Oct 2012 Speaker Mike Pinnock -The British Antartic Survey[BAS] - Evening meeting with partners 7 for 7.30pm

Mike Pinnock has a wide range of professional experience, learn more from:

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/contact/staff/profile/c18f573714a4a95f0ae4dcedcd934e46/publications/

(try looking at their website / images / webcams - for regularly updated pics of Antarctica NOW).

The British Antarctic Survey [BAS] organisation is based in Cambridge but explores one of the most inaccessible and dangerous parts of the world.

Michael Pinnock, a BAS Board member, spoke to 40 Rotarians and Guests on the work of their team in Antartica.

Michael started his career as an Electronics Engineer with a subsidiary of GECTelecommunications. After completing his education and training he realised his ambition of moving into a science-related job by joining BAS and developing radar systems for studying the auroral ionosphere and publishing the scientific results. Michael spent 4 years in Antartica and in 2004 he was appointed Head of Physical Sciences Division and became a member of the BAS Board in 2009. When the science management structure was reorganised he became Board Member for Science Delivery with responsibilities across the 6 science programmes.

Michael gave us an extremely interesting lecture on the effects of global warming on Antartica and how he had seen the changes manifest theselves in the greening of the continent.

A major project being undertaken by BAS is the Drilling in to a Sub-glacial Lake the size of Lake Windermere. The results of the drilling, which have already begun, are hoped to be available prior to Christmas 2012. The scientific information resulting will give a much needed boost to the historical knowledge currently available on the glacification of Antartica.

Many questions were asked of the speaker and it was intimated that we would like him to return to talk to us again when the results of the drilling are known.

- Alan E.