A SCIENTIST from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester will be representing the UK at an international Antarctic research committee.

Professor David Hopkins, dean of the School of Agriculture, Food and Environment is a UK delegate for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

He will be in charge of the initiation, promotion and co-ordination of research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the UK.

The SCAR is a body of the International Council for Science and is recognised by 53 countries or governments worldwide, each of which has two voting delegates on the committee.

The committee provides international, independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty, the system of governance for Antarctica which ensures the Antarctic remains one of the few places where the environment is fully protected, and where scientific research and discovery are the priority.

The SCAR meets once every two years and the next meeting is in late August 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Professor Hopkins, who joined the RAU in September 2014, has published extensively on the soils, and ecology, of Antarctica for more than a decade.

His participation has been sponsored by the Royal Society of London.

Professor Hopkins said: “Of course, it may seem strange for the UK to be represented by someone from an agricultural institution on Antarctic science matters, but understanding our environment and the ways in which it fluctuates is as important for agriculture as it is for the polar regions – the world is a single ecosystem.

"I am fortunate to be one of a relatively small number of scientists to have conducted research in Antarctica, and it is a privilege to play a role in helping to maintain Antarctica as one of the world’s last remaining true wildernesses.”

Find out more about the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.