Outlets of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet are sensitive to warming of the Southern Ocean and have the potential to significantly raise global sea-level if melted. Rennick, Lillie, and Matesuvich glaciers are large marine-terminating glaciers that drain most of Northern Victoria Land (NVL) on the Pacific Coast. These glaciers may act as precursory indicators of ocean-driven change to adjacent and highly-vulnerable outlets of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin. However, glaciological, climatological, and oceanographic observations are spatially- and temporally-sparse leading to highly uncertain mass balance estimates of the region. Here, we aim to create precise digital elevation models of NVL using >4500 historical aerial images from 1947 and 1961 using photogrammetry. An ~80-year thinning record to the present day can be obtained by differencing historical elevations from satellite-based elevation data. The relationship between ocean conditions and surface thinning will be explored using a high-resolution ocean circulation model under modern and historical conditions. It is hypothesised that recent warm ocean water intrusions are driving basal melt and ice drawdown, and that outlets further ’downstream’ (e.g., Cook, Ninnis, Mertz glaciers) will be forced by similar regional ocean warming.

Physical human impacts in Antarctic ice-free areas are often subtle, cumulative and difficult to assess consistently, limiting our ability to detect change and evaluate management outcomes. To address this challenge, we developed a landscape vulnerability and human impact assessment framework that provides a practical and repeatable method for recognising, recording and monitoring disturbance in Antarctic environments. Central to this framework is a field guide and template that supports consistent assessment of impacts ranging from disturbed surface sediments and vehicle tracks to geomorphic, biological and aesthetic change. By providing standardised criteria and photographic examples, the guide enables qualitative observations to be documented in a manner that can be compared through time, between observers and across locations.

Complementary Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets for the Vestfold Hills and Bunger Hills classify surficial geological units according to their susceptibility to disturbance, recovery potential and associated management considerations. These vulnerability maps provide a spatial framework for understanding landscape sensitivity and support planning, site selection, environmental impact assessment, mitigation and rehabilitation strategies.

Together, the field guide, template and GIS products provide practical tools for both assessing human impacts and understanding the landscapes in which they occur. The framework improves our capacity to identify, document and manage disturbance in Antarctic ice-free areas, while encouraging greater awareness of landscape sensitivity and supporting responsible environmental stewardship.

Phytoplankton communities in the Southern Ocean are shifting as the region experiences rapid environmental change. Using 15 years of Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder (SO‑CPR) data (2007–2021), this study assesses trends in phytoplankton composition, with emphasis on the ecologically important diatom genus Chaetoceros. Overall diatom and dinoflagellate abundances increased significantly across the sampling domain, while the diatom:dinoflagellate ratio showed only a slight, but significant, increase, indicating broadly stable functional group structure despite higher total biomass. In contrast, Chaetoceros abundance declined per year, suggesting that this genus may be responding differently to recent environmental conditions than other diatom taxa. Twelve Chaetoceros taxa were recorded, with C. dichaeta, C. atlanticus, and C. criophilus dominating observations, and species richness peaking at higher latitudes. Spatial patterns show that Chaetoceros species were broadly distributed across the Indian sector, with elevated abundances near major Southern Ocean fronts. The divergence between increasing total phytoplankton abundance and declining Chaetoceros counts highlights potential shifts in community structure with implications for carbon export and the foraging ecology of key grazers such as Antarctic krill. These results demonstrate the value of long‑term CPR observations for detecting ecosystem change in a rapidly warming Southern Ocean.

Conservation of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems requires effective techniques for monitoring vegetation change. Assessments of historical vegetation change are hampered by patchy vegetation distribution and data scarcity, making traditional time series approaches, such as with Landsat, unfeasible. This research incorporates archival high-resolution aerial and oblique ground photography captured from the 1970s – late 1980s to investigate human impacts to vegetation on Bailey Peninsula, East Antarctica, in the vicinity of Casey station and in the nearby Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) 135. The extent of moss and lichen communities will be mapped using photogrammetry and deep learning image classification in the period before and soon after construction of the current Casey station, and impacts of this construction and associated station activity investigated. Key remote sensing challenges investigated will include multi-modal data harmonisation between aerial and ground-based imagery, and RGB image segmentation for Antarctic vegetation mapping. Furthermore, we will investigate the capacity for quantitative ecological inference from resultant maps to assess human impacts on the Bailey Peninsula. To support this assessment, historical documentation of station management practices will be consulted to identify key local anthropogenic drivers. Resultant observations can be utilised to inform station and ASPA management in light of vegetation responses to past conditions.