Public Support for Antarctic Science: Lessons from a National Survey of Australians

With the Antarctic region featuring more and more in discourse around anthropogenic climate change, understanding public support for research in the region is increasingly important.

We examine public support for Antarctic science in Australia, drawing on findings from a nationally representative survey of just over 1000 adults conducted in 2021-22. Key results reinforce earlier findings in other national contexts – for example, that older people and men are more likely to support Antarctic scientific research than younger people and women. They also reveal new information, including a correlation between particular sources of media coverage and support for Antarctic research. Our data has implications for where and how the public engagements efforts of government agencies and NGOs could most usefully be applied.  While the survey is focussed on Australia, it points to complexities around public support for Antarctic research that could be productively investigated in other national and in international contexts.