British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), NERC is part of UK Research and Innovation. Based in Cambridge, it has, for over 60 years, undertaken the majority of Britain's scientific research on and around the Antarctic continent. It now shares that continent with scientists from over thirty countries. It also conducts scientific work in the Arctic, and runs the Ny-Alesund station in Svalbard on behalf of NERC.
The British Antarctic Survey strives to uncover the secrets of the Polar Regions and the frozen regions of the Earth. Our expertise spans the depths of the oceans to the inner edge of space.
Our research highlights the fragility of the Earth’s frozen environments, and what that means for our planet. Our scientists discovered the hole in the ozone layer and identified key evidence for climate change in ancient ice – our science continues to inform decision-makers.
We provide the UK’s national polar capability by operating research stations, aircraft and Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough, supporting science at the poles and securing the UK’s presence in Antarctic affairs.
BAS employs over 400 staff, and supports three stations in the Antarctic, at Rothera, Halley and Signy, and two stations on South Georgia, at King Edward Point and Bird Island. The Antarctic operations and science programmes are executed and managed from Cambridge, and rely on a wide-ranging team of professional staff.
The current BAS science research strategy is called Polar Science for Planet Earth (PSPE). BAS is a multidisciplinary organisation that studies all aspects of the polar regions from oceanography, glaciology and marine biology to geology, meteorology, climate and upper atmospheric science.
For more information about us and the work we do, please visit: https://www.bas.ac.uk/
