Barrie McKelvey, PhD

Barrie is an Honorary Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at the University of New England, NSW, Australia. His interest in Antarctic geological research dates back to the late 1950s when he participated in the exploration and geological investigation of the ice-free McMurdo Oasis or Dry Valleys of Southern Victoria Land in Antarctica.

During the next forty years his work as a geologist has taken him into many remote areas within the Transantarctic Mountains chain, and most recently to the Prince Charles Mountains which border the huge Lambert Glacier, planet Earth's biggest river of ice.

Barrie has participated in Antarctic expeditions on behalf of Australian National Antarctic Expeditions, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, the National Science Foundation of the United States and Ohio State University. He has held visiting research posts and/or professorships at the University of Reading, England, Northern Illinois and the Ohio State universities, and the British Antarctic Survey and Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England.

In 1986, Barrie was awarded the Polar Medal by HM Queen Elizabeth II. He is currently involved in researching the history of the Antarctic ice sheet and its response to past climate change.