Belinda was recently interviewed by Clare Watson for the ABCs Radio National Science Show, along with Darren Koppel from UTS, to discuss bioremediation of residual fuels in Antarctica, and the ecological importance of preserving this pristine environment. She emphasized the current strategies our lab is employing in collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division to clean up Antarctic soil.
“Australian Antarctic Division is leading, I think, the world in terms of polar remediation. So they've developed some novel technologies. So that's basically digging up all the contaminated soil, putting it in a pile, adding in some nutrients to try and stimulate those organisms. So some, some nitrogen, some carbon, some moisture, even trying to heat it up a little bit so that it comes above freezing, to try and activate that part of the community”.
Check out the interview here:
Waste at Wilkes Station, Antarctica. Photos by Graham Snow https://sites.google.com/site/wilkesstationhistory/home/legacy-waste-and-heritage