Over 250 scientist and experts arrive in Hobart for ’worlds most important’ scientific conference

Scientist and experts from across the globe are coming to Hobart for one of the “the world’s most important scientific gatherings”.

More than 250 people from 25 nations will meet in Hobart next week for the first-ever global conference of the Southern Ocean Observing System. Photo: Filip Stedt of the University of Gothenburg

Scientists and experts across the world will be gathering in Hobart for the first-ever global Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) conference.

The SOOS is an international initiative based at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies to collect data from research and observations of the Southern Ocean to share with researchers, policy makers and organisations.

More than 250 experts from 25 countries on every continent will arrive in Hobart to discuss the ‘Southern Ocean in a Changing World’ on Monday.

“With Antarctic sea ice at record low levels during winter, and new research charting shifts in critically important deep currents, this is a useful time to bring the world together to focus on the global climate engine that is the Southern Ocean,” executive officer Dr Alyce Hancock said.

“As a gateway city to Eastern Antarctica, home port to Australia’s national research vessels, and host of the SOOS International Project Office for 12 years, Hobart is the perfect venue for the inaugural SOOS Symposium.

Research Scientist Sarah Payne (Right) and Alyce Hancock with their mobile work shelter, which is towed behind a Hagglunds out to the sampling Lakes.

“We can’t wait to welcome attendees from every continent, from Somalia to South Korea, from Brazil to Belgium, Ghana to Georgia.”

University of Edinburgh researcher and SOOS co-chair Dr Sian Henley said the conference is one of the world’s most important scientific gatherings.

“The Southern Ocean is unlike any other on the planet: nobody lives there permanently; it has no defined boundaries; it is managed under the Antarctic Treaty rather than a single nation; and multiple nations work there with their own regions of interest,” she said.

“On top of that, the Southern Ocean is an extremely challenging environment, which makes it difficult for science to monitor and observe unless nations and disciplines work together.

“As a science initiative centred on the Southern Ocean, SOOS is shaped by the unique nature of the ocean itself.”

SOOS supports multinational research programs across different science disciplines such as the physics, chemistry, biology and geology of the Southern Ocean system to combine new and novel observations.

University of Tasmania college of Science and Engineering Executive Dean Terry Bailey said it’s important the university continues to sponsor and host SOOS.

“A vibrant and active SOOS is fundamental to our understanding of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic environments, and essential to maintaining IMAS’s status as a global leader in Southern Ocean research,” he said.