Life, Science, and Penguins - Research in Antarctica

It was late November of last year when Amber, a masters student of Geosciences, sat in her quintessential cramped residence at the University of Edinburgh, sending off a few final emails to friends and family before setting off on a once-in-a-lifetime journey. She sat cross legged, sipped on tea (a recently acquired, UK inspired taste), and bounced her foot up and down in sheer nervousness and excitement, "Today is almost like Christmas, because I have been SO excited about it for SO long! "

Amber and I first crossed paths four years ago at UBC, dissecting a variety of invertebrate animals for a zoology lab. We would meet again 2 years later, under the guidance of our biological oceanography professor, studying the microscopic plants that both regulate many facets of marine life and have a profound impact on global climate. A year later, we founded UBC's inaugural Oceanography Society and co-facilitated a seminar series focusing on marine chemistry as it related to ancient ocean processes.

It was then that the seed of traveling to Antarctica was first planted. Over coffee and seemingly endless mornings (seemingly because they often ran into the early afternoon), we discussed life, the future, and collectively dreamt about living and working at the bottom of the world. Later that year she would be notified she had received the coveted Commonwealth Scholarship. This opportunity would take her to Edinburgh, and at last Antarctica.

Soon she would no longer just be talking and dreaming about penguins and endless fields of ice, because in four hours, she would leaving her tiny bedroom and be on her way to Punta Arenas, Chile via Heathrow, Madrid, and Santiago. A few days layover, a patch of the Chilean flag sown on her backpack, a skip across the Cape and she would reach her final destination: Rothera station on Adelaide Island, Britain's post at the bottom of the world.

"Seeing the continent appearing in the distance, rising up out of the ocean like an icy Atlantis was an amazing sight. However many pictures I've seen really don't convey an accurate sense of the vertical scale..." she writes to me in an email, "We all crowded to one side of the plane, faces plastered against the windows and cameras zooming and clicking away like the frantic finale of a symphony."

Adelaide Island has been the home of the Rothera station for over 30 years, housing 130 scientists and staff in the summer, and 22 in the winter. It is located on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, that precocious looking arm reaching up to South America's bounty of vegetation. Precious goods are measured on a different scale in the great white south, where fresh fruit and vegetables are highly sought after.

With envious tone, I asked Amber to describe what made her experience memorable. "The best memory I have is of the atmosphere...everyone is really dedicated to their subjects, and you sort of get caught up in the general level of enthusiasm." she writes, "Since it's such a small group we're always helping each other out and it really broadens your perspective in a very inspirational way. No slackers, no half-assing it. People are there doing what they love because they love to do it."

But the science didn't take the show, she explains, "Walking around the point was phenomenal, the scenery every changing. I could see how the sea-ice retreated and the icebergs all floated around with the currents. The air is so clear because it's clean and cold. The mountains, bays, and islands are really beautiful."

Amber, having arrived back in the UK, has now started the arduous task of analyzing all her data and eventually writing and submitting a thesis. However, she has not lost touch with Antartcica and plans on educating people about polar processes as a member of the IPY Youth Steering Committee.

She writes to me from a laboratory in France, where she is spending hours (nay, days) with a microscope identifying the numerous different species of microalgae she encountered, "[The IPY Youth Steering Committee] involves young-scientist networking, general outreach, and outreach aimed at elementary and high school students to raise awareness of IPY, polar issues, and research in this area."

As for the future, she plans on pursuing a PhD in paleoceanography, studying the ocean's role in regulating ancient climate, "The current global change issue is as complex as it is pressing, so we need to understand as much as possible about how the climate system works as soon as possible in order to understand how the world might be changing in the near future."

I've come to realize there are certain people who will do great things in this world, and I believe my dear friend Amber is one of them. Not because of her the world-travelling, or scholarship winning, but rather because of her passion for what she does. As she put, "No slackers, no half-assing it. People are there doing what they love because they love to do it."

I hope to maintain our friendship in the coming years and hopefully decades, both personally and professionally, and maybe she'll let me catch a ride with her the next time she makes it way down south.


LINKS
British Antarctic Survey
Rothera Station Webcam
IPY - Official Homepage
IPY - Youth Steering Committee