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Alex Gaffikin - solar guides

Alex Gaffikin

Where do you work?

I used to work for the British Antarctic Survey, in Cambridge, (www.antarctica.ac.uk) but now I'm training to be a science communicator, that is to share my excitement in science with others. I am a really lucky person. When I tell people that I've been down to the Antarctic, they think I'm crazy! But honestly, the Antarctic is a fantastic place and I loved working there.

Why did you go to the Antarctic?

I worked as a meteorologist, so my job was to record the weather, measure the ozone and monitor pollution.

The ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere is depleted over the Antarctic. This is thought to be caused by human activity, in particular the release of harmful CFC gases.

What else did you do in the Antarctic?

But that wasn't all I did. Oh no! I also got to drive the snowcat around, use the radios to talk to our nearest neighbours and to practise first aid. Sometimes we got a bit of a holiday - my favourite place was the Emporer penguin colony. In spring when the Sun rose for the first time in three months, we would visit the penguins and see the new-born chicks, tiny bundles of grey fur.

What is the Antarctic like?

Sometimes the Antarctic can be a scary place to live - there are huge cracks (crevasses) in the ice, it's dark for three months of the year and the temperature can drop to -50 degrees Celsius. But it's also the most phenomenal place, there are zillions of penguins and seals, and of course, the southern lights (aurora australis) which zig-zag green and pink across the sky.

Image of an aurora in the sky over Halley Base, Antarctica Here is an aurora in the sky over Halley Base.

Would you go back again?

I enjoyed it so much there that I want to go back again and again and I wish I could take you with me!