The Leverhulme Trust

The 2004 Ri Christmas Lectures and accompanying CD-ROM are generously supported by The Leverhulme Trust. The Trust was established in 1925 under the will of the First Viscount Leverhulme, with the instruction that it should support scholarships for education and research.

Since that time, the Trust has provided funding for research projects and studentships across all the academic disciplines, the ambition being to support talented individuals as they realise their personal vision in education or research.

British Antarctic Survey

Part of the Natural Environment Research Council, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) undertakes a world-class programme of scientific research and sustains for the UK an active and influential regional presence and a leadership role in Antarctic affairs.

Based in Cambridge, it has conducted Britain's scientific research on and around the Antarctic continent for almost 60 years.

BAS employs over 400 staff and supports three stations in the Antarctic, at Rothera, Halley and Signy, and two stations on South Georgia, at King Edward Point and Bird Island. The Antarctic operations and science programmes are executed and managed from Cambridge and rely on a wide-ranging team of professional staff.

Thanks are due to the British Antarctic Survey for providing the spectacular photographs that appear on this website.