Dr Huw Griffiths has worked as a marine biologist for British Antarctic Survey for over 20 years, studying the animals that live at the bottom of the sea around Antarctica and the Arctic. He also studies the potential effects of marine protected areas, climate change, human impacts and pollution on these unique ecosystems, and has participated in and led multiple expeditions to both poles, studying everything from the beaches to the deep sea.

Talk: Antarctica: Life beneath the ice

The Antarctic may appear almost lifeless, a cold desert where tiny plants and animals clinging on to rare rocky gaps in the ice, but below the frozen ocean surface is a rich, varied, and complex community of species shaped by dramatic past geological, oceanographic and climate changes. Home to around twenty thousand species, Antarctica’s marine life is specially adapted to the coldest ocean on Earth. In his fascinating and wide-ranging presentation, Dr Griffiths will explore the biodiversity of this vast frozen continent, which continues to present us with new and exciting surprises from above and beneath the ice.