Our Members
COMNAP’s Members are the government National Antarctic Programs of 33 countries that are Consultative State Parties, or are non-Consultative State Parties and their countries have agreed to the Antarctic Treaty and the Environmental Protocol. Each Member program is represented by the Manager (MNAP) of that National Antarctic Program and/or the Deputy Manager (DMNAP) of that program. There are also four Observer National Antarctic Programs.
National Antarctic Programs collectively have the greatest first-hand experience of living and working in the Antarctic. Many of the National Antarctic Programs have operated there since the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957/58. The list below provides information on each Member program in alphabetical order by country.
You can learn more about our Members by going to their home websites (click on a photo to be taken to their webpage) and by looking at their Antarctic station information (click the red information button to see the relevant pages from the COMNAP Station Catalogue (2017)).
Photo: Dirección Nacional del Antártico
Dirección Nacional del Antártico (DNA) (Argentina)
MNAP: Cynthia Hotton, Director of Dirección Nacional del Antártico
DMNAP: Walter Mac Cormack, Head of the Argentine Antarctic Institute
Photo: IA34994 Casey, Australian Antarctic Division
Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)
(Australia)
MNAP: Matt Filipowski, Branch Head Operations and Logistics
DMNAP: Simon Owen
Photo: Belgian Federal Science Policy and Polar Secretariat
Belgian Federal Science Policy and Polar Secretariat (Belgium)
MNAP: Anton Muyldermans, Director, Belgian Polar Secretariat
DMNAP: Margot François
Photo: Programa Antártico Brasileiro
Programa Antártico Brasileiro (PROANTAR) (Brazil)
MNAP: Ricardo Jaques Ferreira, Secretary of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources (SECIRM)
DMNAP: Haynnee Trad Souza, International Relations Division
Photo: Christo Pimpirev
Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (BAI)
(Bulgaria)
MNAP: Christo Pimpirev, Director
DMNAP: Dragomir Mateev, Operations, Logistics & Projects Manager
Photo: Canada
Polar Knowledge Canada (Canada)
MNAP: David Hik, Chief Scientist & Executive Director
DMNAP: TBA
Photo: Instituto Antártico Chileno
Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH) (Chile)
MNAP: Gino Casassa Rogazinski, Director
DMNAP: Wendy Rubio, Head of Operations
Photo: Wei Fuhai
Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) & Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) (China)
MNAP: Shen Jun, Director General, CAA
DMNAP: Zhang Tijun, Deputy Director, PRIC
Photo: Laska
Masaryk University
(Czech Republic)
MNAP: Pavel Kapler, Manager Czech Antarctic Research Program
DMNAP: Daniel Nyvlt, Principle Investigator/Head of Polar Geo Lab
Photo: Instituto Antartico Ecuatoriano
Instituto Oceanográfico y Antartico de la Armada (INOCAR)
(Ecuador)
MNAP: Nelson Andrés Pazmiño, INOCAR Director-General
DMNAP: Marco Santos Castañeda, Coordinator of Antarctic Affairs
Photo: Finnish Antarctic Research Program
Finnish Antarctic Research Program at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FINNARP) (Finland)
MNAP: Mika Kalakoski, Development Manager
DMNAP: Priit Tisler, Research and Technical Support
Photo: C Fresser
Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) (France)
MNAP: Yan Ropert-Coudert, Director
DMNAP: Grégory Tran, Chief of Antarctic Operations
Photo: S Christmann
Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI)
(Germany)
MNAP: Uwe Nixdorf, Deputy Director
DMNAP: Christine Wesche, Logistics and Research Platforms
Photo: National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research
National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (NCPOR) (India)
MNAP: Thamban Meloth, Director
DMNAP: Shailedra Saini, Antarctic Logistics
Photo: PNRA
Programma Nazionale Di Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA)
(Italy)
MNAP: Gianluca Bianchi Fasani, ENEA Antarctic Technical Unit
DMNAP: Rocco Ascione, Head of the Logistic Service, Antarctic Technical Unit
Photo: National Institute of Polar Research
National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) (Japan)
MNAP: Gen Hashida, Deputy Director (for Research), Center for Antarctic Programs
DMNAP: Yoshifumi Nogi, Director-General
Photo: D van der Kroef
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
(The Netherlands)
MNAP: Daan Blok, Director
DMNAP: Renno Hokwerda, Programme Officer
Photo: B Goodsell, Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection
Antarctica New Zealand
(New Zealand)
MNAP (Interim): Jordy Hendrikx, Acting Chief Executive / Chief Scientific Advisor
DMNAP: Mike Shapland, General Manager Antarctic Operations
Photo: Norwegian Polar Institute
Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI)
(Norway)
MNAP: Camilla Brekke, Director
DMNAP: John E. Guldahl, Director Operations and Logistics
Photo: Peruvian Division of Antarctic Affairs
Division of Antarctic Affairs
(Peru)
MNAP: Maria Elvira Velasquez Rivas Plata, General Director of Sovereignty, Limits and Antarctic Affairs
DMNAP: Jose Mariano de Cossio Rivas
Photo: Latusek
Poland Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics Polish Academy of Sciences
(Poland)
MNAP: Agnieszka Kruszewska, Director of Administration
DMNAP: Dariusz Puczko, Logistics Coordinator
Photo: PROPOLAR
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (Portugal)
MNAP: Maria Teresa Cabrita, Executive Director of the Portuguese Polar Program (PROPOLAR)
DMNAP: Germana Santos, Head of FCT Polar Programme
Photo: Torbic
National Academy of Sciences
(Republic of Belarus)
MNAP: Aliaksei Haidashou, Head Belarus Antarctic Expedition
DMNAP: Igor Pilshchikov, Deputy Head RCPR
Photo: Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI)
Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) (Republic of Korea)
MNAP: Hyoung Chul Shin, President
DMNAP: Dongmin Jin, Director-Department of Logistics and Infrastructure Operation
Photo: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute – Russian Antarctic Expedition
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) / Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE)
(Russian Federation)
MNAP: Pavel Lunev, RAE Head
Acting DMNAP: Vladimir Kuchin, Deputy Head of Logistics
Photo: South African National Antarctic Program
South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) (South Africa)
MNAP (Acting): Ashley Johnson, Chief Director
DMNAP (Acting): Rodgerson Hlophe, Manager Ship & Helicopters
Photo: Comité Polar Español
Comité Polar Español (CPE)
(Spain)
MNAP: Antonio Quesada, Executive Secretary
DMNAP: Miguel Ojeda, Marine Technology Unit, CSIC
Photo: H Tornberg
Swedish Polar Research Secretariat
(Sweden)
MNAP: Håkan Grudd, Deputy Head of Department for Terrestrial Research Support
DMNAP: Ola Eriksson, Technical Coordinator
Photo: TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Polar Research Institute
TÜBITAK Marmara Research Center, Polar Research Institute
(Türkiye)
MNAP: Özgün Oktar, Deputy Director, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Polar Research Institute
DMNAP: Dogac Baybars Isiler, Logistics Coordinator, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Polar Research Institute
Photo: National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine
National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine (NASC) (Ukraine)
MNAP: Evgen Dykyi, Director
DMNAP: Andrii Fedchuk, Head of International Scientific & Technical Cooperation Department
Photo: British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
(United Kingdom)
MNAP: Oliver Darke, Director of Operations & Engineering (Interim)
DMNAP: Dave Wattam, Head of Polar Operations
Photo: Hood
National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs
(United States of America)
MNAP: Stephanie Short, Section Head, Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics
DMNAP: Margaret Knuth, Chief Program Manager, Antarctic Infrastructure & Logistics
Photo: Uruguayan Antarctic Institute
Uruguayan Antarctic Institute (IAU)
(Uruguay)
MNAP: Brigadier (Av.) Fernando Colina, President
DMNAP: Angela Quartarolo, Secretary Director
Our Observers
COMNAP’s Observers are the government National Antarctic Programs of four countries that are non-Consultative State Parties and their countries have agreed to the Antarctic Treaty and the Environmental Protocol.
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Colombian Ocean Commission (Colombia)
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Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation (Malaysia)
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Swiss Commission for Polar and High Altitude Research (Switzerland)
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Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC) (Venezuela)