When scientists go to sea…

Last June I applied for a networking and training event with no expectations at all. Little did I know what a fantastic journey lay ahead of me and all the beautiful people I would get to meet. But let us start at the beginning…  In late 2023 two associations for Polar Early Career Scientist, UK Polar network and APECS Iceland, had the idea to organize a joint training and networking event to create new collaborations across countries and fields of research. 

They named this project Skillset and managed to get a spot for all of us aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough (SDA), which is the newest research vessel of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It has all the fancy equipment to make a scientist’s heart skip a beat, as well as, all the cozy interior to make everybody feel at home. Once we all went through sea survival training (crazy and fun) and filled in all the paperwork (soooo much paperwork) the actual journey could begin. 

On the 12th of October 2024 nine of us early career researchers boarded the SDA for a 10-day passage from Harwich, England to Madeira, Portugal. The first couple of days we spent getting to know each other and repeatedly getting lost aboard the ship (what a maze). We also received training on the equipment aboard and on various remote sensing instruments that float in the oceans and send back information via satellites. After some rough sea we all found our sea legs, and happily dove into our group projects. 

As we all came from different backgrounds, we learned from each other and combined our skill sets (pun intended) to put together a project with data collected along our way. It was so cool to see all these different people coming together and let their creativity run wild, which resulted in fantastic collaborative projects. However, doing fun science together was not the only place we came together. 

Living on a ship for 10 days also meant that we spent every free moment together. Luckily the SDA comes with an amazing kitchen staff that prepares yummy food 24/7, a cozy day room where one can chat and play games (including Mario Kart!), a gym with a sauna and an observation deck from which we could keep a lookout for some cool animals crossing our ways. Although the weather was a bit rough to begin with, we got rewarded with many sea bird sightings and even some dolphins and turtles (or maybe just some round blobs, who knows). 

In the end when we disembarked in Madeira on the 21st of October, we left the SDA with a heavy heart but with so many precious memories and many new friends. We already plan on a reunion and many of us are planning joint projects. So, the goal of Skillset to further collaborations between the UK and Iceland was a big success, because who better to do research with than your friends!