Antarctic and Arctic Governance: Science, Collaboration and Politics in a Changing World
Dr Ursula Rack, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Gateway Antarctica, Te Kura Aronukurangi - School of Earth and Environment
Wednesday, 27 May 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Christchurch
University of Canterbury, 20 Kirkwood Avenue, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8041
Join us for a discussion with Dr Ursula Rack and Professor Wolfgang Rack on the differences, similarities and challenges within Antarctic and Arctic Governance!
This event will explore the differences, similarities and challenges within the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Ursula Rack (PhD) is a polar historian and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Gateway Antarctica, Te Kura Aronukurangi – School of Earth and Environment where she also teaches in Antarctic Studies courses (ANTA 102, ANTA 102, ANTA 604) since 2010; and into the Communication course COMS 339 since 2026. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, and in 2018, was appointed a New Zealand Winston Churchill Memorial Fellow. Ursula has spent six seasons in the Antarctic as tutor for the PCAS* course and as lecturer and expedition staff on Antarctic expedition cruise ships. She researches on Antarctic history since 2003 and publishes in English and German.
Ursula is the Austrian Honorary Consul for the South Island of New Zealand since 2018.
Wolfgang Rack is a professor for glaciology and remote sensing at the University of Canterbury, and Director of the Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research. He received his PhD from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) for studies on the retreat and collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf in 2000. The focus of his research is the mass balance of Antarctic land- and sea- ice and how they interact. Wolfgang participated in 19 field seasons for reference measurements of the Antarctic cryosphere. In a current collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division, his team was recently awarded Marsden project funding for the airborne and satellite-based assessment of coastal Antarctic sea ice.
Join us for a discussion with Dr Ursula Rack and Professor Wolfgang Rack on the differences, similarities and challenges within Antarctic and Arctic Governance!
This event will explore the differences, similarities and challenges within the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Ursula Rack (PhD) is a polar historian and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Gateway Antarctica, Te Kura Aronukurangi – School of Earth and Environment where she also teaches in Antarctic Studies courses (ANTA 102, ANTA 102, ANTA 604) since 2010; and into the Communication course COMS 339 since 2026. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, and in 2018, was appointed a New Zealand Winston Churchill Memorial Fellow. Ursula has spent six seasons in the Antarctic as tutor for the PCAS* course and as lecturer and expedition staff on Antarctic expedition cruise ships. She researches on Antarctic history since 2003 and publishes in English and German.
Ursula is the Austrian Honorary Consul for the South Island of New Zealand since 2018.
Wolfgang Rack is a professor for glaciology and remote sensing at the University of Canterbury, and Director of the Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research. He received his PhD from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) for studies on the retreat and collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf in 2000. The focus of his research is the mass balance of Antarctic land- and sea- ice and how they interact. Wolfgang participated in 19 field seasons for reference measurements of the Antarctic cryosphere. In a current collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division, his team was recently awarded Marsden project funding for the airborne and satellite-based assessment of coastal Antarctic sea ice.
Membership
NZIIA membership is open to anyone interested in understanding the importance of global affairs to the political and economic well-being of New Zealand.