Dr Krystal Randall

Affiliation with the Antarctic Science Foundation

“Traversing The Covid Gap” Grant Recipient 2020

ASF Assistant Ambassador on Antarctica Flights 2023/24

PhD Thesis

Modelling canopy temperatures in Antarctic moss beds at a cm-resolution to understand the role of fine-scale microclimates in governing moss health and productivity.

More about Krystal

Postdoctoral Researcher at ARC SRI Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF) - Looking at plant-climate interactions in Antarctica and developing new technology for data collection both in the field and in the lab. Modelling of fine-scale climate dynamics and plant physiology over space and time, Antarctic fieldwork planning and coordination - Krystal is lucky enough to spend summers in Antarctica doing what she loves.

Selected Publication

Co-authors Lembrechts JJ, van den Hoogen J, Aalto J...97 more, Maps of soil temperature, 1 May 2022, Global Change Biology28(9):3110-3144, DOI10.1111/GCB.16060

Impressions from Antarctica Flight Ex-Melbourne 19-Nov-23

Over the weekend, I did a scenic flight over hashtag#Antarctica as a hashtag#science hashtag#ambassador representing the Antarctic Science Foundation (ASF) and Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future University of Wollongong. I feel incredibly lucky to have been selected for this opportunity and I made the most of every minute and had such a great time talking all things science, hashtag#climate, hashtag#moss and life in Antarctica with the guests on board the flight.

It was a 14-hour round trip from Melbourne, and we spent about 5 hours soaring over Antarctica.

We were super lucky with the weather. Blue skies over the coast of Victoria Land where the hashtag#Transantarctic Mountains begin meant that’s where we were headed for the day. That also meant we were headed for hashtag#MtErebus. Although I’ve been on four research expeditions in different regions of Antarctica, this is an area I’d never seen before.

Mt Erebus is the southernmost active hashtag#volcano in the world, rising straight out of the ocean to 3,794m above sea level. It’s crater is 600m wide. It is one of 5 volcanoes on the planet that have a permanent hashtag#lava lake bubbling away inside the crater. It’s always releasing plumes of gas and the chemical composition of the gas plume changes on a 4-15 minute cycle. Mt Erebus has regular small eruptions.

This region of Antarctica is incredibly dynamic. Although it appears still, it is very much in motion. hashtag#Glaciers grind towards the sea, shaping the landscape. Ice shuffles down the side of mountains forming deep hashtag#crevasses. hashtag#Seaice pancakes dance across the sea surface until they freeze in place, locking in the hashtag#icebergs.

It was such a privilege to see this part of Antarctica 🤍 Grateful to ASF for the opportunity!

✈️📸 Alt. 7,000m, all images are my own