Iceworld

The 21st of June marks one of the most significant dates in the Antarctic calendar - Midwinter. It's the moment the darkness stops deepening and the light begins, slowly, to return. To mark the occasion, Nadia Frontier is joined by three people currently spending their winter down south: Josh, an electrician at Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula; Catherine, a zoological field assistant tracking leopard seals at the tiny four-person station of Bird Island; and Cami, a marine biologist at King Edward Point on South Georgia.Between them, they span three very different Antarctic experiences and share what it really feels like to live through a polar winter, how their stations are marking the occasion, and why Midwinter can mean even more than Christmas when you're this far from home. From secret gift-making and hedgehog halloumi to French political campaigns and kit bag escapology, this is a warm and joyful celebration of community, resilience and Antarctic life.

Meet the ice road truckers of Antarctica: the Tractor Train Traverse team, who drive supplies and fuel huge distances across the frozen wilderness to help scientists work in the deep field. With no garage in sight - and, in fact, nothing much else - this hardy and skilled team have to maintain the vehicles as they travel, living and working together to traverse the Antarctic interior.Nadia talks to Nick Withey, Traverse Vehicle Engineering Manager, and mechanic and first time traverser Rory Fleet - both recently back in the UK after a busy season in Antarctica. Nick and Rory talk about navigation, safety and scouting, fixing vehicles in the snow, and the weird experience of motion sickness in a whiteout. This long, slow road trip could be the closest experience you can get on Earth to traversing another planet.---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media.

From algae and moss, to mites and bacteria, Antarctica is teaming with life - a lot of it is just really small. Nadia chats to four Dutch researchers from the Gerritz Laboratory at Rothera Research Station, each looking for answers about Antarctica's smallest terrestrial and marine life.Mareike Bach talks about her fascinating search for sea ice algae, drilling into pancake ice from a cradle suspended from a ship. Dr Swan Sow maps microbial life in the Southern Ocean to understand how climate change impacts nutrient cycles. Dr Stef Bokhorst explores the relationship between Antarctic plants and invertebrates, and Seringe Huisman uses satellite imagery to map mosses and lichens.---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media. Cover photo by Stef Bokhorst.

Katie Wells' job is like walking into a nature documentary! As a marine biologist at King Edward Point Research Station on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, Katie's job is to monitor the abundant carnival of animals that call this island and the surrounding ocean home.Katie talks to Nadia about her experiences of the changing seasons and sights during the first year of her two-year deployment to South Georgia. From hikes across the island to monitor seabirds, to following the lives of fur seal pups outside her window, to counting hundreds of humpback whales at sea in a few days - this is a job for a real animal lover.---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media. Cover photo of Katie Wells by John Dickens.

Ever wondered what it’s like to do science on a ship travelling through Antarctica's Southern Ocean? In this episode, host Nadia Frontier is joined by early-career scientists Emily Rowlands, Laura Taylor, and Kat Turner, who are gearing up for the next BIOPOLE scientific mission on the RRS Sir David Attenborough. From getting used to life on board, to being put in charge of managing important ocean sampling, they chat about the excitement and challenges of working on polar science at sea. Together, Emily, Laura and Kat explain the significance of the BIOPOLE project - and the connections between Antarctica's ecosystems, nutrients, ice, and the major role that the ocean plays in absorbing carbon from Earth's atmosphere. Plus, Kat shares her experiences capturing sounds of the Antarctic for The Seventh Continent, a unique music project that brings an epic journey life.The Seventh Continent (the latest album from the Sounds of Space Project) is available on all major streaming platforms, and for free on Bandcamp: https://soundsofspaceproject.bandcamp.com/album/the-seventh-continent---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media. Cover photo of Kat Turner by Elliot Johnston.

Adapting to life after Antarctica can be a strange (and sometimes difficult) transition. Whether it's adjusting back to the daily hustle of home life after being in a remote community, or coming down from the emotional highs and lows of life in the wildest environment on Earth, returning to normal can be a challenge.In this episode, host Nadia Frontier speaks with Dr Bav Sasi, a former medic at Rothera Research Station, about his research into the psychological and emotional effects of returning from Antarctic deployments. Also joining the conversation are Station Leader Jerry Gillham, and Antarctic Postal Logistics founder Kirsten Shaw. Together, they share their personal experiences of moving between life on the frozen continent and the 'normal' world, plus their top tips for managing the transition - whether you’re returning from an extreme experience, or supporting someone who is.---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media.

Paul Whitelaw started dreaming of a job in Antarctica when a BAS marine biologist visited as a lecturer during his degree. Only a few years later, Nadia speaks to Paul while he is monitoring seabirds at Rothera Research Station in Antarctica as part of his PhD.From dodging dive-bombing skuas to tracking hatching egg numbers, Paul's work includes monitoring the health of the substantial seabird populations in Antarctica. With 10% of the world's population of skua in the same bay as Rothera, Paul is able to use the changing fate of the birds there as an indicator for the health of the marine ecosystem as a whole. Paul is joined in the interview by Aurelia Reichardt, Station Leader, who has also been involved in the long term monitoring of skua populations at Rothera.---Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media.Cover photo of Paul by Patrick Griffin.