Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies 3.61

The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart, Tasmania, was established in 2010 as a teaching and research institute of the University of Tasmania. IMAS builds upon more than 20 years of university core partnership in cooperative Antarctic research, and aspires to a similar key role in temperate marine and Southern Ocean research.Marine geophysicist Prof Mike Coffin was appointed founding Executive Director of IMAS in 2010. Prof Richard Coleman, an oceanographer and cryospheric scientist, was appointed Executive Director of IMAS in July 2015.Mission statement“To improve understanding of temperate marine, Southern Ocean, and Antarctic environments, their resources, and their roles in the global climate system through research, education, and outreach”.Research themesThe Institute takes a multidisciplinary, whole-system approach to research, education, and outreach. IMAS was established with a core research and education capability, initially consisting of significant and internationally recognised expertise in the following foundation themes: Oceans and cryosphere Fisheries and aquaculture Ecology and biodiversity These programs are linked by three key cross-disciplinary themes to meet integrative and multidisciplinary research goals: Climate change Ocean-Earth system Ocean and Antarctic governanceExcellence in Research AustraliaThe Australian Research Council’s Excellence in Research for Australia initiatives provide a specific benchmark for the core IMAS disciplines of oceanography and fisheries sciences, and in 2012 IMAS strongly contributed to the University of Tasmania achieving grade 5 scores in oceanography, ecology, and geology, and a grade 4 score in fisheries sciences.