Published on the 6th February 2017 by ANSTO Staff
Chelsea Long, a student from the University of Tasmania, will be completing an honours program to answer the question: "Do volcanic sulfate emissions increase the flux of cosmogenic beryllium to Antarctica?"
Chelsea is now at the Australian Casey Station in Antarctica to participate in a three-day scientific sampling expedition to Law Dome Summit as part of a remote ‘deep field’ camp.
After the field trip, she will gain experience at ANSTO assisting scientists with the laboratory processing of this season’s ice samples and accelerator mass spectrometry measurements (AMS) on ANTARES.
Chelsea has demonstrated a keen interest in applying nuclear techniques of analysis to problems in environmental science.
She took the opportunity during the AINSE Winter School networking events such as the research roundup dinner to talk to the researchers at ANSTO.
She established contact with Dr Andrew Smith, who is a physicist and expert in the long-lived radionuclides in polar ice sheets as tracers and chronometers. Smith is also in Antarctica.
From the Winter School, Chelsea was able to build collaborations with Dr Smith and the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in Tasmania.
Her project is not only an invaluable experience for a young researcher but will improve her understanding of the processes by which climate and environmental signals are recorded in ice sheets.