Antarctic institute welcomed

Establishing a new Antarctic science foundation is a "fantastic" move that will accelerate global research on the frozen continent and the Southern Ocean's role in climate change, Prof Gary Wilson, of the Otago University, says.

A leading Antarctic scientist, Prof Wilson heads the Otago marine science department and is "excited" to have been appointed director of the newly established New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute.

"Antarctica and the Southern Ocean hold the solutions to many of the key questions scientists and policymakers need to answer in order to manage the threats of climate change and global resource depletion.

"I think for Antarctic research this [the institute] is great progress and gives us a lot of scope and opportunity that wasn't available before," he said.

The move "for the first time allows us to work at the scale that the science demands".

New Zealand had highly skilled Antarctic scientists, but budgetary constraints meant overall research funding had previously been "lean".

Much work would be required to develop the institute.

But the institute, and its crucial funding from New York philanthropist Julian Robertson, meant researchers could start working at the scale of the problem, rather than "around the edges".

The role of director is half-time, and Prof Wilson will continue to be based at the Otago marine science department and work mainly from Dunedin.

He will travel regularly to Christchurch to work closely with Antarctica New Zealand, the crown agency which provides logistic support for New Zealand scientists in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean.

The institute would be a "virtual" organisation, not requiring money to be spent on bricks and mortar, organisers said.

Prof Wilson is a former chairman, and still a member of, the science implementation committee for the Andrill Antarctic scientific drilling project, which had proved "very successful".

His involvement in that project had been good preparation for the highly collaborative work required at the institute, he said.

The institute initiative was announced this week by Prime Minister John Key, and was launched after Mr Robertson, a billionaire, provided $5.3 million through his Aotearoa Foundation.