Episodes

  • S5 Ep2: Midwinter nights and southern lights: Antarctic celebrations with Eloise Saville, David Reid, and Charlotte Rayner

    S5 Ep2: Midwinter nights and southern lights: Antarctic celebrations with Eloise Saville, David Reid, and Charlotte Rayner
    Jun 23 2025
    As the darkest day approaches in Antarctica, Winterers at three of the UK's research stations are preparing for Midwinter's Day celebrations. From the crafting of elaborate gifts, to now-traditional screenings of The Thing, they compare traditions and plans the teams have in the works.
    Joining this cross-Antarctic conference call are Carpenter Eloise Saville at Rothera Research Station, Electrical Technician David Reid at King Edward Point, and Station Leader Charlotte Rayner at Bird Island. From local penguin and seal sightings, to Eloise's new and unexpected passion for the gym, this chat is a memorable insight into life across three different stations at Antarctic Midwinter.
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    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.
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    27 mins
  • S5 Ep1: Rothera at 50 - with Rod Arnold, Alysa Fisher, Matt Hughes and Aurelia Reichardt

    S5 Ep1: Rothera at 50 - with Rod Arnold, Alysa Fisher, Matt Hughes and Aurelia Reichardt
    Jun 8 2025
    As the UK's largest Antarctic base, Rothera Research Station, celebrates its 50th birthday, host Nadia Frontier assembles a portrait of Rothera past and present. This episode features four fascinating perspectives on heritage, community and the importance of change.
    Alysa Fisher offers an archivist's account of the station's early years - from the wartime beginnings of the UK's Antarctic presence, to the highly popular dogs who used to live at the station, as well as what bits of history can be found embedded into modern station life.
    Outgoing Head of the BAS Air Unit, Rod Arnold, talks about how the people and the place have evolved across his 26 years of service; current Tower Supervisor Matt Hughes chats about the aircraft (and whales) he's seen from the new Operations Tower; and Station Leader Aurelia Reichardt talks science operations, leadership, and what it takes to keep a community going in this frozen wilderness.
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    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 Matt Hughes.
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    43 mins
  • S4 Ep12: Travelling in the Tractor Train Traverse, with Nick Withey and Rory Fleet

    S4 Ep12: Travelling in the Tractor Train Traverse, with Nick Withey and Rory Fleet
    Apr 21 2025
    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.
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    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.
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    22 mins
  • S4 Ep11: Doctors of Antarctica, with Dr Nisha Mistry and Dr Rebecca Boys

    S4 Ep11: Doctors of Antarctica, with Dr Nisha Mistry and Dr Rebecca Boys
    Apr 7 2025
    For medics dreaming of an adventure, there's nothing quite like being deployed for a season to Antarctica. The role of doctor on an Antarctic research station or research ship is a huge responsibility - in an emergency, external help could be days or weeks away.
    In this episode, Nadia speaks to Dr Nisha Mistry, who is currently working as the doctor on the polar ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, and Dr Rebecca Boys, was one of the doctors at Rothera Research Station in 2022. They talk about what it takes to prepare for deployment, learning to tackle dentistry for the first time, and the unique and trusted role that doctors have looking after communities in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.
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    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.
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    37 mins
  • S4 Ep10: Moss, mites, bacteria and algae: looking for the smallest life in Antarctica

    S4 Ep10: Moss, mites, bacteria and algae: looking for the smallest life in Antarctica
    Mar 24 2025
    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.
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    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.
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    43 mins
  • S4: Women at the poles - with Jane Francis, Jo Johnson, Katy Rumm, Vicky Auld, Laura Taylor, and Kat Turner

    S4: Women at the poles - with Jane Francis, Jo Johnson, Katy Rumm, Vicky Auld, Laura Taylor, and Kat Turner
    Mar 8 2025
    In this special International Women’s Day episode, host Nadia Frontier takes a look back at some of her most memorable conversations with women at the British Antarctic Survey. This episode celebrates the incredible women pushing boundaries, breaking stereotypes, and shaping the future of science in one of the world’s most extreme environments.
    Professor Dame Jane Francis reflects on her remarkable journey from early fieldwork in Antarctica to becoming the Director of BAS. Geologist Dr Jo Johnson shares her experiences working in some of the most remote and challenging places on Earth, all while balancing the demands of family life. Chef Katy Rumm talks about her adventurous leap from fine dining to cooking in Antarctica’s remote kitchens, turning limited ingredients into incredible meals. Pilot Vicky Auld opens up about her unexpected path to flying the BAS Twin Otters and the power of seizing opportunities when they come your way. Finally, Nadia revisits her conversation with young researchers Laura Taylor and Kat Turner, who are making their mark on the BIOPOLE cruise, helping to advance climate science in the Southern Ocean.
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    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.
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    31 mins
  • S4 Ep9: A carnival of polar animals, with Katie Wells

    S4 Ep9: A carnival of polar animals, with Katie Wells
    Mar 3 2025
    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.
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    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.
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    25 mins
  • S4 Ep8: Drilling into the ice rift - with the RiPIce expedition to the Larsen C Ice Shelf

    S4 Ep8: Drilling into the ice rift - with the RiPIce expedition to the Larsen C Ice Shelf
    Feb 17 2025
    Every iceberg starts life attached to an ice shelf - until a crack travels deep through the ice and it breaks away. Predicting the way ice shelves will crack is still a major uncertainty in climate models. Cue an epic fieldwork project to the Larsen C Ice Shelf - featuring 'suture ice', hot water drilling, and some clever use of fibre optic cables.
    What's it like to camp out in the middle of the icy wilderness? How do you deal with dietary requirements when you're eating field rations? What's it like to abseil into an ice shelf? When does the toilet tent start presenting logistical problems? And what, exactly, is a drilling 'blubber'?
    Nadia Frontier and Matt Hughes chat to the RiPIce team (Rift Propagation for Ice Sheet Models) about their fieldwork - Katie Miles from Aberystwyth University, Sarah Thompson from University of Tasmania representing the Australian Antarctic Programme, and Adrian Luckman from Swansea University.
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    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. Photography by Sam Hunt.
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    25 mins