Valeri Vasquez, an ERG doctoral student, has recently returned with the largest-ever delegation of 100 women from a month long expedition in Antarctica. Their journey to the frozen continent was part of an initiative to bring more women into STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medical fields), fighting climate change and building women empowerment.
“Women have been absent from Antarctic science and Antarctic decision-making for a long time, there’s been a delay as an artifact of the heroic era when men would come down and conquer the great white continent,” said Shaw, a conservation biologist at the University of Queensland. “I’m captivated by preserving Antarctica — it’s the last true wilderness on the planet. If we can’t protect that, what hope is there?”
Read the complete journey of Vasquez and her teammates here.