Scholarships

Michael Bollen
University of Otago- Studying diatom "fingerprints" to accurately reconstruct past conditions

Michael is studying geology at the University of Otago and last year, was invited to sail to the Southern Ocean with an oceanography research group from Stanford University. Michael is studying the layers of life (microscopic algae called diatoms) that died and settled into the sediment over the last million years. These diatoms hold chemical fingerprints of what the oceans were like at the time they died. The NZ Post Antarctic Scholarship means Michael will travel to the Antarctic continent to look at life growing underneath sea ice with Associate Professor Ken Ryan from Victoria University of Wellington. It’s a dream come true for this second year masters student who is passionate about algae

Florence Isaacs
Victoria University of Wellington- Studying changes in sea ice ad outlet glaciers in East Antarctica and how they're linked to changes in long-term climate patterns"

Florence studied a Bachelor of Science in Geography at University of Otago, including a year at Durham University in the UK. Her Doctoral research, based at Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre, is looking at changes in sea ice and outlet glaciers in East Antarctica and how they’re linked to changes in long-term climate patterns. Florence’s doctoral project uses pre-existing data sets – so she’s mainly sitting at her computer running calculations and models. But part of this scholarship award will involve her travelling to Antarctica to work in the field with NIWA scientist Natalie Robinson to study how sea ice in McMurdo Sound interacts with the upper ocean