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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 2004-05: VUWAE 49

*PLANNING

*PLANNING

  • Application process

    page 2

    The process by which event leaders are informed of support needs modification. The review committee ranked my proposal 22 out of 35 proposals reviewed. The letter went on to say that the proposals would be supported in order of their rankings until the science resources were fully allocated. Although I was given a verbal indication my event would be supported, I was never given a formal letter confirming support. From my standpoint I was in limbo and it was not 100% clear that I would receive support until I received a movements spreadsheet in early May 2004. This is not acceptable, and a formal letter of support needs to be issued to the event leader no later than mid-February for the coming season.

  • Communications with Antarctica New Zealand staff

    Communication for event operations and planning needs improvement. Event planning cannot take place through 2 people as communication is never perfect. For example, both Keith Springer and Pete Cleary worked on my event, and several items fell through the cracks. Although the number of events may be too large for one person to handle, it would be better to split the events between two people rather than spread two people over all the events. That is each event is assigned to one ANZ staff member.

  • Provision of maps and aerial photographs

    Maps and photos are not provided by Antarctica NZ so it remains the responsibility of the event leader to obtain these. However, much of the Dry Valleys lacks low-level, high resolution photographs. A system currently under development by the USGS will provide digital photographs and laser altimetry. This system needs to be supported by Antarctica NZ so that detailed photographs and elevations are available to NZ scientists working in the Dry Valleys.

  • Pre-season information

    Handbooks and info arrived in time!

  • Medicals, documentation and flights to Antarctica

    All OK

  • Environmental Advice

    I did not receive my environmental permit until after I had returned from the field! In addition, it needs to be made clear to scientists that it is now not possible to deviate from an event after the PEE has been processed by the ministry.

  • Other comments

    For years now, event leaders have faithfully sent scientific and logistics reports to NZAP and now Antarctica NZ. These reports contain valuable information not only for a de-brief of the past season but also to future event leaders. Although event leaders make numerous copies of these reports, to my knowledge they are only available for perusal in two places: 1) the Scott Base library which is not accessible for 8 months out of the year and 2) the Antarctica NZ library in Christchurch. Most detrimentally they are not indexed. In other words, if I were going to a particular location in the Dry Valleys, it would be extremely useful (both scientifically and environmentally) for me to know who has been there and what they have done there in the past. At present, it is difficult and time consuming (but not impossible) to find this information for NZ events. However, as far as I know, it is impossible to get this information for US events. This situation is not acceptable, and in fact, it makes it impossible to answer fully certain questions on the PEE report.

    page 3

    Scientific reports should be indexed and made available on the web. This would not only provide valuable information for scientists but would also allow the public a further view into what happens in Antarctica. On the other hand, the logistics reports may be sensitive and probably should not be put on the web. However, they should still be index and available to event personnel. In addition, Antarctica NZ should pressure the US events to follow suit.