See you in person or on line this week – 5 to gather and 5.30 to speak.
At present there’s lots of focus and interest in the Antarctic and we jumped at the chance to hear from an Australian authority on Antarctica, Patrick De Dekker. He will speak to us on the 1897-99 Belgica expedition that first overwintered in Antarctic waters
View PDF of presentation here
A tale of extraordinary scientific achievements and of human endurance
Patrick De Deckker
Emeritus Professor, The Australian National University
Patrick De Deckker is a geologist with a doctorate in zoology. He was educated in Belgium, Switzerland and Australia. He commenced working on microcrustaceans (ostracods) and salt lakes, then used the remains of microorganisms to determine environmental change in large lacustrine systems. Using the same approach, he continued his investigations with the aim of identifying changes in all 3 oceans surrounding Australia, ands spent much time investigating the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean. He spent one summer season studying lakes and their biota at an Australian Antarctic base. More recently, he studied airborne dust and its composition in the Australian region and examined the possible record of Australian dust in Antarctic ice cores. Patrick has published over 250 articles in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and edited/co-edited 8 books and journal volumes. Patrick is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
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