The US National Science Foundation Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (NSF COLDEX) is a Science and Technology Center formed in 2021 to explore Antarctica for the oldest possible ice core records of our planet’s climate and environmental history, and to help broaden participation in polar science. Learn more.
Applications for the COLDEX 2026 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program are now open. Find out more here.
Recent News
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Discovery: Frontiers of Earth Science (BBC, 1/19/26): Podcast featuring an interview with Ed Brook at AGU 2025.
New publication alert! Basal unit radar characteristics at the southern flank of Dome A, East Antarctica, led by Shuai Yan (1/21/26).
Ice core site considerations from modeling CO2 and O2 ∕ N2 ratio diffusion in interior East Antarctica (11/24/25): New paper in Climate of the Past, led by Marc Sailer!
The field team has arrived at the Allan Hills, Antarctica for the 2025-26 field season! Follow their progress on instagram @coldex_stc or through our newsletter. (11/15/25)
Six-million-year-old ice discovered in Antarctica offers unprecedented window into a warmer Earth (10/28/25): New COLDEX paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, led by Sarah Shackleton, describes the oldest ice ever found on the planet!
While Searching for the World’s Oldest Ice, Scientists Find Sediment Sneaking Under the Antarctic Ice Sheet (10/20/25): Featuring a new COLDEX paper in Geophysical Research Letters led by Duncan Young.