It’s not every scientist who gets to see their work featured on a stamp, but that’s just happened to Lincoln Agritech’s Dr Adrian Tan.
Adrian’s work – as part of a team led by Assoc Prof Wolfgang Rack – features on one of the stamps in the 2022 Ross Dependency Science on Ice set released by NZ Post in November.
The $3.80 stamp shows a helicopter flying with a device known as the EM bird below. At the back of the EM-bird is a radar that measures the snow depth. When combined with the other instruments, which measure the distance to the top of the snow and the distance to the top of the water, this makes it possible to calculate the depth of the sea ice.
Adrian developed the snow radar, and was in the back of the helicopter controlling the EM-bird when the photo the stamp is based on was taken.
He is thrilled his work features on the stamp. “I’m going to buy some!” he says.
And what’s he going to do with the stamps? Well at least one of them will go on a Christmas card to send to his parents back home in Malaysia.
This is the first time work by any Lincoln Agritech scientist has appeared on a New Zealand stamp.
“The work that Adrian, Wolfgang and their team are doing is vital in helping us understand what is happening to sea ice as the climate changes,” says Lincoln Agritech chief executive Peter Barrowclough. “This stamp will prompt more people to learn about their work, and understand some of the science being done to help us better understand our world.”
