Meeting Abstract
The present symposium builds on three former SICB symposia that highlighted aspects of the marine biology of Antarctica, each taking place a decade apart, the first in 1988 and subsequent symposia in 2000 and 2010. In this fourth symposium, the term ‘New Frontiers’ in the title is uniquely appropriate for two fundamental reasons. First, technological advances have greatly facilitated the advancement of polar science over recent years. And second, unprecedented global climate change has both dramatically impacted Antarctic marine biological systems, and rendered the coastal and offshore waters of the Southern Ocean a global model for the study of the biological impacts of warming and ocean acidification. Just as the eleven studies presented in this symposium highlight a new generation of Antarctic marine biologists, they similarly highlight how technological advances and climate change are influencing new frontiers in Antarctic marine biogeography, chemical ecology, physiological adaptation, microbial ecology, planktonic systems, and fjord ecology. If there is one grand take-home message from this symposium it is the field of Antarctic Marine Biology is becoming increasingly relevant to sustaining our own global biology. This symposium is supported in large part by NSF award OPP-1925160 from the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Program.
