Dolores Deregibus, PhD

What’s the work that you do?

Together with my team, I focus on investigating how Antarctic coastal ecosystems respond to rapid physical changes, and how the Antarctic sea bed provides strong blue carbon ecosystem services that could potentially have a role in mitigating wider CO2 emissions. In addition, I am interested in contributing to science and data collection while collaborating and participating in reinforcing the importance of spatial management in the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the adoption of the proposed Domain 1 Marine Protected Area (D1MPA) under scenarios of environmental changes and increased human presence in Antarctica.

What keeps you going?

Scientific research is very valuable. It is our strongest tool to help us understand and mitigate the impact of climate change and the human presence in Antarctica.

What’s your message to the world?

I believe that the conservation of the Antarctic ecosystems is urgently needed due to their unique biodiversity. The urgency comes from the heavy impact climate change has on this region.