Guest Speakers - Discover Antarctica Short Course

POLAR REGIONS DEPARTMENT - FOREIGN, COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Claire Buchanan has been part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Polar Regions Department since January 2023. She leads on the UK’s Antarctic permitting programme to ensure that all UK Expeditions meet Antarctic Treaty requirements.

In addition, she works on legislation, philatelic policy, and marriages in the British Antarctic Territory. Prior to joining the FCDO she worked at the Home Office after leaving special needs teaching.

Parties implement the Antarctic Treaty and its Environment Protocol into domestic law. National legislations establish a permitting regime for activities in Antarctica, and eligible visitors are required to obtain the necessary permits in advance from the relevant Competent Authority of each Antarctic Treaty Party. In the UK, the Competent Authority is the FCDO. The FCDO Polar Regions Department is also responsible for ensuring that the UK’s Antarctic legislation is fully complied with.

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR - SECRETS OF THE PENGUINS - TALESMITH FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

With a background in zoology and science communication, Heather is passionate about wildlife and conservation, and inspiring audiences through storytelling. 

Most recently, Heather spent two and a half years working as a Producer/Director on Nat Geo’s Secrets of the Penguins, including 3 months working in Antarctica filming emperor penguins. She location directed and delivered one of Nat Geo's best ever performing social media footage: cliff jumping emperor penguin chicks.

Heather was named one of Broadcast Magazine's 2024 Hotshots - nominated by Talesmith - and commended for "going above and beyond expectations to deliver for the series.” 

Before this, she was a field producer on Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Our Universe. She has over 13 years experience working with broadcasters including BBC, Netflix, NatGeo and PBS, on high end science and nature documentaries, including Perpetual Planet: Heroes of the Ocean, X-Ray Earth,and Volatile Earth.

DEPUTY SCIENCE LEADER OF THE ATMOSPHERE, ICE AND CLIMATE TEAM, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY

Dr Tom Bracegirdle is deputy Science Leader of the Atmosphere, Ice and Climate Team at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). After completing a PhD in Meteorology in 2006 from the University of Reading, Dr Bracegirdle has been conducting research on polar climate and atmospheric dynamics at BAS. His main interests are polar storms and extreme weather events, large-scale atmospheric circulation, troposphere-stratosphere interactions, climate model evaluation, and quantifying and reducing uncertainty in climate model projections. He currently leads a major NERC-funded project ‘Drivers and Impacts of Extreme Weather Events in Antarctica’ (ExtAnt). He also has leading roles internationally in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and European Climate Research Alliance (ECRA). More broadly, he is involved in a number of activities aimed at communicating the implications of polar climate change to the wider community, ranging from policymakers to the general public