Climate change is increasingly affecting Antarctica and the rest of the world. Urgent policy responses are needed to mitigate its associated impacts. Engagement of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) with the issue of climate change has culminated in several important meetings planned for 2023/2024. Researchers play a crucial role in the provision of the best available science to inform action by Antarctic policymakers, and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) clearly will play an important role in representing the Antarctic science community and delivering the latest science into the upcoming meetings. However, recognizing the ATCM's call for Parties and other stakeholders to bring experts to its meeting to support the work and with acknowledgement by CCAMLR and CEP of the value of including a range of scientific experts, we highlight the opportunity for and importance of researchers engaging proactively to offer further bespoke scientific support. Given the urgency of addressing climate change in Antarctica and beyond, every effort is needed from researchers and policymakers to work together to facilitate the necessary policy responses at both the national and international level.

The perennial ice-covered lakes of the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys harbour oligotrophic microbial communities that are separated geographically from other aquatic systems. Their microbiomes include planktonic microbes as well as lift-off mat communities that emerge from the ice. We used the ShortBRED protein family profiler to quantify the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from metagenomes of lift-off mats emerging from ice and from filtered water samples of Lake Fryxell and Lake Bonney. The overall proportion of ARG hits was similar to that found in temperate-zone rural ponds with moderate human inputs. Specific ARGs showed distinct distributions for the two lakes and for mat vs planktonic sources. Metagenomic taxa distributions showed that mat phototrophs consisted mainly of cyanobacteria or Betaproteobacteria, whereas the water column phototrophs were mainly protists. An enrichment culture of the Betaproteobacterium Rhodoferax antarcticus from a Lake Fryxell mat sample showed an unusual mat-forming phenotype not previously reported for this species. Its genome showed no ARGs associated with Betaproteobacteria but had ARGs consistent with a minor Pseudomonas component. The Antarctic lake mats and water showed specific ARGs distinctive to the mat and water sources, but overall ARG levels were similar to those of temperate water bodies with moderate human inputs.

This is the first detailed study of the distribution of mosses and lichens at Alexandra Mountains and Rockefeller Mountains, Edward VII Peninsula, Antarctica. A total of 418 samples was collected on 21 nunataks in the summer of 1987–1988. Lichens included 44 taxa, bringing the total known from Edward VII Peninsula to 50. Ten lichen species were new records for the Continental Antarctic zone, whilst only six were endemic to that zone. There were six species and one variety of moss, bringing the total known from Edward VII Peninsula to seven species and one variety. These included the first record of a species of Orthotrichum in Continental Antarctica. Two other species and a variety were new records for Edward VII Peninsula. Overall, the flora was species rich for a Continental Antarctic region and was comparable with the species-rich sites of Botany Bay and Kar Plateau, which are at approximately the same latitude (77°S) in southern Victoria Land. This rich flora was probably supported by a reliable summer water supply from melting snowfall and snowdrift and by the range of microenvironments at nunataks with different degrees of nutrient enrichment from nesting birds.

Drawing on qualitative interview data, this article explores past and current Australian Antarctic Program expeditioners' perceptions of the personal qualities of expeditioners alongside their views of Antarctic station culture and expeditioner recruitment procedures. The findings reveal study participants shared similar views about expeditioner personal qualities. However, the findings also suggest that the current demographic similarity of expeditioners (e.g. the overrepresentation of white men) is perhaps much more important for assessing organizational fit than the Program might be selecting for. Participants described the ways in which interpersonal interactions and the social environment can deeply affect an expeditioner's experience of the station culture. Women in this study pointed to the connection between the overrepresentation of men in the expeditioner population and a potential male bias in station culture. These results extend the existing literature on person-culture fit in Antarctica. To conclude, I provide recommendations for diversifying the expeditioner applicant pool in Antarctica that can also be applied to the selection of other workforces in isolated, confined and extreme work environments, including space missions.

Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments are facing increasing pressure from multiple threats. The Antarctic Treaty System regularly looks to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for the provision of independent and objective advice based on the best available science to support decision-making, policy development and effective environmental management. The recently approved SCAR Scientific Research Programme Ant-ICON - ‘Integrated Science to Inform Antarctic and Southern Ocean Conservation‘ - facilitates and coordinates high-quality transdisciplinary research to inform the conservation and management of Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and the sub-Antarctic in the context of current and future impacts. The work of Ant-ICON focuses on three research themes examining 1) the current state and future projections of Antarctic systems, species and functions, 2) human impacts and sustainability and 3) socio-ecological approaches to Antarctic and Southern Ocean conservation, and one synthesis theme that seeks to facilitate the provision of timely scientific advice to support effective Antarctic conservation. Research outputs will address the most pressing environmental challenges facing Antarctica and offer high-quality science to policy and advisory bodies including the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Committee for Environmental Protection and the Scientific Committee of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.