Jano Gibson

Jano Gibson reports on the environmental and human footprint in Antarctica, with a particular focus on how policy decisions, scientific programs and extreme events shape the region’s ecosystems and the people who work there. He is an Antarctic reporter for ABC News, covering the Australian Antarctic Program, Southern Ocean wildlife and the environmental consequences of human activity in polar and sub‑Antarctic territories. His work combines field reporting, interviews with scientists and administrators, and close reading of official inquiries and inspection reports to show how environmental risk is managed in some of the world’s most remote places.

Bird flu and Southern Ocean wildlife crises

A central strand of Gibson’s recent reporting is the impact of bird flu on wildlife in the Southern Ocean and the psychological toll on those stationed there. He has covered mass mortality events among seal pups on remote Australian territories, documenting how bird flu has killed thousands of young animals and setting those figures in the context of global concerns about the virus jumping into new species. In related coverage, he reports on the planned withdrawal of staff from Macquarie Island, explaining that the Australian Antarctic Division intends to extract personnel ahead of the peak elephant seal breeding season because of the psychological risk posed by a potential outbreak. These stories are highly specific: they name the islands, the species affected and the timing of evacuations, and they draw out both ecological stakes and human stressors. Taken together, the reporting shows Gibson using disease outbreaks not just as breaking news, but as entry points into broader questions about wildlife management, conservation and duty of care in extreme environments.

Cleaning up Antarctica’s legacy pollution

Gibson devotes sustained attention to the long‑term environmental damage left by historic Antarctic stations and the efforts underway to remediate it.

In coverage of Wilkes Station, he describes how rusted fuel drums, asbestos‑containing buildings, batteries and buried waste create a clear risk to the environment, drawing on inspection findings and the observations of scientists who have studied metal contamination at the site. He follows the federal government’s “Cleaner Antarctica” strategy, reporting on the use of drone‑mounted ground‑penetrating radar to map what lies beneath snow and ice and on calls for immediate de‑pollution measures from international inspection teams. His work traces how treaty protocols, inspection reports and domestic funding commitments intersect, making the clean‑up of legacy pollution a governance story as much as an environmental one.

Even when he is appearing in audio formats, his segments keep returning to specific contaminants, volumes of waste and technical remediation methods, rather than broad rhetoric about pristine wilderness.

Funding, governance and workplace culture in Antarctic science

Beyond field conditions, Gibson’s reporting regularly examines how Antarctic science is funded and governed. He has covered warnings from Australian scientists about a “crisis” in Antarctic research driven by an impending funding cliff at the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, spelling out timelines for when money runs out and what that means for long‑term projects and early‑career researchers.

He also reports on cultural reform efforts inside the Australian Antarctic Division, detailing how leadership and governance have improved after damning reports of bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment, while noting ongoing concerns about trust, accountability and psychological safety. In other work he follows diplomatic tensions over climate language in Antarctic reporting, including accusations that the United States attempted to edit out references to climate change from a key document, situating the episode within wider debates about how environmental science is reflected in official narratives.

This strand of coverage shows Gibson as a reporter who treats Antarctic science as a system shaped by budgets, workplace culture and international politics, not just by field experiments.

Tasmanian environment, industry and risk

While Antarctica anchors his beat, Gibson also reports on environmental risk and infrastructure in Tasmania, often where industry and ecological concerns intersect.

He has covered the withdrawal of animal welfare certification from a major salmon farming company after footage showed workers putting live fish into bins with dead fish, grounding the story in concrete practices and regulatory responses rather than general debate about aquaculture. In a separate piece, he reports on the company’s confirmed use of the antibiotic oxytetracycline at a hatchery on the River Derwent, explaining why the treatment was used and how it fits into disease management in farmed salmon. His reporting on the Tungatinah Power Station fire combines environmental and energy angles, documenting the damage to a hydro power station, the impact on local customers and assurances from operators that the wider network remains secure.

In audio work on Tasmania’s gun laws, he approaches a public safety topic with the same detail‑driven style, breaking down firearm categories, theft statistics and policy responses, showing his comfort with data and regulatory frameworks. Across these pieces, Gibson’s work links environmental and industrial stories through specific incidents, technical detail and clear explanations of risk.

Gibson’s format is multi‑platform: he writes digital news and features, appears regularly on national and local audio programs, and produces longer explanatory pieces from the field. He has previously reported for the ABC in another bureau and worked for The Sydney Morning Herald, adding generalist experience to a specialised Antarctic remit. His work has twice been recognised with a Northern Territory Journalist of the Year award and he has held a Churchill Fellowship to study the use of virtual reality, augmented reality and 360‑degree video in international newsrooms, which underpins his interest in immersive storytelling from remote environments.

Taken together, his body of work reflects a reporter who treats environment stories as systems problems, connecting wildlife impacts, industrial practices, institutional culture and international politics in a consistent, fact‑rich way.