Dr. Warwick Vincent is Professor of Biology and Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Studies at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and honorary member of the Royal Society of New Zealand. His research focuses on aquatic microbial ecology, light and primary production, and ecosystem responses to climate change, with emphasis on Arctic and Antarctic waters. He has served on the editorial boards of Antarctic Science and Polar Biology, and on various research committees and studies. He was inaugural Chair of Canada's National Antarctic Committee. He teaches undergraduate, graduate and field courses in limnology at Laval University, and has been an instructor in the outreach initiative 'Students on Ice' to Antarctica. Dr.

Johanna Laybourn-Parry is vice-provost Research at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Prior to that she was Executive Dean of Science at Keele University, UK, and Professor of Environmental Biology at Nottingham University. Her research is undertaken in the Antarctic with the Australian and US Antarctic programmes and in the Arctic at the Natural Environment Research Council Station in Svalbard. Her research interests focus on carbon cycling in polar lakes, protozoan ecophysiology, viral bacterial dynamics, bioprospecting for novel biochemicals, remote sensing of lake environments and biological processes on glaciers. She has published two sole authored books, and 128 peer reviewed articles and reviews. Her work has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, The European Union, the Royal Society, Industryand logistic support from the Australian Antarctic Science Advisory Committee and NSF.