Members of the Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) at the University of Wollongong have been actively involved in various past and ongoing public events engaging the local and regional communities about the work they do in Antarctic environments and spreading the word about the global importance of Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and the sub-Antarctic Islands.
Community engagement
News and events
- Public talks & media interviews
- Antarctic Futures public exhibition, workshops and seminars
- Early Start Discovery Space Antarctic Experience
SAEF members have presented to public audiences through a wide variety of forms, including library and invited seminars, organised public seminars (e.g. Antarctic Futures), on Antarctic tourist flights/ships, radio and print media interviews, and Q&A sessions.
The most recent event was called The Antarctic: A Global Challenge with Local Implications, held at the UOW Science Space during National Science Week in August 2025.
Themes presented and discussed during a Q&A panel at this sold-out public event included New tools for remote monitoring of Antarctic Ecosystems (Sharon Robinson AM, Melinda Waterman and Johan Barthélemy from NVIDIA); the eco-climate nexus: Interrogating Antarctica’s ecosystems with spatial- statistical inferences (Noel Cressie FAA and Andrew Zammit Mangion); and Regulating the Frozen South: Australia and the Antarctic Treaty System (Stuart Kaye OAM and Constance Johnson).
‘Antarctic Futures’ was an exhibition, seminar series and set of early learning workshops held in 2022 that considered the nature and future of the Antarctic continent. Proudly presented by the UOW Gallery and Art Collection, in partnership with the University of Wollongong Early Start and Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future programs, the event highlighted Illawarra artistic and scientific engagement with Antarctica and equipped young ‘citizen science’ activists with knowledge of Antarctic ecosystems, how Antarctica affects global climate and how climate change is affecting Antarctica. The seminar series facilitated more general discussion about these issues. The event sparked curiosity and inspired creative problem-solving that explored novel linkages between artistic and scientific practices and perspectives, with the view that such a holistic approach is essential to comprehending and addressing Earth’s wicked problems.
Researchers and artists who have visited Antarctica have worked with early childhood educators from the University of Wollongong’s Early Start Discovery Space to bring Antarctica to life for children aged 0-10 years old. Through hands-on learning activities, storytelling, science shows, interactive play, the Antarctic Research Vessel in the Antarctic-themed experience, CreARTivity workshops tailored to children, and Q&A sessions, children and their parents can discover many aspects why Antarctica is an incredible place.
Antarctic researchers from Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future are working with Early Start colleagues on school holiday programs and Antarctic-inspired events in the future, including including Antarctica Day activities and Learning Lab experiences to educate, engage and inspire younger generations about the beauty and global importance of Antarctica.
Engaging young minds with Antarctic experiences
Spark curiosity and creativity through UOW Early Start’s engaging programs inspired by Antarctica. From Science Week and Book Week activities to immersive, play-based research experiences, children explore science, storytelling and environmental awareness in fun, hands-on ways.
Discover Science Week & Book Week activities Explore the Antarctic-themed experience
Wollongong robotics team ‘Project Bucephalus’
Throughout 2023 and 2024, as part of outreach led by Dr Diana King, Dr Johan Barthelemy (NVIDIA) and Dr Melinda Waterman, UOW’s Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) team worked closely with Project Bucephelus, a Wollongong-based robotics group sponsored by UOW, to build, code and program a Lego robot to accompany the SAEF team to Cape Bird on Ross Island, Antarctica while undertaking primary field work.
Project Bucephelus, named after the warhorse of Alexander the Great, is a group of bright-minded robotics enthusiasts made up predominately of home-schooled students from the Wollongong area. They have been representing FIRST® in Wollongong since 2010.
Between July and October 2023, UOW’s SAEF team worked with and mentored the group in gaining sponsors, designing, planning and building the robot which then travelled with the SAEF team to Ross Island, East Antarctica via Christchurch, New Zealand in November 2023. The robot was remote controlled, rotated 360°, had a purpose-built holder for a 360° camera, and a rotating arm and claw to collect samples.
Dr Johan Barthelemy (NVIDIA) said “It was fantastic to see all those young students from Wollongong being so passionate about robotics. With the support from all their mentors, they are learning how to design, build and operate a complex robotic platform as a team as well as problem solving skills to quickly solve unexpected challenges that might happen during a competition. The level of professionalism they show is really impressive.”
Dr Waterman tested the robot in Antarctica (-77.218092 °S, 166.43641 °E), near the Cape Bird hut and on the beach near Adélie penguin sub-colonies, capturing footage of the robot in the Antarctic landscape, the hut, beach, sea ice, snow and of Adélie penguins.
Upon returning from Antarctica, Dr Waterman visited Project Bucephalus’s workshop, met with coaches, mentors and the students who were excited to see footage of the robot in Antarctica.
Dr Waterman said “it was fantastic to share a little about Antarctica with the teenagers as they were showing me around the workshop and demonstrating their impressive robotic skills. They were particularly very excited to see so many penguins in the footage I had captured using their robot.”
Team 5989 from Project Bucephelus were named the Impact Winner at the FIRST® Robotics competition in the USA, landing them in the international competition’s Hall of Fame.
The team won for their Impact Video 2025 "The Door Is Always Open" which shows the immeasurable impact the program has on students of all ages, abilities and circumstances.
The FIRST Impact Award is the highest honour and most prestigious award given at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, recognising the team that reflects sustained excellence and impact within the FIRST community, its own community, and beyond.
UOW continues to support Project Bucephelus teams in sponsorship and mentoring, and is proud of this example of STEM outreach in the community.
Passion for science and the environment drives UOW research in Antarctica
Two UOW scientists, Ms Georgia Watson and Dr Melinda Waterman, were named Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassadors and kicked off their new role with a New Year’s Eve flight over Antarctica in 2022/23, talking about their moss monitoring project and the future of our planet.
Read more about our Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassadors Lecturing sky-high passengers on the Antarctic
Get in touch
Reach out to our team for information about future SAEF public talks or events.