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Do you think it would be possible for me to make an application to work at a research station? Surely they need to do some important experiments to see how col

Do you think it would be possible for me to make an application to work at a research station? Surely they need to do some important experiments to see how cold affects the performance of a software developer, when it comes to typing and bug levels. :)

kaybe 8y ago
Well, see if your country has a research station, go to their homepage and check their openings. If you know how to fix electronics maybe there is a possibility.
walrus01 8y ago
The australians have their own recruiting website: https://jobs.antarctica.gov.au/ https://jobs.antarctica.gov.au/ The US government does a great deal of its hiring through Lockheed Martin, which took over from Raytheon Polar Services in 2012. https://www.usap.gov/news/contenthandler.cfm?id=2603 https://www.usap.gov/news/contenthandler.cfm?id=2603
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
noir_lord 8y ago
Never say never. I know a developer through the local meetup who has done a couple of tours for British Antarctic Survey, he's mostly a dev but he's experience with electronics and some other stuff so he can cover a lot of ground.
- clarkema 8y ago
  Either this is me, or there are multiple ex-FIDs with the same background hanging around meetups in the north of the UK ;) To the GP: I started off as a sysadmin / dev many years ago, but always wanted to work in unusual places like Antarctica. Trouble was I couldn't see how I could get there or what use they might have for me. Turns out, of course, that the bases also need all of the logistics and support services that any modern office needs. I spent a while following blogs of the IT / radio support guys who were working down South and eventually realised that I could do everything that was involved in their jobs. I applied and got in, and have since been to Antarctica three times. I got to see and do some _incredible_ things down there and meet some awesome people. It can be done.
  - saganus 8y ago
    What kind of interesting things are there to do? The question sounds probably a bit stupid, but if safety regulations prevent you from exploring much, I would imagine that mostly picture taking is the interesting part. Aside from meeting people, what are other kinds of things you can do there?
    - clarkema 8y ago
      Different countries have different approaches to outdoor activities and trips; I hear some are particularly keen on 'safety' regulations meaning you can't do much at all. Fortunately the British Antarctic Survey strikes a more sensible balance. Some of the things I got up to (bear in mind I had a primarily office-based job with long hours -- I spent most of my summer time in a radio tower, but did manage to get out and play sometimes.) - Off-piste skiing and boarding on small slopes near the base - Nordic skiing around the base perimeter - Kite skiing - Abseiling into and exploring crevasses and bergschrunds [a crack where a glacier joins a mountain] - Learned to cox RIBs and visit small floating bergs and local islands - Got to fly in a light aircraft a few times on the way out to field sites. Actual hands-on-the-controls flying on a Twin Otter -- essentially acting as a human autopilot under the supervision of the real pilot. Awesome fun, but turned out to be rather expensive in the long run, since it got me into flying -- I now have a private pilot's license of my own. - Flew into the field to install a remote weather station somewhere where quite literally no human has ever set foot before. - Spent a few weeks in the field at Fossil Bluff [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Bluff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Bluff] which is an incredible experience in its own right. You're living in a small cottage from the 60s with one other person, approx. a 1 hour 40 minute flight away from any other humans. The planes bring supplies when they visit; otherwise you can spend your days taking weather observations, baking bread, and enjoying the scenery. - Spent 6 - 7 weeks on a ship wandering the southern ocean. Upgraded from the RIB and learned how to helm the ship through ice. - Visited some of the sub-Antarctic islands from the ship including Deception (extinct volcano with a old British base), South Georgia, and Signy (both have current British bases) I also went on a couple of week-long Winter trips, which involved driving a skidoo away from base into the interior of the island and setting up a camp, from which we did things like skiing tours, visiting old bases, crevassing, climbing, etc. As well as outdoor activities, there's also a lot to learn on base as well if you're interested -- most of which comes from the fact that the bases are small and there are none of the outside services we take for granted in the rest of the world. I can now bake bread; not kill people in a commercial kitchen; repair skidoos; use firefighters' breathing apparatus; make curtains; build my own office furniture (I wanted a monitor stand, and Amazon didn't ship.) etc. etc. If that's not enough, for those on the coast there's plenty of wildlife to be seen. I'd regularly see different types of whales from my office window, and there are penguins and seals all around the base I wintered at. I also got to visit an Emperor penguin colony a few times. Others got really into music, photography, art, or woodwork. So... yeah. There's plenty to do if you're willing to get involved. I have _no_ idea how people say they'd be bored down there.
lenticular 8y ago
There's a big IT department at McMurdo station. There's a ton of infrastructure, after all. It's essentially a small town. The money is good down there for support workers, and your sole significant living expense will be alcohol. Sure hope you don't mind sleeping three to a room though! A downside for working at McMurdo is that your only day off is Sunday, and the hours are long. Due to safety restrictions, there are very few outdoor opportunities. There's only a few relatively short hikes near town that are allowed. Fortunately, there's plenty of social opportunities (three bars) and a lot of culture. The people down there self-select to be rather interesting. I've only been there for a few weeks at a time before going out into the field, but I enjoyed it. I don't know about a full season, though. As support staff, you would be hired for an entire summer. There's 200-300 people who overwinter as well (compared to ~1000 in the summer). But, for God's sake, do not do that. You will lose your mind.
- walrus01 8y ago
  The money is good, but not great. Formerly it was possible for people to claim up to the first $85,000 USD of their income tax free, as long as they remained outside of the US at least 330 days in a tax year (part of the time spent in Antarctica, and part of the time anywhere else that was not the US). Now that exemption apparently no longer applies and the US IRS is taxing employees of Lockheed Martin, or direct NSF employees, as if they were domestic jobs in the US. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...
cozzyd 8y ago
I recommend becoming a physicist, much easier to go to Antarctica that way :)

kaybe 8y ago

Well, see if your country has a research station, go to their homepage and check their openings. If you know how to fix electronics maybe there is a possibility.

walrus01 8y ago

The australians have their own recruiting website: https://jobs.antarctica.gov.au/ https://jobs.antarctica.gov.au/ The US government does a great deal of its hiring through Lockheed Martin, which took over from Raytheon Polar Services in 2012. https://www.usap.gov/news/contenthandler.cfm?id=2603 https://www.usap.gov/news/contenthandler.cfm?id=2603

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

noir_lord 8y ago

Never say never. I know a developer through the local meetup who has done a couple of tours for British Antarctic Survey, he's mostly a dev but he's experience with electronics and some other stuff so he can cover a lot of ground.

clarkema 8y ago
Either this is me, or there are multiple ex-FIDs with the same background hanging around meetups in the north of the UK ;) To the GP: I started off as a sysadmin / dev many years ago, but always wanted to work in unusual places like Antarctica. Trouble was I couldn't see how I could get there or what use they might have for me. Turns out, of course, that the bases also need all of the logistics and support services that any modern office needs. I spent a while following blogs of the IT / radio support guys who were working down South and eventually realised that I could do everything that was involved in their jobs. I applied and got in, and have since been to Antarctica three times. I got to see and do some _incredible_ things down there and meet some awesome people. It can be done.
- saganus 8y ago
  What kind of interesting things are there to do? The question sounds probably a bit stupid, but if safety regulations prevent you from exploring much, I would imagine that mostly picture taking is the interesting part. Aside from meeting people, what are other kinds of things you can do there?
  - clarkema 8y ago
    Different countries have different approaches to outdoor activities and trips; I hear some are particularly keen on 'safety' regulations meaning you can't do much at all. Fortunately the British Antarctic Survey strikes a more sensible balance. Some of the things I got up to (bear in mind I had a primarily office-based job with long hours -- I spent most of my summer time in a radio tower, but did manage to get out and play sometimes.) - Off-piste skiing and boarding on small slopes near the base - Nordic skiing around the base perimeter - Kite skiing - Abseiling into and exploring crevasses and bergschrunds [a crack where a glacier joins a mountain] - Learned to cox RIBs and visit small floating bergs and local islands - Got to fly in a light aircraft a few times on the way out to field sites. Actual hands-on-the-controls flying on a Twin Otter -- essentially acting as a human autopilot under the supervision of the real pilot. Awesome fun, but turned out to be rather expensive in the long run, since it got me into flying -- I now have a private pilot's license of my own. - Flew into the field to install a remote weather station somewhere where quite literally no human has ever set foot before. - Spent a few weeks in the field at Fossil Bluff [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Bluff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Bluff] which is an incredible experience in its own right. You're living in a small cottage from the 60s with one other person, approx. a 1 hour 40 minute flight away from any other humans. The planes bring supplies when they visit; otherwise you can spend your days taking weather observations, baking bread, and enjoying the scenery. - Spent 6 - 7 weeks on a ship wandering the southern ocean. Upgraded from the RIB and learned how to helm the ship through ice. - Visited some of the sub-Antarctic islands from the ship including Deception (extinct volcano with a old British base), South Georgia, and Signy (both have current British bases) I also went on a couple of week-long Winter trips, which involved driving a skidoo away from base into the interior of the island and setting up a camp, from which we did things like skiing tours, visiting old bases, crevassing, climbing, etc. As well as outdoor activities, there's also a lot to learn on base as well if you're interested -- most of which comes from the fact that the bases are small and there are none of the outside services we take for granted in the rest of the world. I can now bake bread; not kill people in a commercial kitchen; repair skidoos; use firefighters' breathing apparatus; make curtains; build my own office furniture (I wanted a monitor stand, and Amazon didn't ship.) etc. etc. If that's not enough, for those on the coast there's plenty of wildlife to be seen. I'd regularly see different types of whales from my office window, and there are penguins and seals all around the base I wintered at. I also got to visit an Emperor penguin colony a few times. Others got really into music, photography, art, or woodwork. So... yeah. There's plenty to do if you're willing to get involved. I have _no_ idea how people say they'd be bored down there.

lenticular 8y ago

There's a big IT department at McMurdo station. There's a ton of infrastructure, after all. It's essentially a small town. The money is good down there for support workers, and your sole significant living expense will be alcohol. Sure hope you don't mind sleeping three to a room though! A downside for working at McMurdo is that your only day off is Sunday, and the hours are long. Due to safety restrictions, there are very few outdoor opportunities. There's only a few relatively short hikes near town that are allowed. Fortunately, there's plenty of social opportunities (three bars) and a lot of culture. The people down there self-select to be rather interesting. I've only been there for a few weeks at a time before going out into the field, but I enjoyed it. I don't know about a full season, though. As support staff, you would be hired for an entire summer. There's 200-300 people who overwinter as well (compared to ~1000 in the summer). But, for God's sake, do not do that. You will lose your mind.

walrus01 8y ago
The money is good, but not great. Formerly it was possible for people to claim up to the first $85,000 USD of their income tax free, as long as they remained outside of the US at least 330 days in a tax year (part of the time spent in Antarctica, and part of the time anywhere else that was not the US). Now that exemption apparently no longer applies and the US IRS is taxing employees of Lockheed Martin, or direct NSF employees, as if they were domestic jobs in the US. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...

cozzyd 8y ago

I recommend becoming a physicist, much easier to go to Antarctica that way :)