Daniel Nývlt Awarded the Chilean Order of Bernardo O'Higgins for Contributions to Antarctic Research

The Order of Bernardo O'Higgins is a state award of the Republic of Chile, granted exclusively to foreign nationals. Established in 1956, it is named after the founder of the Chilean state, Bernardo O'Higgins. The Grand Master of the order is the Chilean president. Its significance is comparable to Czech Orders of Merit awarded by the president of the republic.

Who nominated you for the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins, and on what occasion was it awarded?

Former Chilean ambassador to the Czech Republic, Hernán Pablo Arturo Bascuñán Jiménez, recognized the importance of collaboration between our two countries in Antarctica and nominated me for this honour last year. Since I was not present at the award ceremony in Chile on December 21, 2023, it was postponed until a high-ranking Chilean official could be in the Czech Republic. This occurred in mid-October during political discussions between representatives of the foreign ministries of the Czech Republic and Chile, marking the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. The ceremony was chaired by Gloria de la Fuente, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Chile, who presented the award on behalf of the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, along with Jiří Kozák, the Czech Deputy Foreign Minister. Tomáš Kašparovský, the dean of the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University (SCI MUNI), also attended the ceremony. The Order of Bernardo O'Higgins has six degrees; I received the third degree—Commander. While the award is personally dedicated to me, I accept it as recognition for the work I have long done at MUNI as head of the Czech Antarctic Research Programme, and thus it belongs to everyone working in Antarctica. Both representatives from Chile and the Czech Republic delivered speeches, followed by my thanks, a toast, photographs, and a brief discussion. Since such an honour is not something one receives every day, it was a very interesting and pleasant experience for me.

What did the political representatives of both countries mention in their speeches during this significant award ceremony?

They emphasized their immense appreciation for the excellent cooperation between the Czechia and Chile in research and the long-standing international collaboration in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty, signed on December 1, 1959, requires signatory states to protect the natural resources of Antarctica. We strive to do so while also conducting research, which inevitably impacts the environment. Therefore, there is a strong emphasis on well-coordinating all activities under international cooperation to avoid unnecessary duplication and to use consistent methodologies that can be compared. This is a commitment that the states adhere to under the treaty. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research serves this purpose, with Chile having one vice-chair until this year. For these reasons, they highly value collaboration with us.

How does your team collaborate with Chilean representatives regarding research logistics in Antarctica?

We are quite far from Antarctica, so we pay for the rental of ships and planes for our journeys to and from Antarctica. Antarctica is also significant for Chileans because they have a deep emotional connection to the area where the Johann Gregor Mendel Czech Scientific Station is located, even though their historical claim to the territory was frozen by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. Carlos Gajardo, the first secretary at the Chilean embassy in the Czech Republic for the past six years, has a Czech wife, he speaks Czech, and he is our liaison for communication. I consult with him on everything we need, and he helps us immensely.

How did the Chilean embassy assist scientists from the Czech Antarctic Research Programme during COVID, when they faced many challenges on expeditions?

They helped us immensely back in 2020 when we were returning from an expedition that the team undertook just before COVID hit. When COVID came, everything stopped, and flights between the Czech Republic and South America were grounded. However, we got our team onto a French repatriation flight, and colleagues from Poland helped transport them to Dresden, where we picked them up. At that time, I called the Czech Deputy Foreign Minister at 11 PM, and by 6 AM next day, we had permission to cross the borders. In the following years, Chilean diplomats assisted us in obtaining entry permits to Chile through their Ministry of Health, which would have otherwise stalled without their help. Political diplomacy is crucial for us. Our embassy in Santiago and Ambassador Pavel Bechný have also been very supportive. For Chileans, collaboration in Antarctica is truly meaningful and fulfilling.

What is the status of cooperation between the Czech Republic and Chile in Antarctic research?

In the past twenty years, Chile has made significant advancements in research. They have several year-round stations in Antarctica and conduct extensive glaciological research, as well as biological studies focused on large ecology and the ocean. They have on-site facilities and vessels, unlike us. They study penguin colonies, pinnipeds, whales, and food pyramids from krill to large predators like whales and orcas. They also research the colonization of ice-free areas, the landscape, and more. We work in a different space, complementing each other geographically. They are on the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, while we are on the eastern side, allowing us to conduct comparative studies, environmentally conditioned research, or regional syntheses.

What do you personally consider the key to such good international cooperation in research?

I believe the key is continuity, clarity, and the goal of long-term engagement in Antarctica. We strive to be a responsible partner in the community of Antarctic Treaty states. Even when we were invited to present our achievements as the last country to gain consultative status in 2014, larger states like the UK and the USA viewed our activity report very positively. Now, a decade later, we continue to publish between 40 and 50 articles annually. If we conducted a cost-benefit analysis, we would rank among the best countries in the world. Thus, I think we are a clear and solid partner; we pay for services, but we also offer something in return and build positive relationships over the long term. Thanks to the help of diplomatic circles in both the Czech and Chilean sides, we have been very successful. This may also be another reason for receiving this significant award, which I deeply value.

You are deeply involved in the relations between the Czech Republic and Chile. What else connects such distant countries?

Every Chilean ambassador I have met has mentioned the Jelínek company, which produces pear brandy in Chile. They bought orchards and built a distillery because we no longer cultivate enough pears. Tractors from Zetor also have a good reputation there, and we have been importing them for decades, even before the fall of communism. The European Southern Observatory, located in Chile, is worth mentioning in terms of research, where Czech scientists work very intensively.

Finally, what are the future plans for the Czech Antarctic Research Programme, and why can Antarctica be viewed as a stepping stone in space research?

Continuity in research is our top priority. Recently, my main task has been to secure funding and stabilize the budget because our most important assets in Antarctica are long-term monitoring efforts. Antarctica is a continent larger than Europe, but there are only about forty stations there. We can study the impact of climate change on various parts of the landscape and biota, which is a significant objective. Besides natural science topics, we focus principally on four areas: geosciences in the broadest sense; atmospheric sciences and glacier interactions; microbiology; and plant physiology and botany. We have been working in these fields for over fifteen years and aim to include additional research, such as material studies in collaboration with CEITEC VUT and CEITEC MU, investigating the degradation of polymers in Antarctic regions compared to Brno, various influences of chemical or physical factors—UV radiation, freezing and thawing, or smog in Brno. Additionally, we are incorporating social science and medical research, including human physiology and psychology. However, Antarctica is also a stepping stone to space for us. It is a habitat where many things can be tested, as the ice-free area where the Czech Johann Gregor Mendel Antarctic Station, is located, closely resembles the surface of the Moon or Mars.

Thank you for the interview.