WELCOME to the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) website
The Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs is an international association, formed in 1988, which facilitates support to Antarctic operations amongst the governmental National Antarctic Programs. Our Membership is thirty-four country programs, representing almost 100% of the science and science support activity in Antarctica. The National Antarctic Programs, our Members, are responsible for delivering and supporting scientific research in the Antarctic Treaty Area on behalf of their respective governments and in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty. They work collaboratively and individually to ensure data from Antarctica is available to the world.
Projects
COMNAP Projects support our Membership, engage the public, and ensure we are providing best practice advice to the Antarctic Treaty system.
Expert Groups
People within the COMNAP Membership have a depth and breadth of expertise found nowhere else. A fundamental aspect of our organisation is to support the free exchange of information between these experts.
Ambitions
Our Ambitions include caring for the environment, supporting our Members to succeed, and fostering strong community relationships while contributing towards a positive, enduring Antarctic future.
Documents and resources
Over the years, we have worked with our Membership and the wider Antarctic community to produce a range of informative brochures, booklets, books and even the Antarctic Station game. Some of our publications provide guidance to our Members on things like waste management, critical technologies, preventing the introduction of non-native species into the Antarctic environment and how to prevent and respond to oil spills. We are advisors to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCMs) and to the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) through our Permanent Observer status.
News & Events
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Antarctic Summer Science Lecture
6 January 2026
The COMNAP Secretariat is proud to co-sponsor, with the NZ Antarctic Society and Gateway Antarctica, a public talk by Dr Byron Adams titled “The Largest Land Animal in Antarctica”.
🗓 Date Saturday, 7 February 2026
🕛 Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
📍 Venue: Tūranga Library, Auaha Hīhī, He Hononga | Connection, Ground LevelByron is a principal investigator with the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program, an NSF-supported effort that has tracked Antarctic ecosystems for over 30 years to understand how they respond to environmental change.
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Antarctica InSync International Science Webinar
5 January 2026
Antarctica InSync will host two global webinars over to days (20 January 2026, 17:00–19:00 (CET); 21 January 2026, 09:00–11:00 (CET)) to provide an overview of the draft White Papers for scientific planning released in late December.
For more information and to register to attend the event, visit Antarctica InSync website.
To learn more about the COMNAP InSync Collaboration project, click here.
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COMNAP announces second 2025 Antarctic Early-Career Award Recipient
23 December 2025
COMNAP is delighted to announce its support to a second recipient for the Antarctic Early-Career Award 2025: Tim Fern.Tim, from the British Antarctic Survey (United Kingdom), will join colleagues from Antarctica New Zealand (New Zealand) for his project titled ‘Decarbonisation through High Voltage: Overcoming Challenges in deploying HV faced by National Antarctic Programs’.
For more information, including past recipients, visit the COMNAP Awards page.
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COMNAP EXCOM Meeting - December 2025
10 December 2025
COMNAP EXCOM met online on 10 December 2025 to further the strategic discussions started during the EXCOM in-person meeting (October 2025).
During the online meeting, EXCOM discussed the AGM 2026 and SAR Workshop 6, COMNAP papers to be submitted to ATCM 48 and CEP 28 meetings in Hiroshima, Japan.
EXCOM held focussed discussed on HPAI, and advanced work on COMNAP projects and outstanding action items from the AGM 2025.