When he’s not monitoring seals from space, Prem Gill is laying down Grime tracks featuring the voices of seals and live-streaming his Antarctic expeditions to secondary school students in the UK. He hopes that his efforts will encourage others from ethnic minority or working-class backgrounds to consider a career in polar science. 
My PhD research, which is jointly funded by the Scott Polar Research Institute, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and World Wildlife Fund, uses satellite images to study Arctic seals. By monitoring the seals, we can gain a greater understanding of their habitat preferences and population trends. Through this analysis we can learn more about the health of the entire Arctic ecosystem. 

This is crucial because what happens in the polar regions, effects the whole world. The Arctic and Antarctica act like a thermostat for the planet. If you can monitor what's going on in these areas, you can get an idea of what's going on globally, which has huge implications for assessing the effects of climate change.

What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘polar scientist’? A sepia-tinted photograph of a Victorian explorer? A modern-day researcher in a brightly coloured padded jacket and sunglasses? You probably wouldn’t picture someone who looks like me. I’m first?-generation British-Indian working class.

In the 200 years since Antarctica was first discovered, there have been huge strides in terms of women in polar science. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. I’m working to change that.

I know from experience that a number of factors can stand in the way of young people like me from pursuing a career in something like polar science– this could be cultural expectations, financial pressures or quite simply not having role models that look like you.

The polar explorer using Grime to break the ice - Prem Gill

In 2018 Dr. Clare Eayrs shared her unconventional route to where she currently works in sea ice modeling at New York University Abu Dhabi with me via video chat. Here you can hear about her journey from growing up in Zimbabwe to going to university in the UK, pursuing jobs in the UAE and Italy, getting further education back in the UK, eventually finding herself back in the UAE. Clare's interests evolved over time from oceanography to the sea ice she studies today, and the route she took to get there is super interesting and refreshing.

connect with Clare at:
@coughlanclare on Twitter

check us out at: letsdosomethingbig.weebly.com, @ldsbig on instagram & @wepersistpod on Twitter
podcast cover art by Emma Henry emmahenryart.wixsite.com/emmasportfolio
music: www.purple-planet.com

we persist.

Dr. Clare Eayrs: sea ice and marine ecosystem modeller and field scientist

In 2018, we sat down with Jill Pelto to discuss her glacial science and art as well as how and why science and art need to intersect, especially when considering matters of climate change. Here we both dive into Jill's Master's research on the past sensitivity of the Antarctic ice sheet to warming as well as take a tour of some of her data art pieces. 

connect with Jill at:
@jillpelto on Instagram
@GlaciogenicArt on Twitter
http://www.jillpelto.com/
buy her art on etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GlaciogenicArt

check us out at: letsdosomethingbig.weebly.com, @ldsbig on instagram & @wepersistpod on Twitter

podcast cover art by Emma Henry emmahenryart.wixsite.com/emmasportfolio

music: www.purple-planet.com

Jill Pelto: climate change data artist and paleoglaciologist

we persist. is a podcast that shares the stories of excluded and underrepresented people in the earth, ocean and environmental sciences.

Follow @wepersistpod on Twitter for the most up-to-date information about podcast content and episode releases. 

Check out www.letsdosomethingbig.weebly.com for more environmentally-minded content.

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