Two researchers, Dr. Humberto González and Dr. José Luis Iriarte, met with representatives of important institutions of science and technology.
Dr. Humberto González, director of the Research Center Dynamics of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (IDEAL), and Dr. José Luis Iriarte, an IDEAL Center researcher, formed part of a delegation of Chilean scientists and representatives of government institutions that traveled to China and Republic of Korea. The delegation was tasked with creating cooperative scientific alliances with both Asian countries.
In Beijing, China, the IDEAL researchers participated in the workshop “Effects of Climate Change on Antarctic Systems”. The workshop, which was coordinated by Chile’s National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) and the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), was carried out within the framework of the recent visit of Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile, to the international forum “One Belt, One Road”.
“There we presented the IDEAL Center’s main objectives and fields of study as well as areas of common interest and logistical aspects of working in Antarctica that require mutual support between [Chile and China],” reported Dr. Iriarte.
Dr. Iriarte and Dr. González also met with representatives of major Chinese ??science and technology institutions such as the Natural Science Foundation (NSFC), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), and the State Oceonographic Administration (SOA), among others.
Key Meetings
In Incheon, Republic of Korea, the IDEAL Center researchers and other Chilean scientists participated in the 23rd International Symposium on Polar Sciences. Two subsequent meetings were held at the Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), a leading government agency dealing with polar scientific research and infrastructure operations in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
In the first instance, Dr. González and Dr. Iriarte met with Dr. Sung-Ho Kang, principal investigator of the work that Korea is doing in the Arctic. In the second instance, the IDEAL Center researchers met with Dr. In-Young Ahn, the researcher in charge of CHAMP2050, the Korean Antarctic program that focuses on Maxwell Bay.
“The general perception is that there are good prospects for joint work between IDEAL and KOPRI researchers,” commented Dr. González. “In the two meetings held in Korea, we discussed potential collaborations through complementary activities in the Antarctic region during summer campaigns.”