Prof Martin Siegert
Martin Siegert is Professor of Geosciences at the University of Bristol and Principal Investigator of the NERC Lake Ellsworth Consortium, involving 8 UK Universities and 2 research centres. He was previously Head of GeoSciences and Assistant Principal at the University of Edinburgh and has been a UK Delegate to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. His research involves the use of ice penetrating radio-echo sounding to uncover the landscape beneath the Antarctic ice, and it was through this technique that he identified and mapped Subglacial Lake Ellsworth (one of nearly 400 known sub ice lakes).
Attempts to directly measure and sample subglacial Lake Ellsworth were unsuccessful in the recent Antarctic field season (Nov-Dec 2012). In this talk, Martin presents why the experiment failed to work, and the lessons learned. Martin also provides an assessment on potential ways forward for the programme and their timeframes.
Exploring for life in such an extreme environment could open up possibilities for life on other worlds such as Jupiter’s moon Europa.
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