Antarctica has become a base for collecting meteorological data
and helping us to understand our climate. But what is it like to
work there? Future Morph interviewed Tamsin, an
Antarctic meteorologist, to find out
What does your typical day involve?
I usually have to start pretty early, 7am with my first weather
observation. Then I grab some breakfast and head out to launch a
weather balloon. Later in the day I have more weather observations
to complete, snow samples to collect, instruments to fix or perhaps
field work which involves visiting remote sites where we have
installed automatic weather stations. I love the day to day
variation in my job.
What attracted you to this job?
The unknown mainly. I wanted an adventure. Also, I'm addicted to
snowboarding and have always loved all things to do with snow and
ice. I also find the science fascinating and like the idea of
contributing to something I consider worthwhile, but if I'm being
totally honest, that was probably a secondary consideration after
the lifestyle!
What gives you the most job satisfaction?
Making things happen that wouldn't have happened otherwise. I
find it really satisfying when I can put in a little extra effort
and make a project become a reality. I also really enjoy
communicating science by visiting schools and just by talking to
people about what I do.
Have there been any embarrassing moments?
Yes, very many, not sure how many of them I can write about here
though! When you live in close confines with a group of people for
a long time you get to the stage where you no longer really get
embarrassed.
I used to find going to the toilet whilst tied to another person
with a rope and with nowhere to hide a bit embarrassing but now I
just get on with it. Once, when out camping, I had to go outside to
have a pee in a really bad blizzard. Even though it was only
exposed for less than a minute, I managed to freeze my bum,
literally! I got frostnip, which is the stage before frostbite.
That was pretty embarrasssing as I had to bare my bum in the tent -
it had turned white! It was really painful as it thawed out, I
won't be doing that again in a hurry!
This interview was provided by Future Morph, the internet's best resource
for science, technology, engineering and maths careers. To read the
full interview, visit the Future Morph website.