New Research Laboratory opened at Rothera Research Station

The Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory consists of four separate ship containers that have been modified into working labs.

A new scientific laboratory has been built at the UK Rothera Research Station in Antarctica as a result of an international collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The research facility — named the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory — was officially opened on Sunday (27th Jan) by Leo le Duc on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, but the country does not have a research station of its own in Antarctica. For over 20 years, the NWO have collaborated very successfully with British Antarctic Survey, and Dutch scientists have often used Rothera Research Station as a base for their polar research. In order to extend and enhance this existing collaboration, the NWO and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science invested in building the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory, which was built in partnership with BAS and the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ).

One of the lab containers of the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory.

The laboratory allows NWO to run a research facility in the Antarctic and continue to use the existing facilities at Rothera Research Station. Scientists from the Netherlands will use the laboratory to continue their important studies into climate change, glaciology, marine biology and oceanography.

The laboratory was named after a Dutch explorer, Captain Dirck Gerritsz, who was part of a fleet of five ships to find a trade route via South America to Asia. The laboratory was named after a Dutch explorer, Captain Dirck Gerritsz, who was part of a fleet of five ships to find a trade route via South America to Asia. The building consists of four separate laboratory units — named Annunciation, Love, Faith and Hope after the Dutch fleet of ships. Each unit is made of a ship container that has been specially modified into a working lab with scientific instrumentation, running water and electricity.

British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station. The new Dutch Laboratory is located on the left in the picture with the Bonner Marine Laboratory on the right hand side.

BAS