I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Living as a polar scientist tough yet enjoyable
Biologist Kim Ji-hee, first from left, and other South Korean polar scientists explore Antarctica to search for candidate locations for the country's second research station there in this February 2010 file photo. Their expedition led to the establishment of the Jang Bogo Research Station in 2014. / Courtesy of KOPRI
By Kang Hyun-kyung
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Polar scientist Kim Ji-hee spends two to three months annually on Antarctica, known among other things for its significant penguin population, depending on her research schedule.
She said that watching penguins in Antarctica is one of the joys of being a polar scientist. Although the Jang Bogo Research Station on mainland Antarctica has no habitat for penguins, they can be spotted there because Emperor and Adelie penguins go there to molt. Around the King Sejong Research Station on Barton Peninsula, King George Island is a place where penguins tend to congregate, making it a better place for penguin watching.
Polar scientists conduct their research missions against severe weather conditions in a desolate environment.
Thus, Kim noted, overall working conditions are tough. She said one of the tough challenges she faces during her annual summertime field research is that she sometimes has to repress her “basic human needs.”
Kim said she tries to drink water as little as possible when and if she performs research on plants and biodiversity in the areas far away from the Jang Bogo Research Station in the mainland Antarctica. “It has everything in there from restrooms to a kitchen. Even internet access is available at the research station. But in case I leave for a field trip in a location far from the station, there are no restrooms,” she said.
She said she doesn't want to waste her time going back and forth for the bathroom, so she chooses to skip drinking water.
“I like coffee a lot. But when I go to Antarctica, I never drink it (because of its diuretic effect),” she said.
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty has a rule for disposal of human waste. Scientists or other visitors are encouraged not to dispose of human excrement or other waste particularly in the area near fresh water or habitats for plants. There are various bacteria in human feces which could distort the region's ecosystem if not properly managed.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research strengthened the rule on disposal of waste and encouraged researchers to use bags or containers to carry human waste and to take it back to the research stations for disposal.
Such regulations were introduced because the consequence of scientific activities, such as human waste, could harm the Antarctic environment. In Antarctica, 65 research stations operating during summer and 30 during wintertime.
Repressing basic human needs takes a toll on polar scientists. Kim said she and fellow scientists found their faces swell. Seeing them, a doctor from South Korea's icebreaker ship Araon advised them to drink more water.
Kim said sometimes she and fellow scientists wash their faces with snow or wet tissue to save time when they are researching plants away from the research station.
Because of extreme weather conditions on Antarctica, polar scientists are susceptible to hypothermia, even though they perform research during summer.
In the western parts of Antarctica such as Cape Bucks, the “white night” continues during summertime. The midnight sun encourages Polar scientists to set their time based on their biological clocks. Kim found herself adaptable to the new daily routine in Antarctica but some of her fellow scientists struggle. To help them sleep, doctors give them melatonin injections.
As a female polar scientist, Kim said she had a hard time balancing work and family in the beginning of her career when she first embarked on a field trip to King George Island in 2002. At that time, her son was a two-year old.
Kim said leaving her son behind for the research trips to Antarctica every year was a tough decision. She felt torn. It was her mother-in-law who convinced her to go and to keep pursuing her dream as a biologist.
“She made me feel relieved by saying she would take care of my young son during my absence from home, advising me not to give up my career for family and to live my life as a professional scientist,” she said.