Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

Members. Also for fourteen years I was director of one of the leading Antarctic
research organization, British Antarctic Survey, so I was exposed to multidisciplinary
thinking. Obviously this chapter is an account much-influenced by my
personal experiences and views and I may have omitted matters that others would
consider important, or demonstrated a personal bias on various issues. It is difficult
to fill such a large canvas in a mere chapter or to present all points of view; and I
make no apology for this.
For some 40 years SCAR has also provided scientific advice to the Antarctic
Treaty System and made numerous recommendations on a variety of matters, most
of which have been incorporated into Antarctic Treaty instruments. Foremost
amongst these have been the advice provided for the many international agreements
which provide protection for the ecosystems and environment of Antarctica. I
represented SCAR or the UK at various Antarctic Treaty System meetings between
l972 and l996.
By now the reader may be asking: "What is SCAR?" It is the Scientific Committee
on Antarctic Research, a committee of ICSU, the International Council for Science,
and it is charged with the initiation, promotion and co-ordination of scientific
research in Antarctica. SCAR is the single international, interdisciplinary, nongovernmental
organization which can draw on the experience and expertise of an
international mix of scientists across the complete scientific spectrum. It is, therefore,
the obvious source of advice on a wide range of scientific questions and it is ideally
placed to provide the answers.
Origins of SCAR
How did this come about? SCAR's origin lies in the International Geophysical
Year (IGY) l957-58, which followed the Second Polar Year l932-33. It was a
worldwide scientific programme planned by the International Council of Scientific
Unions (ICSU) (created in 1931 to promote international scientific activity in the
different branches of science and their applications for the benefit of humanity).
ICSU is a non-governmental organization with two categories of membership:
scientific academies or research councils which are national, multidisciplinary bodies,
and Scientific Unions, which are international disciplinary organizations. ICSU also
has several interdisciplinary scientific committees of which SCAR is one. The
planning for the IGY was undertaken by the Comité Special de l'Année Geophysique
Internationale (CSAGI), which was set up by ICSU after an approach by Sydney
Chapman and Lloyd Berkner. The plans for the IGY included a major Antarctic
component and ICSU set up a Special Committee to coordinate the scientific research
of the twelve nations which were active in Antarctica during this period.
By l954 more than 20 nations had agreed to participate and Antarctica was
selected as an area of special interest in geophysics and geography (primarily ice
mass) - weather - atmospheric/ocean dynamics - aurora - ionosphere. In July and
September l955 the First and Second CSAGI Conferences held. These decided that
IGY was to be primarily about science - to be non-political; thinking was not to be
financially restricted - scientists should develop ideas and worry about the cost later.
Coordinated radio links would be necessary and World Data Centres for various
fields of the science. A primary task was to decide on the distribution of bases in the
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