The 24th International Symposium on Polar Sciences

30 years of footsteps in Antarctica: Looking back and looking forward
May 15-16, 2018
Korea Polar Research InstituteIncheon, Republic of Korea

First Circular
The International Symposium on Polar Sciences has been held annually ever since
the conception of Korea’s Antarctic research schemes. This Symposium not only
serves as an international forum for bringing polar scientists together to exchange
views and ideas, but also provides an opportunity to discuss collaborative researchamong peers and colleagues. Marking the 24th series of the symposium, this year’s
theme is “30 years of footsteps in Antarctica: Looking back and looking forward”
and will be held in Incheon on May 15-16, 2018.

THEME
The King Sejong Station was established and inaugurated on King George Island inFebruary 1988, after the Republic of Korea acceded to the Antarctic Treaty inNovember 1986. Since then KOPRI has continued to expand its research as well as
to strengthen logistic capacities to support world class science, for example aresearch icebreaker, Araon and the second Antarctic Station, Jang Bogo in Terra
Nova Bay as a platform for conducting continental Antarctic research. KOPRI hasdevoted its passion and commitment to explore the uncharted field of Antarctic
research for over three decades. In commemoration of the scientific dedication
over the years and celebrating the 30 year anniversary of King Sejong Station, thetheme of the 24th International Symposium on Polar Science will be “30 years offootsteps in Antarctica: Looking back and looking forward”. We would like tocordially invite you to share your knowledge and understanding as well as yourperspective of future outlook on Antarctic research.

SESSIONS
The following five sessions are proposed;
Earth’s atmosphere and space environment observed from the Antarctica
It has been 30 years since KOPRI first started observing the Earth’s atmosphere,
including the lower and upper atmospheres at the first Korean Antarctic Station,
King Sejong Station. As the second Antarctic station was established in 2014 closer
to the inland Antarctica, our observation capability has been vastly expanded tocover not only the polar atmosphere but also the polar space environment,
including aurora and cosmic ray. In this session, we will briefly go throughatmospheric (and climate change) and space research activities in Antarctica andintroduce the recent research activities conducted around Korean Antarcticstations.
Ocean and cryosphere changes around the Antarctica
In this session we would like to focus on oceanic, cryospheric, and environmental
changes which are taking place in glacially influenced systems such as ice shelves
and underlying ocean waters, as well as polynyas impacted by rapid warming
around the west Antarctica. The session also targets on studies that coverbiological responses nearshore, fjords, sheltered bays and other coastal regions as
a consequence of climate-induced processes such as glacier retreats.
Ecological dynamics and biotechnological potential of Antarctic organisms
Although microbes play a critical role as Antarctic inhabitants, much is unknown
about their diverse responses to the current environmental changes, induced byeither climate changes or increased human activities, in maritime Antarcticecosystems. The recent studies suggest that environmental changes may havesignificant and direct effects on the microbial communities and microbes would
subsequently induce biotic changes. The microbial ecological dynamics in
Antarctic environments and their interaction with other cold-adapted (micro)organisms are being highlighted. Thus, the findings from these studies will be thebasis for searching novel candidates and research for biotechnological application.
This session will present recent studies on (micro) organisms ranging fromgenomic to physiological, and discuss about their biotechnological potential.
Glacier history around the Antarctic PeninsulaThis session will present the reconstruction of paleoclimate andpaleoceanography of polar regions during the last hundreds of thousand years.
The climate system of the Antarctic Peninsula and its surrounding region is ofspecial interest because it is one of the most rapidly warming areas in the world.
This session will focus on studies of the past environmental changes caused byclimate changes around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Chronicle of geoscience in Antarctica: From the Era of Peninsula to the Ageof Continent
Geosciences deals with geological history of Earth and is seeking to understandthe complexity of the Earth’s physical and biogeochemical systems. This session
will explore past research achievements in the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting
current activities in the Western Ross Sea, Northern Victoria Land and on otherparts of the Antarctic Continent, and discuss the future perspectives of Polar
Geosciences.

SIDE MEETINGSide meetings will be organized during the course of the symposium to provide aplatform for exchanging ideas with experts on appropriate themes as proposed.
If you wish to hold a meeting, please contact us at: symposium@kopri.re.kr

INFORMATIONThe symposium website is now under renovation. More information including theoverview and preliminary program of the 24th International Symposium on Polar
Sciences will be provided on the symposium website from February 1, 2018.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Please submit your abstract at the symposium website from February 1 to March
2, 2018.

REGISTRATION
Please register at the symposium website from February 1 to April 27, 2018.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
symposium@kopri.re.kr
We look forward to your participation.
Ho Il YOONPresident
Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI)

Coordinator:
Dr. Geonhwa Jee
E-mail: ghjee@kopri.re.kr

Dr. Mi-jung Lee
E-mail: mjlee@kopri.re.kr

Dr. Ji Soo Park
E-mail: jspark@kopri.re.kr

Dr. Heejin Hwang
E-mail: heejin@kopri.re.kr

Dr. Dockyu Kim
E-mail: envimic@kopri.re.kr