Next February, when many university students will spend their winter break in sandals and swimwear, a group of 11 from the University of Alberta hope to be packing tuques and gloves.
Like other students, they will fly south, but instead of stopping in Mexico or Costa Rica they will venture all the way to Antarctica for an intensive two-week course on the frozen continent.
Students begin the trip at the southern tip of Argentina, where they will board a ship to Antarctica. The Ushuaia is a full-service research vessel equipped with sleeping and eating quarters, classrooms and lab space.
Students will live on the boat, taking field trips to the ice on inflatable Zodiac boats. If time and weather allow, they may also visit some of the continent's permanent research stations, including one that helped discover the hole in the ozone layer.
A team of academics will be on board, including Marianne Douglas, a U of A professor and director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute. She's already been to Antarctica three times.
"It's such an amazing feeling to be in such a remote area," she said. "As the ship gets closer, you start to see albatross, then more of the birds, and then you start to see some whales and seals. And once you get even closer you start seeing penguins and finally icebergs."
Providing the experience is Students on Ice, a Canadian non-profit group that annually takes high school students to the Arctic and Antarctic.
So far, about 35 students from around the world have signed up, although there is room for up to 70, plus 10 academic staff.
For Douglas, organizing the trip with Students on Ice is part of her effort to increase Canadian-led research and interest in the Antarctic.
The course, which will be for credit, features a broad-based curriculum with lessons on wildlife, history, politics and environmental issues.
"We're trying to expose as many people as possible to these environments that are still pretty pristine but are also very fragile," she said.
"My hope is that the people who see these areas and get an appreciation for them, when they go back home, they have good information they can use to determine who they vote into political power and how they lead their lives."
It will be summertime in Antarctica when the students arrive, but temperatures will still often be below zero.
Sally Ells, 22, an environmental conservation student, said she is most looking forward to seeing cold-weather plants and mosses and, of course, the penguins.
"When I tell people I'm going down there, often the first thing they say is, 'Oh my God, bring me back a penguin.' "
The trip will cost $10,000 per student. The students, as a group, will try to fundraise about half the money.
Original source taken from: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=df07cbce-0fae-46e2-b5a2-be16e5940c9a