• 1 Jul 2026

    How microbes on Antarctic meteorites shed light on life on Mars 

    Microorganisms found colonising Antarctic meteorites are a unique lens into how life might fare if transported to distant planets.  Last week a NASA rover identified complex organic carbon in ancient…
  • 18 Jun 2026

    Antarctica offers 30 years of predictability in sea-level rise

    Three decades of clarity provide a window for coastal planning. Antarctica has long been a wild card in sea-level projections, combining an enormous and unmatched ice mass with large uncertainties…
  • 4 Jun 2026

    SAEF Director appointed Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor

    Monash University announced that SAEF Director, Professor Steven Chown FAA was among 42 recipients of the Inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Professorship. These Professorships are awarded to Monash University Professors who are…
  • 21 May 2026

    Antarctica is facing disasters alone, experts warn

    Researchers are calling for the creation of a new Antarctic disaster management body, arguing the continent is facing environmental risks that its current governance system is ill prepared for.
  • 18 May 2026

    Antarctic DNA offers vital clues to pinpointing rising sea levels

    Researchers say accurately predicting Antarctica’s impact on global sea levels is an urgent priority that can be achieved by analysing the DNA of tiny land animals, pinpointing the continent’s icy…
  • 23 Mar 2026

    Microbes can survive dark Antarctic winters and a hotter future by living on air

    “It’s a bit like seeing a penguin thrive in a tropical jungle.” That’s how SAEF scientist Dr Ry Holland from Monash University describes new research that has shown Antarctic microbes…
  • 19 Mar 2026

    The World’s Loneliest Cabbage

    On remote sub-Antarctic islands in the Southern Indian Ocean grows one of the world’s most isolated plants – the Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica). Adapting to extremes The Kerguelen cabbage, an…
  • 6 Mar 2026

    2025 French-Australian Research Grant recipients announced

    Professor David Renault, Director of the French Polar Institute, and Dr Samuel Beale, Research Fellow at Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) based at Monash University, have been awarded the third…
  • 27 Feb 2026

    Finding stranger things: catching a real-life ‘Demogorgon’ from the Antarctic deep

    At first glance, you might think this strange-looking organism slipped through a fracture in space-time, perhaps via an Einstein-Rose bridge hidden beneath the Southern Ocean. It’s long, pale stalk rises…
  • 18 Feb 2026

    SAEF scientists identify priority Southern Ocean genetic hotspots for conservation

    New research shows that maintaining and adopting proposed marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean could almost double the protection of genetic hotspots from 28% to ~54%.  For the…
  • 4 Feb 2026

    What will Antarctica look like in 100 years? Five possible future for life on the ice.

    Imagine an Antarctica covered in shrubs and grasses, or, scattered with the skeletons of birds, seals and dead moss banks. Imagine it covered with lakes and rivers, or perhaps even…