WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Susan Collins has accepted an invitation from the National Science Foundation and the University of Maine to travel to McMurdo Station in Antarctica to meet with leading climate change researchers, including research staff from the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. Senator Collins has been an advocate in the U.S. Senate for the advancement of climate change research. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator John Sununu (R-NH) will be traveling with Senator Collins.
During her trip, Senator Collins will also meet with University of Maine Professor, Dr. Brenda Hall and two research assistants who are in Antarctica studying the causes of ice ages, rapid, millennial-scale climate changes, and the stability of ice sheets. Collins will also be viewing an area of Antarctica known as Denton Hills, which is named after University of Maine Professor George Denton, a renowned climatologist and expert on glaciers.
“The University of Maine has one of the best abrupt climate change research programs in the world, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to see firsthand some of their research in both New Zealand and Antarctica,” Senator Collins said. “It is wonderful that some of the most important research in Antarctica is being led by three women from the University of Maine, Dr. Brenda Hall, graduate student Audrey Bamberg, and undergraduate Alice Doughty. I look forward to visiting their camp on Dunlop Island in the Ross Sea. I also am eager to be briefed by Dr. Denton, whose work on climate change is respected by climatologists throughout the world.”
Senator Collins departs Washington, D.C. today on the eight-day visit to Antarctica.