The 1st international ANTPAS workshop was held in Varese, Italy on 4 & 5 October of 2017, with the theme 'From an Expert Group to a Research Program'. The workshop was hosted by the Insubria University and covered one day of scientific presentations, followed by one day of intensive group discussions on how to take ANTPAS forward.
Workshop Program
The finalized program of the workshop can be viewed here.
Workshop: Day 1
Day 1 of the workshop started with a presentation on the Italian Antarctic program (PNRA), given by the Director of Research at PNRA, Antonio Meloni, followed by a presentation by Jerónimo López-Martínez, the ex-president of SCAR, on the role of research programs within the SCAR strategy.
The three sessions of the day reflected the interdisciplinary nature of ANTPAS, having presentations on dating techniques, remote sensing applications, landform mapping, weathering processes, atmospheric drivers of ground thermal dynamics, microbial studies, biological investigations, as well as permafrost modelling. Posters were on display throughout the day and the day ended with a dinner attended by all delegates.
Session 1 focused on active layer and permafrost environments, their characteristics, environmental forcings, and locational attributes. Session 2 focused mainly on the standardisation of techniques and methods when evaluating active layer and permafrost environment. Session 3 focused on protocols to the active layer and permafrost environment, as well as collaboration amongst researchers and various scientific fields and disciplines.
The three sessions of the day reflected the interdisciplinary nature of ANTPAS, having presentations on dating techniques, remote sensing applications, landform mapping, weathering processes, atmospheric drivers of ground thermal dynamics, microbial studies, biological investigations, as well as permafrost modelling. Posters were on display throughout the day and the day ended with a dinner attended by all delegates.
Session 1 focused on active layer and permafrost environments, their characteristics, environmental forcings, and locational attributes. Session 2 focused mainly on the standardisation of techniques and methods when evaluating active layer and permafrost environment. Session 3 focused on protocols to the active layer and permafrost environment, as well as collaboration amongst researchers and various scientific fields and disciplines.
Workshop: Day 2
Day 2 of the workshop focused on intense and insightful group discussions and strategy meetings on the future role of ANTPAS and on how to allow ANTPAS to go from an Expert Group to a potential Research Program under SCAR. Results of these discussions will be made available soon.
Workshop Travel Grant Recipients
A number of students and emerging researchers were awarded travel grants to attend the workshop. Travel funds were made available by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and ANTPAS would like to thank SCAR for their generous support. Without these travel grants attendance by students and emerging researchers at the workshop would not have been possible.
Grant Recipients
Fabiana Canini, Tuscia University, ITALY
Benoit Faucher, University of Ottawa, CANADA
Christel Hansen, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Filip Hrbacek, Masaryk University, CZECH REPUBLIC
Jenna Knox, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Tebogo Masebe, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Dan Morgan, Vanderbilt University, USA
Tanya O'Neill, Univeristy of Waikato, NEW ZEALAND
Liezel Rudolph, University of the Free State, SOUTH AFRICA
Nicola Wilmot, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Grant Recipients
Fabiana Canini, Tuscia University, ITALY
Benoit Faucher, University of Ottawa, CANADA
Christel Hansen, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Filip Hrbacek, Masaryk University, CZECH REPUBLIC
Jenna Knox, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Tebogo Masebe, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA
Dan Morgan, Vanderbilt University, USA
Tanya O'Neill, Univeristy of Waikato, NEW ZEALAND
Liezel Rudolph, University of the Free State, SOUTH AFRICA
Nicola Wilmot, Rhodes University, SOUTH AFRICA