Two South African women will be among a group sailing to the Antarctic to do vital research into sustainability.

This group of women are experts in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) and aim to study the impacts of climate change in the fragile ecosystem of Antarctica, hoping to take home some valuable lessons about the feasibility of implementing sustainable practices worldwide.

So, who are the South Africans heading out on this excursion and what does such a trip entail? We’ll take a look throughout this article!

Who is going on the 2023 Antarctic trip?

The 2023 Antarctic trip consists of 188 women, including two South African ladies.

They are Gina Ziervogel and Nirvani Dhevcharran.

Gina Ziervogel is a professor at the University of Cape Town; she lectures in Environmental and Geographical Science. She’s been studying climate change for 20 years and currently focuses mostly on drought and water governance in South Africa (specifically Cape Town), for which she has co-written a book. She’s also worked on the National Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Framework and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Nirvani Dhevcharran is an experienced IT Executive and Non-Executive Director, working at The Foschini Group for the last four years, leading human resources, service desks and financial systems teams. She is also a Board Member of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and a Non-Executive Director for the Western Cape Blood Service. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science, she’s expertly positioned to analyse how technology can aid sustainable efforts both in Antarctica and the world.

What is Homeward Bound?

Both women are invited by Homeward Bound, a global leadership initiative that’s based in Australia and aims to propel women to some of the most important decision-making positions on the globe in their expeditions to Antarctica.

They focus on female empowerment, due to the fact that women are underrepresented in management and leadership roles throughout the world. In fact, while 60% of women around the world have graduated from university, less than 20% of them are in senior decision-making roles!

The Antarctic expeditions aim to not only complete vital research into the seventh continent’s experience with climate change (the polar regions experience climate change events first, so studying Antarctica is usually a good indicator of what the whole globe could be facing) but also empower women with leadership skills.

Homeward Bound history

Homeward Bound has already seen four cohorts travel to Antarctica and complete their research. The fifth and sixth cohorts (which Ziervogel and Dhevcharran are a part of) will travel at the same time, in November 2023, with the seventh and eighth cohorts leaving in the 2024/5 season.

While Homeward Bound aims to be a female-focused company that empowers women, there has been some controversy in its past. Eve Andrews mentioned that the company “[found] itself navigating treacherous waters” after the inaugural sailing, where there were “several instances of sexual harassment and bullying”.

The all-female research team aimed to avoid this behaviour, which can sadly be commonplace in the STEMM industries. The criticisms have demonstrated how deep-rooted this can be in the industries, but the fact that they’ve continued to go ahead with four more sailings, and another four scheduled hopefully suggests that this behaviour has been swiftly dealt with. Indeed, the 2018 article in Grist stated that “most of the women I spoke to have participated in efforts to reform the program to make it safer and better for the next voyage”.

What will the trip look like?

Initially, the boat will leave Ushuaia, the bottom of Argentina, sailing south towards the Antarctic continent.

They’ll sail over the Drake Passage and venture to the Antarctic Peninsula, stopping at Esperanza, an Argentine base where 60 scientists live year-round. While it’s remote, this base has some signs of normal life, including a casino (which surely has to be one of the weirdest places in the world to play blackjack!) and restaurants. Then, they’ll voyage to other parts of the Antarctic for their research.

Previous trips have studied the fluorescent green algae which is surprisingly found in Antarctica and studied the huge icebergs, which not only tower above sea level but descend for metres below too. Plus, they look at penguins’ and other Antarctic animals’ behaviour to see how climate change is affecting them.

Final thoughts

Homeward Bound offers invaluable research experiences for women in STEMM. While the world of STEMM is historically male-dominated, Homeward Bound aims to change this – although there has been some controversy in its past. However, it seems to have dealt with the issues in its inaugural voyage and is working towards making STEMM a productive and safe environment for women, with two South Africans joining its next research trip in November 2023.