The National Science Foundation manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, which coordinates all U.S. scientific research (including penguin research!) on the southernmost continent and in the Southern Ocean.
The U.S. Antarctic Program manages a robust, cutting-edge Antarctic Program, supporting researchers who study everything from penguins and biology to astrophysics, glaciology, Earth science and oceanography.
Penguins, which live exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, have adapted to their environments through a long and complex evolutionary history. Various penguin species are interesting for different reasons. Some act as barometers of ecological change, while others possess physiological features — the ability to dive deep for a long time without breathing, for example — that may provide researchers with useful lessons for developing tools that society can use, like new anesthetics.
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Watch and learn about NSF’s scientists, penguins and more!
NSF-funded scientists create detailed history of oldest and largest Adéie penguin colony in the Northern Antarctic Peninsula.
Image Credit: Michael Polito, ©Louisiana State University
A Phone Call From A Penguin Colony
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Science Friday’s education director, Ariel Zych, has been exploring the research happening in and around McMurdo Station, including trips to ecological monitoring projects in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, work in the station’s labs, and an expedition to band chicks in the Cape Royds Adélie penguin colony. She calls in via satellite phone to check in.
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About what NSF-funded researchers are studying on the Ice
Man in Antarctica on Boat | Credit: NSF
Adélie penguins protecting chick and egg | Credit: Peter Rejcek, NSF
Adult penguins with baby penguins | Credit: Peter West, National Science Foundation, under Antarctic Conservation Act (ACA) permit West 2014-009
Majestic line of Emperor penguins, Antarctica | Credit: Glenn Grant
Emperor takes a dive | Credit: Glenn Grant
King penguins on Macquarie Island | Credit: Mike Usher
Palmer Station | Credit: NSF
Aurora australis (“southern lights”) | Credit: NSF
Iceberg in the Antarctic | Credit: NSF
