The journey of 19 Turkish and 3 foreign scientists participating in the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition, which was carried out under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic, under the coordination of the TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute (KARE) under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, started from Istanbul Airport on January 30, 2023.

The science team, which started their journey with their first flight to Sao Poulo, Brazil, will travel 13,800 km after 4 separate flights of approximately 22 hours and will arrive at the temporary science base in Antarctica via King George Island in Antarctica at the end of 3 days.

TÜBİTAK MAM Climate Change and Sustainability Vice President and TÜBİTAK MAM KARE Manager Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy made important statements about the expedition before the trip.

Glacier Studies to be Conducted

Drawing attention to climate change in her speech, Burcu ÖZSOY said, "Actually, the poles are in everyone's focus. Especially in Istanbul, we are experiencing water scarcity and drought is at our door. January is ending and we will enter February. Of course, we are not the only ones in our country, the poles are also affected by this issue. Glacier studies will be carried out in our expedition. Because glaciers, especially terrestrial glaciers, break away from the land in a very serious way and integrate into the ocean. These integrated glaciers increase the sea water level and affect the existence of the ecosystem in total. Recently, a giant ice mass, almost the size of Turkey's Salt Lake, broke off and integrated into the ocean. I don't think there is an iceberg that we will directly observe on our expedition, but there is a very serious melting and rupture of glaciers. In addition to this, of course, we see that the glacier areas that were previously present in the area where our base is located are no longer there. In our expedition, of course, we will also have glacier studies."

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Özsoy also underlined that it is of great importance to contribute scientific research to the world literature and said that studies in this direction will contribute to Turkey's international visibility.

Detailed Research to be Conducted in 18 Projects in Antarctica

The scientific team will carry out 18 different studies in different fields such as earth sciences, life sciences, social sciences and physical sciences on the Spanish research vessel. Scientists from the General Directorate of Meteorology, the General Directorate of Maps, and the Department of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography will also take part in the field. Scientists will collect data from the equipment installed in Antarctica in previous years and complete their preparations for the next year.

The delegation is expected to reach Horseshoe Island, where the Turkish Research Camp in Antarctica is located, after a one-week cruise.

TEKNOFEST Winners Will Travel to Antarctica

This year, unlike other years, high school students from Antalya, who won first place with their project "Production of Domestic and National Bioplastic Material to Prevent Microplastic Pollution in Polar Oceans" in the "High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition" organized by the TÜBİTAK Scientist Support Program Directorate (BİDEB) within the scope of TEKNOFEST, will carry out their studies within the scope of their projects for a week in Antarctica, the White Continent.

Stating that they share the excitement of the students, Prof. Dr. Burcu ÖZSOY said, "Together with our friends, we will actually go to the bases of other world countries, they will have the opportunity to work in the laboratories there. They will have the opportunity to discuss their projects with the international science team there. Of course, they are very excited and I will be with them and support their excitement and we will complete the execution of their scientific projects in the field." He used his expressions.

Azra Ayşe Bıçakcı, Hilal Başak Demirel and Zeynep İpek Yanmaz, high school students from Antalya, said they were very excited to participate in the trip.

Zeynep İpek Yanmaz, who gave information about the project they won first place, said that the biological plastic they obtained from oak acorns will dissolve in a short time like 45 days instead of traditional plastics that dissolve in nature in a period of 450 years. Yanmaz said, "The plastic we produce is 20 times more durable than the grocery bags currently used. We first presented our project to the jury in Giresun. We were interviewed at TEKNOFEST Black Sea. We were selected first. We are very excited. It is a great chance for us to try our project in the region. It is also a great chance for us to visit the science bases of different countries and work in their laboratories. We are proud," he said.

TUBITAK Head of Scientist Support Programs (BİDEB) Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Ursavaş, who saw off the Science Team, stated that they support the projects of young people in many fields such as environment, climate, mathematics, physics, chemistry, not only on the poles, and said: "Our 3 students will be the first in Turkey and will guide students who take steps to do research in the future. They will do their projects there and we will see the results together."

One Third of the Team is Female Researchers!

Stating that the 7th expedition was different from the other expeditions, ÖZSOY shared his happiness by stating that the number of female researchers in the team constituted one third of the total number of researchers.