The annual hunt for Antarctic Fellowship recipients has begun as IAATO celebrates five years of supporting early-career scientists and researchers with its award.
The awards are granted annually by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
The Antarctic Fellowships are an investment in the professional development of talented early career scientists and researchers and aim to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty.
Amanda Lynnes, Director of Environment and Science Coordination for IAATO, said: “The past five years have introduced us to some truly outstanding young researchers with exciting projects.
“It has been an honour to support early career researchers with their professional development through the scheme, and we’re thrilled to be offering this opportunity again in 2023.”
IAATO has funded six fellows since 2019, including post graduate student Eduardo Pizarro González (2022) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, who is examining patterns of distribution, abundance, and population trends of six Antarctic and Subantarctic penguin species affected by climate change, and Ross Nichols (2021) from the University of California, Santa Cruz who is furthering research that will help IAATO operators minimise the risk of whale ship-strikes around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Martina Mascioni, one of two recipients of IAATO’s inaugural Antarctic Fellowship in 2019, said: “My advice to early career researchers looking to expand their learning is to apply immediately to the Antarctic Fellowship.
“I have learned so much. It’s really helped me to grow in my career, given me a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with a scientific institution in any country and give me access to so many other opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.”
COMNAP is also offering a fellowship with funding of up to USD $15,000 for 2023. Both the IAATO and COMNAP fellowships enable early-career persons to work with a project team from another country, creating new opportunities and often partnerships that last for many years and over many Antarctic field seasons.
Following launch of the Polar Initiative, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has funded an additional SCAR award. SCAR will therefore be offering four to five fellowships up to USD $15,000 each for 2023. The details for the SCAR scheme will be like previous years but with the opportunity for applicants to propose partly or entirely remote fellowships.
The deadline for the SCAR, IAATO & COMNAP fellowship applications is July 31, 2023.
This year’s Antarctic Fellowships are launched in conjunction with CCAMLR’s Scientific Scholarship Scheme, which provides funding of up to AUD $30,000 to assist early-career scientists to participate in the work of the CCAMLR Scientific Committee and its working groups over a period of two years.
The objective of the scheme is to build capacity within the CCAMLR scientific community to help generate and sustain the scientific expertise needed to support the work of CCAMLR in the long-term. The deadline for CCAMLR scientific scholarship applications is August 31, 2023.
All opportunities are being jointly promoted by the organisations involved. For more information, visit: SCAR, COMNAP, IAATO and CCAMLR.