by Pene Greet
Go South, young women, go south to the land of opportunity where adventure can be had for the asking, work is easy to come by, and the pay better than most. Mind you there can be some downsides; but there are in any job.
Each year the Australian Antarctic Division recruits scientists and engineers to participate in ANARE, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions. Advertisements appear in October or November. If you have moved from science or engineering into management why not consider the station leader positions? How many times have you seen the newspaper ads and thought, "That would be interesting!" Now is the time for action!
We have all seen or heard about the old Antarctic heroes: Mawson, Amundsen, Shackleton, Scott. Women have been participating in ANARE expeditions since 1969 although it wasn't until 1976 that Zoe Gardner wintered as a medical officer at Macquarie Island and in 1981 Louise Holliday was the first woman to winter on an Australian continental station. Now it is not unusual for women to be part of expeditions although they are most frequently found in science or medical positions.
What does Antarctica offer us as women in science and engineering?
Australia's Antarctic bases have extensive laboratory facilities for a range of disciplines including auroral and space physics, glaciology, meteorology, geology, terrestrial biology, and medicine. Antarctic bases provide an excellent working environment. With cooks, medical officers, and tradespeople attending to the physical needs of the station, you can concentrate on your work program. Saturday afternoon brings the base together for communal duties. With your work program under control, you can pause and look at the amazing wilderness which surrounds you or escape for some adventuring away from the base.
If you're working in oceanography or marine science the Aurora Australis is used for marine science cruises and scientists, computer programmers, and engineers are required for these voyages. Ship life is an entirely different experience to base life but offers equally spectacular vistas to work in. You'll get to see more of Antarctica in a shorter time.
What can you expect when you're in Antarctica? As a woman it is almost inevitable that you'll be in a minority. You'll need to be able to work with men. You'll need to be resourceful at times and you'll need to have personal motivation as you'll probably be working remotely from those who are running your program. This can be a challenge. Socially you are part of a small group. While in Antarctica you usually establish friendships with like-minded people - others prepared to meet challenges. You meet a cross-section of society you rarely find in Australia. Scientists, doctors, chefs, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, engineers, all must work together to keep the programs running.
There's no point in having an electronics engineer if when you turn the power on no electricity flows. There are all the fundamentals of our society present and you'll know every individual and what parts they play on the station.
What can you expect when you come back? Returning from Antarctica is not always easy. You may have to resign from your job to go and so when you return you could be looking for employment. The people you've shared your experiences with over the last few months or year will be scattering to all the corners of Australia; they've been your best friends, your only friends for some time.
Your old friends and family will have to work hard to learn from you the details of your experiences. They won't know how cold minus 10°C is or what difference a wind will make. But your life will never be the same. Working in Antarctica is an experience of a life-time. It's not an opportunity everyone will get. So why not consider it?
Pene Greet was educated in North Queensland, completed a degree in physics at the University of New England, and then a PhD in atmospheric physics at the University of Adelaide. She has had three summer trips and one winter trip to Antarctica and is now an ARC post-doctoral research fellow jointly sponsored by he Australian Antarctic Division and the University of Tasmania.
See also her article 'My Antarctic experience', pages 27-28, issue 36 of WISENET Journal.