Antarctica plays a critical role in regulating global sea level, deep ocean circulation and Earth’s climate. Yet this remote continent is rapidly changing. What happens in Antarctica will shape coastlines, ecosystems and communities worldwide.

Join leading Antarctic marine geoscientist Dr Laura De Santis for a public event on how past ice-ocean interactions help us understand Antarctica’s future in a warming world. Drawing on decades of research, major Southern Ocean expeditions and geological drilling programs, Dr De Santis will explore how Antarctic ice sheets have advanced and retreated over millions of years and what these changes mean for global climate risk today.

Dr De Santis will be joined by an expert panel to discuss the importance of international collaboration in Antarctic and ocean science, and address audience questions.

• Dr Laura De Santis (OGS, Italy): Laura De Santis is a Senior Scientist at the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Trieste Italy. Her research focuses on Polar continental margins using marine geophysical data, bathymetric maps, and sediment cores for investigating the glacial environment.

• Dr Alix Post (Geoscience Australia): An accomplished Australian marine geoscientist at Geoscience Australia, whose research spans from tropical seas to the Southern Ocean and Antarctic continental margins, with a strong focus on how seafloor processes and environmental conditions shape marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

• Associate Professor Will Grant (Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU): A leading academic in science communication at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at the Australian National University, where he also serves as Associate Dean Higher Degree Research in the College of Systems and Society. In 2024 he participated as a science communication researcher on an International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition drilling into the Japan Trench earthquake zone, studying both the science and how researchers communicate their work.

• The panel discussion will be moderated by Dr Sarah Kachovich (ANZIC, ANU): Dr Sarah Kachovich is a marine micropaleontologist and the International Scientific Drilling Program Manager for Australia and New Zealand (ANZIC) based at the Australian National University. Her research spans using microfossils to address key questions in biostratigraphy, ocean anoxia and tectonic history.

Hosted by the Embassy of Italy in Australia, the Research School of Earth Sciences and the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at The Australian National University.