Association of Polar Early Career Scientists - 4. Antarctica Day Webinar - Work and life at Antarctic Research Stations

Have you been wondering or curious about what it is like to live at the South Pole, walk in a "town" called McMurdo, how Scott Base looks like from the inside, what people do at ZhongShan Station, why one overwinters at King Sejong Station and about many other stations and deep field camps around Antarctica? We bet you have! So, read on.

In three different sessions of this year's Antarctica Day Webinar series, researchers and staff members who worked or are currently working in Antarctica shared their first-hand experiences, personal stories, excitements and challenges they faced in and around Antarctic research stations with us. We were also thrilled to have some speakers speaking live from McMurdo (the US), Davis Station (Australia) and other stations! A Q/A session was held at the end of each of the webinars.

See the recordings below and get an impression of what life at research stations on the frozen continent looks like.

While planning this webinar series, substantial assistance was received from the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and the COMNAP Member national Antarctic programs and others.

Antarctica Day Webinar 1: 09:00 - 10:30 GMT
Introduction: Dr. Andrea Colombo, Engagement, Information and Project Manager, Deputy Director of the Secretariat, COMNAP

Station/ Speakers:
- Scott Base (New Zealand), Ayana Piper-Healion, Antarctica NZ Employee
- ZhongShan Station (China), Peng Peng, State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth's Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Casey Station and Mawson Station (Australia), Helen Achurch, Environmental Officer at Davis station
Antarctica Day Webinar 2: 14:00 - 15:30 GMT
- Zhongshan, Taishan, Kunlun, Yellow River Stations (China), Xinmiao Jin, Mechanical Engineer, Polar Research Institute of China
- Weddell Sea Deep field camp, Wai Yin Cheung, Glaciology PhD student, Polar Research & Expedition Consultant, PoSSUM scientist-astronaut candidate
- Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station (USA), Wayne White, Former South Pole Winter Site Manager at Leidos
- Profesor Julio Escudero Base (Chile), Dr. Marcelo Gonzalez, Scientist at The Chilean Antarctic Institute
- King Sejong Station at King George Island and Jang Bogo Station at Terra Nova Bay (Korea), Mr. Dongmin Jin, Head of Korea-New Zealand Antarctic Cooperation Center, Christchurch, NZ, former Director of the planning division of Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI).
- McMurdo Station (USA), Shackleton Glacier Camp, Ioannis Baziotis, Assistant Professor in Mineralogy-Petrology
Antarctica Day Webinar 3: 16:00 - 17:30 GMT
- The Turkish research base at Horseshoe Island (Turkey), Özgün Oktar, Deputy Director, Tubitak Mam Polar Research Institute
- Neumayer Station (Germany), Dr. Tim Heitland, Medical coordinator and overwintering team manager at Germany’s AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research), Medical Doctor & Lead for the COMNAP COVID-19 ad hoc Subcommittee
- Palmer Station (USA), Beth Conners, PhD Student Microbiology
- McMurdo Station (USA), Dr. Jennifer Wade, NSF Science Representative at McMurdo Station
- Johann Gregor Mendel Station on James Ross Island (The Czech Republic), Filip Hrbáček, Czech Antarctic Research Programme, Masaryk University
- Concordia Station (France/Italy), Giuditta Celli, University of Venice