Tuesday, October 04, 2022

'The most magical place': 4 women selected to run Antarctica's 'Penguin Post Office'

Natalie Neysa Alund
USA TODAY


Four women have been selected to run the world's most remote post office – a "magical" site called Port Lockroy in Antarctica.

An added perk? They get paid to count penguins.

Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone beat out 6,000 applicants to become the team responsible for managing Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, west of the Antarctic Peninsula, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) spokeswoman Emma Dennis told USA TODAY Tuesday.

At the port, affectionately known as the Penguin Post Office, the group will work from November to March 2023 – Antarctica's summer months – when temperatures can reach a brisk 50 degrees, but often are freezing when the wind chill is factored in.




The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, a charity that manages bases that educate visitors and help conservation efforts on the seventh continent, advertised the job postings and, in the end, selected the four as its hires.

A British Antarctic territory, Post Lockroy's "Base A" was created in 1944 and operated as a British research station.

'Sorry,' not sorry? Denmark's queen strips four grandchildren of their royal titles

USPS million dollar fraud case:US Postal Service workers arrested in $1.3 million fraud, identity theft scheme in NJ, NY

No running water, internet or flushing toilets

The newly selected team will travel 9,000 miles from the United Kingdom to reopen the bay for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, UKAHT released in a statement.

They will spend five months living in close quarters without a flushing toilet and limited communication to the world.

The initial job posting described living conditions as "basic but comfortable," with limited power, no running water or internet access.

If they want to take a shower or use a flushing toilet, according to the post, the workers have to hope a visiting ship will let them use one.

The women will have company, too: They will be joined for several months by Vicky Inglis, the general assistant and wildlife monitor, UKAHT said.



According to a statement from UKAHT, Hilton will work as a wildlife monitor and will be in charge of counting the penguin population and watching new hatchlings and nests.

Corbett, who will run a gift shop at the site, will leave behind her husband for the trip.

"Who wouldn't want to spend five months working on an island filled with penguins in one of the most remote places on the planet?" Corbett, 31, said in the statement. "I’ll be leaving behind my husband, George, who I only married in June so I’m treating this like my solo honeymoon."

Ballantyne will handle about 80,000 cards sent annually from the post office to nearly 100 countries across the globe, according to AKAHT.

Bruzzone, a scientist, will manage the team and have supervision over ships coming and going. She called the opportunity is a "lifelong dream".

While there, the group has to count penguins and other wildlife for the British Antarctic Survey, and a report is due by the end of employment.

As daunting as the job may seem, Lauren Elliott, a postmaster who worked there from 2019 to 2020, called it "the most magical place in the world," even if it meant cleaning up "lots of penguin poo."

"Pack up your bags and go," Elliot said. "Our team still talks today, and you'll make friends for life."

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

4 Women Will Staff U.K. Base in Antarctica

They emerged from an applicant pool of thousands to run the world’s most southerly post office, monitor penguins and manage the wild landscape on Goudier Island.


Port Lockroy base on Goudier Island is managed by the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust. Assignment there is not for the faint hearted
.Credit...Dietmar Denger/Laif, via Redux


By Saskia Solomon
Oct. 4, 2022

There is no running water, or even a flushing toilet, on Goudier Island in Antarctica. But there is a post office.

When the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust advertised in April the opportunity to spend five months working at this remote post office and filling three other paid positions at its Port Lockroy base, over 4,000 people applied — more than double the response of previous years.

Out of that pool, open to anyone with the right to work in the U.K., four women were selected to manage the historic site from November until March. All will soon leave the comfort of their homes to act as caretakers of a wild, unpredictable landscape, fulfilling the roles of base leader, postmaster, wildlife monitor and shop manager. And all of them are expected to lend a hand in greeting visitors, and monitoring the 1,500 Gentoo penguins native to the island.

“It’s definitely been a long-term dream,” said Lucy Bruzzone of living in Antarctica. Ms. Bruzzone, 40, of London, will serve as base leader thanks to her background as program director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and her experience in field work.

“I’ve always been interested in the natural world, and have dedicated my career to preserving the environment and the places in which we live and work,” Ms. Bruzzone added. It was a field trip to the Arctic, in 2008, that whetted her appetite for extreme experiences, she said.

Ms. Bruzzone said she applied for the role almost on a whim. “I was really keen to follow in the footsteps of explorers, but also think about how I can support the science, the great work that happens on the continent, as well as experience the ice and the snow and the wonders that this environment has,” she said.


Clockwise from top left: Natalie Corbett, Lucy Bruzzone, Clare Ballantyne and Mairi Hilton will staff the Port Lockroy from November until March.

While it has no permanent residents, the island — which has a surface area the size of a soccer field — hosted some 18,000 visitors annually before the pandemic, according to the trust.

Set to staff the island’s only gift shop is Natalie Corbett, a small-business owner who married in June. She jokingly referred to her upcoming stint in Antarctica as a kind of “solo honeymoon.”

Ms. Corbett, 31, of Hampshire, said she read about the position in a newspaper, and felt the opportunity was too good to pass up. “Everyone who knows me isn’t surprised I’m doing this,” she said.

The assignment is not for the faint hearted. Showers are taken on visiting ships; the toilet is a bucket. The days are long, with few distractions. Accommodation is in the form of bunk beds. Team members will spend Christmas at the base, far from their families.

With no wifi, and with limited internet access, letter writing, as well as the occasional blog post, will be the primary methods of communicating with friends and loved ones at home.

Managing the world’s most southerly post office will be Clare Ballantyne, 23, of Lincolnshire. Over the five months, she will oversee the organization of as many as 70,000 letters, and send them to over 100 countries.

But it’s the promise of the expansive nature that most appeals to Ms. Ballantyne, an Oxford University graduate who completed a master’s degree in earth sciences this year.

“I’m most looking forward to stepping onto Goudier Island and taking in the cacophony and pungent smell of the penguins, the backdrop of the glaciers and Fief Mountains — and being able to call it home for the next few months!” Ms. Ballantyne said in a statement.

Recruitment for the remote post has been a yearly tradition since 2006, when the trust took control of the island from the British Antarctic Survey, but it was paused during the pandemic.

Roughly 1,500 Gentoo penguins live on the island.
Credit...Jonas Beyer/Solent News, via Shutterstock


It will be Ms. Bruzzone’s job to manage the team, coordinate ship visits to the island and work with expedition leaders. Having been to the region before, she said she is confident. “I got to know more about Antarctica through one of my early jobs when I was very much involved in the expeditions world.”

Mairi Hilton, 30, who has a Ph.D in conservation biology, will be wildlife monitor, which largely means taking charge of the penguin head count, and staying alert for new hatchlings and nests.

“I have no idea what to expect when we get there,” Ms. Hilton, of Bo’ness, Scotland, said in a statement issued by the trust. “How cold it will be, will we have to dig our way through the snow to the post office? I’m a conservation biologist, so personally I can’t wait to see the penguins and other wildlife like seabirds and whales!”

The chosen four went through a three-stage selection process, said Camilla Nichol, chief executive of the trust.

“It’s an application form, then a Zoom interview,” Ms. Nichol said. “When we get down to the final 12 we bring them together in person, as a group, for a day of activities, tests, presentations, an in-person interview, to really get to understand who these people are and how they respond in different situations.”

That only women made the team was not a goal, Ms. Nichol said. The trust was looking for the right match for each role. Given the harshness of the environment, working in subzero temperatures and faced with an all-encompassing sense of isolation, group dynamic and mental preparedness are everything.

The four women will undertake intensive training in Cambridge in a couple of weeks’ time, “to prepare for any kind of eventuality when we’re there,” said Ms. Corbett.

As is natural for any big move, there are nerves. “When they offered it to me I was like, ‘Oh God, I’ve actually got to go now — was this a really stupid idea?’” Ms. Corbett said. “But the more we learn about Antarctica, and the work that we’ll be doing for the trust, the more exciting it becomes. So I’m not too nervous anymore. I’m excited.”

No comments:

Post a Comment