Abstract

In “Subglacial Lake Ellsworth”, Prof Siegert will present the search for life in the extreme environment of the titular lake. He will discuss the pitfalls he and his team encountered and reflect on the lessons drawn from these, concluding with an assessment on potential ways forward for the programme.

Martin Siegert is Professor of Geosciences at the University of Bristol and Principal Investigator of the NERC Lake Ellsworth Consortium, involving 8 UK Universities and 2 research centres. He was previously Head of GeoSciences and Assistant Principal at the University of Edinburgh and has been a UK Delegate to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. His research involves the use of ice penetrating radio-echo sounding to uncover the landscape beneath the Antarctic ice, and it was through this technique that he identified and mapped Subglacial Lake Ellsworth (one of nearly 400 known sub ice lakes). He was awarded the 2013 Martha T Muse Prize in Antarctic Science and Policy.

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