Antarctican Society Virtual Lectures

 ”Scott Base, Antarctica, Redevelopment Project: Live Update from Scott Base with Matthew Jordan”

by Matthew Jordan

Date of Lecture: Thursday, September 28, 2023 6:00 PM ET(U.S.)

Presenter: Matthew Jordan, BEng (Hons)

To watch this presentation, go to https://youtu.be/cGxE6O9C6jo

Antarctica New Zealand Project Manager, Matthew Jordan is on the Scott Base Redevelopment Project team. He is also Co-Chair of the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society and is a Board Director of The Antarctican Society.

Matt has a degree in Civil and Construction Engineering with 12 years' experience working on major projects. After seven expeditions to Antarctica, his expertise lies in overcoming the challenges associated with building in remote and extreme environments.

Thanks to modern technology, Matt will be joining us from Scott Base where he has spent the last year working on the base redevelopment project. Our Society greatly appreciates Antarctic Society New Zealand for the work they accomplish and sharing their bandwidth for this event.

Topic: Scott Base Redevelopment Update

Technological science, health and safety, and environmental concerns have contributed to the need for redeveloping Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic research base, which has been manned continuously since 1957. Join us to learn more about the progress of this impressive project to replace the aging infrastructure at Scott Base and Matt’s interesting year on ice. To see additional information on the project, go to:

https://www.scottbaseredevelopment.govt.nz/

Antarctican Society Virtual Lectures

Click on title of the lecture to view it.

Title Producer Description
The British Graham Land Expedition: Cambridge College Halls in the Far SouthMatt McArthur, The Antarctican SocietyConcurrent to Richard Byrd's all singing, all dancing Antarctic expeditions and Lincoln Ellsworth's (Sir Hubert Wilkins') small, tightly focused and well funded forays, John Rymill led a small team south on a tiny budget. The British Graham Land Expedition achieved more than its contemporaries, whether we address outcomes on a per capita or on an outright basis. The BGLE operated efficiently and effectively, their competence precluding the sort of tragedies or misadventures that made other expeditions stick in the popular imagination.
Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project Update – Conserving the legacy of the Heroic AgeLizzie Meek, The Antarctican SocietyLizzie Meek discusses the Antarctic Heritage Trusts' Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project. The Project, is a multi-year, multi-site heritage conservation programme. Since 2006, the Antarctic Heritage Trust have engaged over 80 international heritage and conservation specialists, working in custom-built facilities in the most challenging heritage conservation environment on Earth. To date, the AHT have completed a major phase of conservation work on Ross Island, which has included the conservation of four historic bases and more than 20,000 artefacts. It is the world’s largest, cold-climate heritage conservation project. The Trust currently has a team of 4 people, wintering over at Scott Base, conserving a number of artefacts before they are returned to the huts in the 2022/2023 summer season. Date of lecture: September 28, 2022
The Genesis of Elephant Island — Evolving Plot, Motivation, and Research of an Antarctic NovelTodd Gipstein, The Antarctican SocietyTodd has been a story teller for over 50 years. He studied writing and film at Harvard and ran his own multi-media company for 15 years, specializing in documentaries and “media with a message.” In 1987 he began working for National Geographic and soon became their Director of Multi-Image and an Executive Producer. His work making documentaries for the Geographic offered many opportunities to travel the world. His productions have won more than 40 gold awards as well as a dozen grand-prizes in international competitions. His is also a recipient of several lifetime-achievement awards. Along with his wife Marcia, he spent a decade restoring an offshore lighthouse in Connecticut. Todd has written four novels, Elephant Island being his latest.  As for ongoing projects, Todd continues to photograph and lecture on Lindblad/National Geographic Expeditions. He is working on a full-length documentary film about a Holocaust survivor and starting work on his fifth novel. Todd is a member of the New London Rotary, the Antarctic Society, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Date of lecture: July 26, 2022
Science, Politics, and Peace: Antarctica and the International Geophysical YearDian Olson Belanger, The Antarctican SocietyDian Olson Belanger, an independent historian, is the author of Deep Freeze: The United States, the International Geophysical Year, and the Origins of Antarctica’s Age of Science (University Press of Colorado, 2006). Her first book, Managing American Wildlife, won The Wildlife Society’s national book award as the year’s “outstanding publication in wildlife ecology and management.” Her second, Enabling American Innovation: Engineering and the National Science Foundation, opened the door to Deep Freeze and Dian’s passion for Antarctica. Dian served as associate curator and technical editor for engineering exhibits at the National Building Museum in Washington and curatorial associate and docent at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Her volunteer commitments have included a decade of national leadership of the American Association of University Women. She is currently a docent at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and an AAUW lobbyist and archivist. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in history from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and a Master of Arts in American Studies from the George Washington University, with additional graduate work at the University of Southern California and California State University at Los Angeles. She grew up in northern Minnesota where winters were polar. Date of lecture: June 2, 2022
Herbert Ponting: the Man, the Work, and the LegacyAnne Strathie, The Antarctican SocietyAs 1893 dawned, a young English bank clerk with a new Kodak camera, ventured to California. Developing his skills as photographer, Herbert Ponting exhibited and traveled far and wide, eventually leading him to the Terra Nova Expedition with Captain Robert Falcon Scott. His spectacular photographs and film recorded in the harsh conditions of Antarctica, put him on a path of fame. When war broke out, Ponting was declined as a war correspondent-photographer, but in 1918 he joined Antarctic veterans, including Ernest Shackleton on a government-backed Arctic expedition, continuing his photographic career. Anne’s well-researched biography provides new insight into the creator of some of the twentieth century’s most iconic images. She delves into previously-unpublished correspondence and photographs, and shows us more about the man given the responsibility of recording Captain Scott’s epic effort to conquer the South Pole. Ponting’s photographs have continued to inspire generations of explorers and naturalists. Along with Frank Hurley’s photographs of the Endurance expedition, these early images have come to symbolize the heroic era. Anne will shed more light on these iconic characters and new discoveries. Date of lecture: April 25, 2022
From Plankton to PenguinsJames McClintock, Ph.D., The Antarctican SocietyEndowed Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, James McClintock will discuss the dramatic impacts of climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula. Dr. McClintock is a veteran of16 productive research expeditions to Antarctica where, over the past twenty-plus years, he has become an authority on Antarctic marine chemical ecology, drug discovery, invertebrate nutrition, reproduction, climate change, and ocean acidification. He’s been featured on NPR, 'TEDx' (Birmingham), 'The Moth' (Lincoln Center, New York City), and The Weather Channel as well as in National Geographic Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Discover Magazine, Scientific American Magazine, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and CNN. Date of lecture: February 15, 2022
The Scott Base, Antarctica Redevelopment ProjectMatthew Jordan, The Antarctican SocietyScott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic research base, has been manned continuously since 1957, and much of the base infrastructure since the 70’s has been replaced like-for-like without much modernization.  Now science, health and safety, and environmental concerns contribute to the need for redevelopment.  To meet this need, the New Zealand Government has budgeted nearly $350 million NZD ($240 million USD) to rebuild New Zealand's home in Antarctica.  This will encompass replacing the aging infrastructure at Scott Base and redeveloping the Ross Island Wind Farm. To follow this project, use the following link: www.scottbaseredevelopment.govt.nz. Date of lecture: November 2, 2021.
LIFE ON ICE:Discovery and Exploration of Untersee Oasis, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica Dale Andersen, Ph.D., The Antarctican Society Lake Untersee, within the mountains of Queen Maud Land, is a world that resembles Earth's earliest biosphere. It’s like a postcard from the past; one that can help us understand how those early ecosystems thrived on a planet with an atmosphere nearly devoid of oxygen. His team seeks new knowledge that will inform us about Earth's past history and help us understand its future. His research also helps guide the search for evidence of life on other distant worlds such as Mars or the outer moons of Jupiter or Saturn, or beyond. Date of lecture: August 23, 2021.
Two Men in the AntarcticJoan Boothe, The Antarctican SocietyMaxime Lester and Thomas Bagshawe constituted one of the smallest and least known of Antarctic expeditions. Against all odds, these novices successfully wintered and conducted science at Waterboat Point on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1921-22. Learn the details of this fascinating expedition from the author of "Storied Ice," the definitive work on the history of the Peninsula. Date of lecture: May 17, 2021.