 While holding his professorship Auer launched expeditions to Tierra del Fuego in 1928–1929, and to Patagonia in 1937–1938.Following the end of World War II he relocated to Argentina in 1946, entering the service of the Argentine government as an advisor to the Juan Perón regime and the Central Bank, among other functions.During his years in Argentina, Auer continued his earlier studies on the natural history of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, while advising the Argentine government in matters related to land use and colonization of the country's southern frontier.