Undergraduate Student Participates in the 2026 Antarctic Expedition
Jiří Sekerák, a final-year student in the Experimental Plant Biology programme, is among the youngest participants ever to join Masaryk University's Antarctic expeditions to James Ross Island and the J. G. Mendel Station.
Although only 25 years old, Jiří departed for Antarctica in mid-January 2026 together with the other members of the expedition. His research will focus on assessing the biodiversity of autotrophic components of Antarctic vegetation oases along an altitudinal gradient extending from the coastline to the summits of volcanic table mountains.
At the same time, he will investigate the physiological processes of extremophilic lichens, particularly the responses of primary photosynthetic processes to water deficit and high levels of photosynthetically active radiation. Jiří is far from a newcomer to the study of extremophilic lichens. He has been working at our department for several years on his Master's thesis, which focuses on the cryoresistance of lichens.
