International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

Fig.5.3-17.
Malaysian biologist
Cheah Yoke Queen
collects samples at
a penguin rockery
on the South
Shetland Islands
(2007).
(Courtsey: Malaysian
National Antarctic Research
Centre)
572
IPY 20 07–20 08
under the ‘Microbiological & Ecological Responses
to Global Environmental changes in polar regions’
project (MERGE, IPY no. 55). A number of Malaysian
biology studies were also integrated with the SCAR
Evolutionary Biology of Antarctica program. The
geophysical group has also been invited to participate
in the Interhemispheric Conjugacy Effects in Solar-
Terrestrial and Aeronomy Research (ICESTAR) program
of SCAR contributing their Global Positioning System
(GPS) network to study solar terrestrial interaction. An
international seminar on Antarctic Research was held
at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in June
2005 in the build-up to IPY.
As a part of the outreach, education and capacity
building of the IPY program, under the leadership of
University of Tasmania, a multi-institutional International
Antarctic Institute (IAI) was established and
accepted as an IPY program (www.iai.utas.edu.au/
- Chapter 5.4). In acknowledgement of Malaysian active
polar research, the University of Malaya (UM) and
the University Science Malaysia (USM) were invited to
join the IAI. In addition, the MARP is an active member
of the ‘Sixth Continent Initiative,’ an IPY program
proposed by the International Polar Foundation to
encourage non-traditional polar countries’ research in
Antarctica.
During IPY, 45 Malaysian scientists participated in
21 field trips to Antarctica and the Arctic (Fig. 5.3-17).
Most of the Malaysian IPY research was conducted
in Antarctica: at the Scott Base Station (with New
Zealand colleagues), also on Antarctic Peninsula (on
collaborative projects with the British Antarctic Survey,
the Ecuador Institute of Antarctic Research and Chile
Institute of Antarctic Research), at the Signy and Casey
Antarctic stations (in collaboration with British and
Australian colleagues). Several trips were made to the
islands in the Southern Ocean, such as South Shetland
Islands, King George Island and Marion Island. Most
Malaysian Antarctic research is in the field of biology,
remote sensing, atmospheric studies and geology
(Figs. 5.3-17, 5.3-18).
In January-February 2007, one Malaysian biologist
took part in the Japanese research cruise in the Bering
and Chukchi Seas organized jointly by the National
Institute of Polar Research, Japan and Hokkaido
University. In July 2008, two Malaysian biologists
worked at the German research station in the Arctic
managed by the Alfred Wegener Institute (Fig. 5.3-
19). Thus, IPY made a breakthrough for Malaysian
researchers in their entry to the Arctic.
Science Dissemination and Outreach
Malaysia has placed significant emphasis on
communicating the results of its polar science. The 3rd
Malaysian International Seminar on Antarctica (MISA3):
From the Tropics to the Poles was held in Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah on 20-23 March 2007 in conjunction with the
launch of IPY 2007–2008. It was followed by Outreach
Program and an ICSU-SCAR Forum. The theme of the
seminar, “From the Tropics to the Poles” followed the
science program of IPY that argues that the polar
regions are integral components of the complex Earth
systems. Increasingly, there is also a need to engage
scientists from nontraditional polar research countries
and from other regions (such as the
tropics). The Outreach Program was held to
generate interest in Antarctica among the
general public and schoolchildren, together
with the Forum on “Understanding the
Implications of Rapid Warming in the Polar
Regions to Earth systems” organized jointly
by the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific (ROAP) and SCAR.
Following the formal conclusion of IPY,
the 4th Malaysian International Seminar
on Antarctic - Legacy of IPY to the Tropics
(MISA-4), with 102 participants was held in
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, 1–2 April 2009. In
conjunction with MISA-4, two workshops,