ACE research fellow Dr Delphine Lannuzel is to receive a Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence from UTAS. The award recognises outstanding performance as an early career researcher. Criteria for those receiving the award include publication output, success in applying for research funding, research service related to the discipline and evidence of developing research leadership. Delphine moved to Tasmania in late 2006 after completing her PhD on the biogeochemistry of iron in Antarctic sea ice at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The role of iron in the Antarctic sea ice environment is a relatively new research area. “Sea ice is not very well understood compared to ocean studies and therefore any new bit of data is a big thing,” Delphine said. Her work complements other work within the ACE CRC Carbon Program that looks at the vital role of trace elements in the ocean ecosystem. “Sea ice is a sentinel for the study of human-induced climate change and so there is a pressing need for a better understanding of the interactions between sea ice, the ocean and the atmosphere in the past, present and future climates,” she said. Delphine has been to Antarctica seven times and is now working towards her next trip south, which will be the second voyage for the SIPeX project (Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment). SIPeX is investigating the relationships between the physical sea ice environment and the structure of Southern Ocean ecosystems. This voyage will take place in 2012 and follows the initial voyage in 2007. Delphine will receive the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence on September 22.

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