The Scott Polar Research Institute, established in 1920 as part of the University of Cambridge, is a centre of excellence in the study of the Arctic and Antarctic. Research covers both the natural and social sciences and is often interdisciplinary. The Institute also houses the World's premier Polar Library, extensive archival, photographic and object collections of international importance on the history of polar exploration, and a Polar Museum with displays of both the history and contemporary significance of the Arctic and Antarctic and their surrounding seas. The Institute is a sub-department of the Department of Geography.
SPRI's mission is to enhance the understanding of the polar regions through scholarly research and publication, educating new generations of polar researchers, caring for and making accessible its collections (including its library, archival, photographic and object collections), and projecting the history and environmental significance of the polar regions to the wider community for public benefit.
Library
The Library offers a collection developed since the 1920s with over 700 current journals and over 250,000 printed works covering all subjects relating to the Arctic, the Antarctic, and to ice and snow wherever found.
Staff and students
SPRI's staff publish regularly in a range of leading journals, and attract research funding from a wide variety of sources.
PhD student Morgan Seag is working to improve diversity and inclusion in polar research.
16th July, 2018
PhD student Morgan Seag is working to improve diversity and inclusion in polar research. She was one of several Cambridge geographers attending POLAR2018 last month, a conference of 2500 researchers, science supporters, and policymakers working on the Arctic, Antarctic and global cryosphere.
Dr Richard Powell summoned as witness before Environmental Audit Committee
16th July, 2018
In July 2018, Dr Richard Powell appeared as a witness before the Environmental Audit Committee's inquiry into the Changing Arctic, to provide expertise in UK Arctic social sciences and humanities and advise on formation of UK Arctic research and policy.
Geographer Richard Powell will appear today, 11 July 2018, as a witness before the Environmental Audit Committee's inquiry into the Changing Arctic. The inquiry is assessing the UK Government's Arctic policy, and examining whether the UK, as one of the Arctic's nearest neighbours, should be doing more to protect this vulnerable region. Richard will provide expertise in UK Arctic social sciences and humanities and advise on formation of UK Arctic research and policy.
Drs Ian Willis and Alison Banwell awarded Fellowships at the University of Colorado Boulder
16th May, 2018
Ian Willis and Alison Banwell have been awarded, respectively, a 1-year sabbatical fellowship and a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship to undertake collaborative work with Waleed Abdalati and Michael Willis (no relation!) at the Co-operative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. They will advance their current work investigating the surface hydrology of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the surface hydrology and stability of Antarctic ice shelves.
Research Assistant/Associate in Remote Sensing of Forests
1st May, 2018
Applications are invited for a Research Assistant/ Research Associate to work under the direction of Dr Gareth Rees, for a British Council funded research project mapping the distribution and spatial characteristics of forests in northern Russia, using remote sensing techniques.
The closing date for applications is 25th May 2018.
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Scott Polar Research Institute
