skip to primary navigation skip to content
 

Friends Lecture Series

Friends Lecture Series

Michaelmas Term 2009 Lectures

Regular lectures begin at 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30). Lectures generally last for about an hour, including questions, and are normally followed by tea or coffee. Attendance is free and open to all. Although the Institute is undergoing substantial remodelling over the next 12 months and the Museum will be closed, our lecture series is not affected but will take place in the School of Chemistry opposite the Institute. All lectures will be clearly signposted.

Put the dates in your diary now - and keep an eye on this page or Polar Bytes for details of speakers nearer the time.

17th October "True North, Travels in Arctic Europe"

Gavin Francis

Through maps, pictures and photographs the lecture vividly describes a journey through Shetland, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard and Lapland, with two broad themes. First is the contemporary challenges facing these widely differing lands in the 21st century, from depopulation to climate change. The second theme explores the history of each land as a staging post in the European expansion northwards, from the earliest Greek voyages to tourism in the twentieth century.

31st October "Antarctic Lessons for the Arctic"

Prof. Paul Berkman, Head, Arctic Ocean Geopolitics Programme, SPRI.

The 50th anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in Washington, D.C. will be on 1 December 2009. To celebrate this international landmark and the global vision of the twelve original signatories, the Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance will be convened from 30 November through to 3 December 2009 at the Smithsonian Institution to highlight lessons learned about international governance "with the interest of science and the progress of all mankind" ( www.atsummit50.aq ).

(5pm) 14th November "Extreme Endeavour - Extreme Science"

Pen Hadow, Explorer

A lecture in aid of the Friends of SPRI

Lecture Details and Tickets

28th November "Nimrod Illustrated: Pictures from Lieutenant Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909"

Dr. David Wilson

A lecture to mark the centenary of one of the most celebrated expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, that of Ernest Shackleton's 'Nimrod' expedition. This reached within 100 geographical miles of the South Pole, conquered the South Magnetic Pole and made the first ascent of Mount Erebus, earning Shackleton his knighthood.