Members of the AntECC research group organized a field trip which set off to the Serra da Estrela massif on May 26-27th, in the framework of the course “Quaternary Environments”, under the coordination of Marc Oliva, Miguel Geraldes and Alexandre Trindade. Up to 28 students participated in the excursion to the highest mountain range in Portugal mainland (1,993 m asl), where the glacial and periglacial features in the massif left by the last glaciation were discussed. Several in loco analysis were made, as well as hands-on experiments, so that the students were taught how to apply in the field several methods commonly used for palaeoenvironmental purposes, such as: 
· The use of the Schmidt hammer as a relative dating technique 
· The close relationship between geomorphologic units and vegetation spatial patterns designed in Natura 2000 Habitat mapping 
· The interpretation of sedimentological sequences within the geomorphological context. 

Gonçalo Vieira has been at the Department of Geography of the University of Sheffield, UK from 15 to 18 May 2012 in the framework of Santander Research Mobility Grant. The objective has been to discuss possible collaborations with ANTECC in the framework of polar and mountain research. The visit was extremely useful and several potential fields for collaboration have been identified, with a prospect for joint project proposals and development of staff and student exchange schemes. Gonçalo presented a seminar at the masters course on polar and alpine change on "Antarctic Peninsula permafrost, periglacial environments, and climate change" on the 17 May. The visit was organized by Darrel Swift. 

On the 15th of May, Alexandre Trindade presented a talk about “Climate Change and Permafrost in the Antarctic Peninsula”.  The invitation came from the Program Eco-Escolas of the Torres Novas district, a program of the European Blue Flag Association. This program encourages work and activities about environmental education in schools. This year themes are water, waste, energy, biological agriculture, climate change and forest.
The lecture had the participation of over 200 students of several ages, and focused on climate change, especially in the Antarctic Peninsula, permafrost research and on the Portuguese Antarctic campaigns. The lecture lasted about 30 minutes and was followed by a 20 minute debate. 

Revealing the secrets of permafrost. Studying permafrost enables us to look not only into the past, but also into the future. Miguel Ángel de Pablo, Miguel Ramos, Gonçalo Vieira and Antonio Molina explain.

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