Victoria Metcalf

Dr Victoria Metcalf is a marine biologist and former Lecturer in Genetics at Lincoln University. She is currently the National Coordinator of the Participatory Science Platform, Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor. Victoria is mad keen on researching fish and shellfish. She has a PhD in biochemistry and has always been drawn to non-mammalian species because she finds them so incredibly interesting. She has a particular love of cold places and most of her research is on Antarctic marine life although she has studied New Zealand marine species too. Victoria is on Twitter @VicMetcalf_NZ

Frozen Friday Fab Four #1 - Ice Doctor

Mar 28, 2014 •

Four of the Antarctic or anything else headlines/social media bits that have grabbed my attention this week.   1. A new study (full reference here) released has just shown that there’s a lot more ice being lost from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet than previously thought. We should all be worried about this because it means that sea level rises around the world as a result will be greater than expected. From 1973 to the present, the ‘Big 6’ glaciers in West Antarctica have increased their shed of ice by 77% through the ice moving faster. Robert Thomas, a glaciologist at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, in Wallops Island, Va said about the study “This paper is important in showing that a glacier can actually ‘feel’ what is happening … Read More

Antarctica at what cost? Fighting over the far south. - Ice Doctor

Mar 20, 2014 •

  What’s the future for Antarctic expeditions? Antarctica still holds magical allure as perhaps the most mysterious continent we possess on earth. Even for those that have experienced time ‘on the ice’ it may feel more akin to being on another planet than our own. Part of the attraction is the extreme tag, well earned in this case, with harsh environmental conditions that test and invigorate and associated with that heroic tales of explorers who battled these elements with winners and losers- the cost of losing being life itself. However, of late Antarctica has been suffering some negative press, or more specifically criticism directed at some of the scientists that conduct Antarctic research, especially those involved in the ill-fated Australian Antarctic Expedition (AAE: The Spirit of Mawson) lead by Chris … Read More