Professor and Researcher at the TERRA Associate Laboratory Gonçalo Vieira coordinates the 1st Portuguese scientific expedition by sailboat in the Antarctic Peninsula

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Professor and Researcher at the TERRA Associate Laboratory Gonçalo Vieira coordinates the 1st Portuguese scientific expedition by sailboat in the Antarctic Peninsula

The public presentation of the COASTANTAR 2024 Expedition took place on January 26th, by Professor and Researcher Gonçalo Vieira, Coordinator of the COASTANTAR 2024 Expedition and Integrated Member of the TERRA Associate Laboratory, this being the first Portuguese scientific sailing expedition in the Western Antarctic Peninsula.

The COASTANTAR 2024 Expedition is based on a low-cost logistical model with reduced environmental impact, an innovative and efficient approach for a Polar Program. For two weeks, El Doblón, a 24-meter sailboat rented for the mission, will be the new laboratory for an interdisciplinary team of 10 scientists from the universities of Lisbon, Algarve and Coimbra, and guests from the Autonomous Universities of Madrid and the Pontifical Universities of Chile.

The Expedition will begin in February, with the aim of making observations and collecting samples to study the effects of climate change on the coastal areas of this Peninsula. The preparation was long; the first ideas for Portugal to organize scientific missions in Antarctica supported by a sailboat began in the International Polar Year 2007-08.

“Today, at the end of January 2024, we have an interdisciplinary and international team that brings together researchers from the areas of natural and social sciences, in a unique project that will bring new results to science. We also hope to show how it is possible, with a reduced ecological footprint, to carry out highly relevant science and make other scientists, and all those interested in following us, aware of the fantastic wealth that Antarctica transmits.”, wrote Gonçalo Vieira, Coordinator of this Expedition and Researcher at the Centro de Estudos Geográficos (CEG) and Professor at the Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), on the Expedition’s official website.

The COASTANTAR 2024 Expedition is co-financed by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and the Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa) and has the logistical collaboration of the Spanish Polar Committee and the Chilean Antarctic Institute.

More information about the COASTANTAR 2024 Expedition here.