Scott Polar Research InstituteSPRI Review 2007
SPRI Appeal
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The Scott Polar Research Institute is an international centre for research into the polar regions and is also home to unrivalled resources of polar information and expertise, housing the world's largest polar library, Britain's only dedicated polar museum, and a national repository for polar archives that record some of the most memorable episodes in exploration of the Arctic an Antarctic. The Institute's Archives, Museum and Library provide members of the general public, as well as scientists, government bodies, industry and polar inhabitants with important information on a variety of polar topics, including climate change, management of natural resources and historical polar expeditions. Through both the publication of our research and by public outreach, the Institute helps to educate and inform a worldwide audience about the polar regions.
Funding is being sought for several purposes. The first is to endow academic posts, and especially a Professorship in the field of polar environmental science. The second is to secure the future of the Institute's Archives, Museum and Library and to promote their further development. Our highest priority in this area is to provide permanent security for the important post of Institute Archivist, which has until now been supported by a series of short-term grants -an inherently unstable position. We are also aiming to raise £600,000 towards the redesign and refurbishment of our Polar Museum under the theme of 'Exploration into Science'. This is an exciting project, for which we have secured support from the Heritage Lottery Fund in the form of a Stage 1 pass and development funding.
A number of events have been held during the year in aid of our Appeal, and particular thanks are due to Sir Humphry Wakefield, William Stancer and Rossie Ogilvie (Cambridge University Development Office), and to the staff of Cambridge in America for their support.
Further information on the Appeal is available from the Director, Professor Julian Dowdeswell (director@spri.cam.ac.uk; 01223-336541).