate sedimentary basins hidden beneath vulnerable sectors of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to improve understanding of past and future ice-sheet change. Her research will help scientists better reconstruct Antarctica's geological history and refine projections of future sea-level rise.
- ACEAS Chief Investigator, Dr Adele Morrison from the Australian National University, whose research will examine how the Southern Ocean absorbs and stores heat and carbon, improving projections of climate change and sea-level rise. The project will strengthen understanding of one of Earth's most important climate regulators and how it shapes – and responds to – future global warming.
- ACEAS Affiliated Investigator, Dr Amelie Meyer from the University of Tasmania, who will explore the ocean processes driving Antarctic sea-ice decline and their implications for future climate. Her work will provide new insights into the causes of recent record-low sea-ice conditions and improve predictions of future Antarctic change.
- ACEAS Affiliated Investigator, Dr David Hutchinson from the University of New South Wales, whose project will investigate past greenhouse climates that may provide valuable analogues for Earth's future under continued warming. His research aims to improve paleoclimate reconstructions, helping to strengthen Australia's future climate-modelling capability and improve understanding of cloud radiative forcing in past and future climates.
- ACEAS Affiliated Investigator, Professor Jeffrey McGee from the University of Tasmania, whose project will investigate how Antarctic governance can respond to growing climate and geopolitical pressures. The research will identify ways to strengthen international cooperation and support effective decision-making about Antarctica.
- ACEAS Affiliated Investigator, Dr Mark Hoggard from the Australian National University, whose interdisciplinary research spans diverse topics ranging from sea-level modelling to critical minerals. His non-Antarctic related project will study the geological processes that influence the formation and preservation of Australia's critical mineral resources, strengthening national capability in exploration targeting.
View the full list of awarded recipients and projects here.
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