S1 EP07 Bob Gilmore - From fuel guy in Antarctica's interior to polar Citizen Science trailblazer
Release Date: 05/28/2019
S2 EP09 Jerome Viard - Bon appétit: Tales from the French Pastry Chef that Helped Feed South Georgia's Rat Team
Antarctic Stories
Jerome Viard grew up in France and later moved to the UK where he has enjoyed a successful career as a chef, having been head pastry chef at some of the best hotels in Cambridge.
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S2 EP08 Dr Lesley Cadzow - The Unusual Adventures of a Ship-based Expedition Doctor
Antarctic Stories
Expedition Doctor Lesley Cadzow was born in Scotland and studied to be a general practitioner in her home country before moving across the world to Australia, where she eventually landed a position with Aurora Expeditions as an expedition doctor on a polar expedition vessel.
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S2 EP07 Five Reasons to Avoid Crowdsourcing your Trip To Antarctica (and what to do instead) with Heather Thorkelson
Antarctic Stories
With an overwhelming amount of information about travelling to Antarctica on the internet, it seems like an easy way to narrow down your options is to ask other people on the internet (in FB groups or Lonely Planet travel forums, etc) what they recommend based on their experience when travelling there.
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S2 EP06 Theo Crutchley-Mack - Being an Artist in Residence on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia
Antarctic Stories
Theo Crutchley-Mack is a contemporary British artist whose work appears globally in private and public collections.
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S2 EP05 Alexia Spencer - Growing Greens 650 miles from the North Pole
Antarctic Stories
Alexia Spencer is Chief Operating Officer running day-to-day operations of Polar Permaculture, founded by visionary chef Benjamin Vidmar. Based in Svalbard, their mission is to improve accessibility to fresh and nutritious food through sustainable and resilient systems.
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S2 EP04 Howard Whelan - Part 2 - Tales from three decades of polar expeditioning
Antarctic Stories
We are joined once again by expeditioner Howard Whelan for Part 2 of his life story from the polar regions. In this episode, we continue Howard’s winding polar journey, including his involvement in the award-winning film Happy Feet, using laser scanners from a “bubble helicopter” to map grounded icebergs and sea ice.
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S2 EP03 Howard Whelan - Part 1 - Tales from three decades of polar expeditioning
Antarctic Stories
Howard Whelan is a polar expedition treasure having worked in the industry for three decades. His story begins long before, working in the dangerous environs of the fishing industry in Alaska as a teen, eventually becoming a journalist who started up Australian Geographic & then becoming part of the team that made the first Australian ascent of Mount Everest. And this was all before he ever set foot in Antarctica. In today's episode, Part 1 of 2, we'll get a front-row seat for Howard's fascinating stories.
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S2 EP02 Crimes in Antarctica - The cold, cruel, and desperate happenings on earth's most remote continent
Antarctic Stories
This episode is a slight departure from our usual programming. Buckle up for a deep dive into a truly fascinating topic...Antarctic crime.
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S2 EP01 Caitlyn Webster - Exploring the icy underworld through the eyes of a polar expedition diver
Antarctic Stories
Southern California-based Caitlyn Webster is an “Undersea Specialist” who interprets the natural history of everything and anything under the sea. As an experienced dry suit diver, in this episode, she regales us with stories of coming eye to eye with a Leopard seal underwater and exploring kelp beds amongst diving guillemots at Alkefjellet in Svalbard, while emphasizing the importance of keeping calm, being present and trusting in your dive partner.
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S1 EP 14 Tami Harris + Dave Weisman - How to choose the right adventure once you've caught the 'polar bug'
Antarctic Stories
Today on AntArctic Stories we have Dave Weisman and Tami Harris. Since retiring in 2012/2013, Tami and Dave have been spending about 75% of their time travelling internationally.
info_outlineToday we bring you the story of Bob Gilmore, a former McMurdo base staff member and longtime polar expedition guide who supported both the on-the-ground research projects on the continent and then went on to spearhead polar citizen science programs on tourism expedition vessels.
In this episode, Bob tells his story of how he came to work in Antarctica to begin with in charge of fuel which allowed him the amazing opportunity of going deep into the continent and learn first hand about glacial science. He returned to the US after a few seasons to become a 7th-grade teacher, but the polar bug had bitten him hard and it was only a matter of time, a bit of luck, and the right person giving him the chance that brought him back to the Great White Continent as an expedition guide.
And while guiding and teaching guests about the things he was passionate about was great, Bob saw an opportunity to really leverage the regular tourist ship presence in Antarctica to directly support scientists in institutions back in North America by gathering data on their behalf, and thus, the Polar Citizen Science program was born.
Have a listen to his incredibly fascinating and engaging story, and leave us a review on iTunes, Stitcher, PocketCasts, or wherever you listen to episodes.
HIGHLIGHTS
3:17 - How Bob got a job in fuel management at McMurdo Station in Antarctica
4:45 - The role of fuel in the US Antarctic program (it's everything!)
5:30 - How his job allowed him to go out into the field, into the dry valleys and assist in ice core drilling projects, learning about polar science
6:35 - Bob goes back to the US to teach 7th grade
7:20 - Susan Adie gives Bob a break which allows him to get back to Antarctica, but this time on an expedition ship
9:15 - the genesis of the citizen science work that Bob spearheaded on expedition ships
11:05 - Bob proposes bringing science onto the ship that passengers can participate in and management says yes (PL - JM and Brandon)
11:30 - Bob starts cold calling scientists - old school! - to see who needs the data he would be able to collect
13:40 - Citizen Science in the polar regions is exploding in popularity
15:15 - Citizen Science doesn't just help scientists, it changes the travelers who are involved in collecting the data forever
16:30 - Bob tells us about his biggest challenges in developing the Citizen Science program in Antarctica
19:15 - The Arctic is changing even faster than the Antarctic and more resources are needed to help scientists get a better understanding of what's unfolding year over year
21:00 - What's next for Citizen Science?
24:00 - How individuals and organizations can learn more about getting involved in polar citizen science
LINKS
Polar Citizen Science Collective: http://www.polarcollective.org/
Polar Latitudes: https://polar-latitudes.com/
AntArctic Stories is brought to you by Polar Tracks Expeditions - your experts in small ship expedition cruises and unique adventures to the Arctic and Antarctica. We are polar guide owned and run, and we love sharing our insider knowledge to help you find your next polar adventure.
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