Met Éireann climate scientist and researcher, Dr Tido Semmler, returned to dry land recently, after a month-long stint aboard the German research icebreaker, Polarstern.
December 23rd, 2025
Dr Semmler was part of the Polarstern PS151 expedition, which set sail from Bremerhaven, Germany in mid-November, and concluded in Walvis Bay, Namibia earlier this month.
Dr Tido Semmler, far right, with fellow participants in the Polarstern PS151 expedition. Photo credit – Caio Ribeiro
Organised by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, the expedition was specifically designed to provide early-career researchers with hands-on experience and training in how to see, understand and sample the ocean.
Met Éireann was one of a number of partner institutions – alongside the University of Galway, the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh, and the University of Bremen, Germany – in the programme, which was led by Professor Karen Wiltshire of Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Semmler was among a select group of experts acting as senior teachers to the students on core areas of oceanographic research, including CTD Rosette Water Sampler, plankton identification, water-column profiling, ocean climate modelling, and real-time data collection using satellite observations and the ship’s automated systems.
Additional onboard teams shared bathymetric and atmospheric measurements, with the aim of enriching the interdisciplinary training, all with the focus of explaining how to deliberate science critically, and how to understand and communicate the express warming of the ocean.
A highlight of this year’s programme was the introduction of ‘The Dance of the Carbon Cycle,’ a novel and edutaining activity trained on board to help explain how fossil fuel emissions disrupt the natural balance of carbon on Earth, driving climate change.
Through movement, storytelling, and science, participants learned how carbon should circulate, and what happens when human activities overload the system. Having shared this unique teaching tool with colleagues in Namibia, the plan is to introduce the ‘dance’ into classrooms and communities worldwide.
This year also marked the introduction of a new training pathway for prospective teachers, aimed at strengthening ocean literacy and training across the globe.
A group photo of Polarstern PS151 expedition participants. Photo credit – Petra Gössmann-Lange
Speaking of his experience, Dr Semmler said: “As a climate modeller, this was a fantastic opportunity to gain understanding of measuring observational data at sea, and the importance of close collaboration between observational and modelling climate scientists.
“As one of the senior teachers, it was also important for me to be able to bring climate science education to the next generation and to those from less advantaged countries.”
For further information on the Polarstern expedition and the work of the Alfred Wegener Institute, visit: Research Vessel and Icebreaker Polarstern – AWI.