McMurdo Station Antarctica Featured at International Meetings

Texas A&M University and partner organizations have been observing and quantifying the impact of human disturbance caused by science and support operations at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for more than 8 years. The ultimate goal is to maintain a long term monitoring program in order to inform management decision making and document environmental performance. Key investigators for the program are Kennicutt, Dr. Andrew Klein, associate professor of Geography at Texas A&M, Dr. Terry Wade, deputy director of Environmental Sciences for the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M, and Dr. Paul Montagna, endowed chair for ecosystems studies and modeling at the Hart Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. More information on the McMurdo Station Monitoring Program is available at http://psp.tamu.edu/signature-programs/mcmurdo-station-monitoring.

According to Kennicutt, environmental monitoring is a topic of particular interest to the 46 nations that comprise the Antarctic Treaty Parties, and the McMurdo Station Monitoring Program is seen as a model for meeting national and international environmental stewardship obligations central to the Treaty. The main purpose of the Antarctic Treaty, signed in Washington D.C. on December 1, 1959, is to ensure "in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." Antarctica has been designated as “a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”. More information on the meeting and the Antarctic Treaty System can be found at http://www.atcm2008.gov.ua/ or http://www.ats.aq.

At the International Conference on Contaminants in Freezing Ground, scientists, engineers, environmental managers, and companies from around the world with a scientific or practical interest in contamination issues in cold climate soils will meet to share new methods and technologies for the responsible management, remediation, and prevention of the contamination of soil, surface water, and groundwater in regions with seasonal frost and permafrost. This year’s meeting will have a special focus on International Polar Year activities and is being hosted by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. For more information visit http://ipy.crrel.usace.army.mil/cfg6/.