Antarctica – From exploration to nowadays challenges

The final conference of the Congrès des Doctorants 2017 will focus on Antarctica, the white continent. We are pleased to welcome three different talkers who will dwell on different aspects that are specific to this part of the globe, such as exploration, geopolitics and scientific research. M. Yves Frenot, head of the French Polar Institute (IPEV), will introduce this particular continent to the audience, focusing on its geography, its resources and the associated geopolitical stakes. M. Jean-Louis Etienne, who is a worldwide known explorer, will then present the main explorations that men carried out to get to know better Antarctica. Finally, Mrs Catherine Ritz, senior researcher at CNRS/LGGE, will focus on scientific missions. She will bring forward what we know today and what are the objectives of the future, through the Beyond-EPICA mission, which aim is to drill and date in real time the oldest ice we ever studied. A discussion between the audience and the speakers will follow the presentation.