Between August 2008 and April 2018 I spent a number of years working on Signy Island (South Orkney Islands) and Bird Island (South Georgia) for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). I worked as a Zoological Field Assistant on the penguin, seal and albatross long-term monitoring programme. After a 5 year break, i'll be heading back down to Bird Island in Janary 2024 for another dose of penguin work.

This blog gives readers an insight into my day-to-day life in the Antarctic, from my first trip south in 2008 to the present day.

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Getting started

People checking this page in the hopes of exciting iceberg and penguin photos will have to wait patiently for a bit longer. But, progress is being made. I am now at least working for the people who will take me south. I left my previous job with the RSPB on Oronsay last week and have now moved down to Cambridge where i shall be living for a couple of months, getting trained up ready for the big adventure.
I shall be based in Cambridge from now until early November. During this time, i have various training courses to undertake, to prepare me for my time in antarctica; this ranges from dentistry, to satellite communications to analysing penguin vomit!
My first training began yesterday, when i was flown up to Aberdeen to learn all about the satellite communication system that provides us with telephone and email contact with the outside world. We got to play with big satellite dishes to locate satellites and learnt what to do if parts of the system fail. It was quite complicated to a biologist! But i got the general idea and it was very interesting. Today i returned to Cambridge to continue my packing.
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