Having grown up on a farm, I have been lucky to have had a high
level of exposure to the outdoors, which has led to an appreciation
and passion to protect it.
I completed Gold, Silver and Bronze of the Duke of Edinburgh's
Hillary Award. This award encourages outdoor and community
involvement and the following of personal projects and interests.
In 2007 I attended the Sir Peter Blake Trust Youth Environment
Forum. I turned up as a shy 16 year old, able to identify
environmental issues but lacking confidence. This week of practical
projects and the opportunity to meet with 50 other like-minded
young people gave me the confidence to get involved publically. On
return, I started an environmental committee at my school and we
attempted to deal with some of the issues around litter and
recycling.
Now 20 years of age, I am in my third year of studies towards a
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with Honours at the University
of Canterbury. I am intending to work in the field of energy
engineering.
Since attending the Forum, I have been a follower of the Sir
Peter Blake Trust and learnt about the Youth Antarctic Ambassador
programme. Antarctica is a place I have always dreamt of visiting,
inspired by the famous expeditions including Sir Peter Blake's,
Scott's, Amundsen's and Shackleton's.
It is a century since Scott embarked on the British Antarctic
Expedition, and the Antarctic Heritage Trust will be completing the
restoration of Scott's Terra Nova hut this year. Being able to
contribute to the restoration and preservation of the heritage
sites on Ross Island is an honour, and visiting the continent will
allow me to be a part of the preservation of Antarctica's history.
In doing so, I will gain a first hand, in-depth understanding of
the explorers, their expeditions and the global geographic and
scientific significance of Antarctica.
Upon my return I will be sharing my experiences and look forward
to the opportunity to inspire others to become passionate about the
outdoors, Antarctica, sustainability and conservation.
The Project
John flew to Antarctica on 27th October, 2011
with the Antarctic Heritage Trust team and will spend the summer
carrying out restoration work on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod hut
at Cape Royds and Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova hut at Cape
Evans as part of the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project.
The Antarctic Heritage Trust's Ross Sea Heritage Restoration
Project is a long-term, cold climate heritage project to conserve
four expedition sites and over 15,000 associated artefacts. The
project presents many technical challenges including katabatic
winds, high relative humidity, temperature change, salt damage and
light levels.
The physical conservation of the sites began during the summer
of 2003/04 and since 2006 the Trust has been working year round in
Antarctica. Work to secure Sir Ernest Shackleton's
base and the 5,000+ artefact collection is all but complete
and work is now focused on saving the base associated
with Captain Scott's 1911attempt for the South Pole. The other
two sites being conserved as part of the Ross Sea Heritage
Restoration Project are Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition
base at Hut Point and Carsten Borchgrevink's expedition base at
Cape Adare.