The researcher of Antarctica — no man's land: an interview with Dr. Carmen Possnig
Dr. Carmen Possnig is a medical doctor who works at Concordia, a station in Antarctica. She has researched in Antarctica and stayed there for 13 months with a crew of 12 people. Her research is mainly about the impacts of living in a remote environment, simulating that of a space mission.
Dr. Possnig's motivation for doing her research in Antarctica was simple – she had a dream of going to Antarctica. After all, Antarctica is the last wilderness on Earth. Even as a teenager, she was inspired by the stories of pioneers of exploration or discovery. She would read diaries of great explorers of the polar regions, such as Fridtjof Nansen and Robert F. Scott, and would be fascinated by the descriptions.
Although her expedition was a success, her trip to Antarctica was no smooth sailing. For instance, there were more men than women, which came to be very distracting for her at first. In the summertime, there were only seven women out of eighty people in total. Although all of them were professionals and the best in their respective fields, there were more social difficulties caused by the differences in gender than she had expected.
However, she says that the group gradually accepted her and that there was no longer a distinct gap between men and women after some time, which was undoubtedly a relief.
Another problem Dr. Possnig faced was the extreme conditions. First off was the abnormal daylight cycle. Throughout the year, there are four months in Antarctica where the Sun is high in the sky even at 3 am. On the other hand, there are four months where there is nothing but darkness for the whole day. Dr. Possnig admits that it was hard for the crew to adapt to such a difficult situation. Besides, they had to cope with extreme conditions, with temperatures reaching -80°C in winter. She and her crew couldn't even go outside for too long without heading back to the base to defrost their fingers and toes!
Of course, there were many benefits of this expedition as well. Dr. Possnig and her crew made many shocking discoveries. One of them was about the immune system. Due to the abnormally low temperatures in Antarctica, the environment there is close to sterile. As a result, no harmful bacteria or microbes could survive there. During winter, there is nearly no input on the immune system. The human cells would thus enter a dormant stage, and hence, the ability of immune cells to defend against bacteria, such as E. Coli, viruses, or fungi, decreases. Besides, the crew has discovered that when people return from Antarctica to civilizations, they might develop new types of allergies. Therefore, an environment that is too clean might result in an unhealthy condition overall.
Plus, Dr. Possnig and her crew witnessed the effects of living in Antarctica for a long time on fine motor functions and cognitive skills. Each month, they played a sort of computer game with the aim of docking a spaceship to the International Space Station, a simulation of a space mission. The experiment is to find out how often astronauts have to train to keep their piloting skills on their way to Mars since the trip lasts for 8 to 9 months. The game allowed the crew to observe the change in cognitive skills over an isolated period. They concluded that the more you train, the better the cognitive and fine motor functions, which continuously decrease in a remote environment.
In addition, Dr. Possnig says that the trip has reminded her of the reasons why she first chose to become a medical doctor. Back in European cities, she was used to treating lifestyle diseases, with the causes of illnesses often being repetitive, e.g. insufficient exercise, obesity, unhealthy eating habits. As her work became more and more monotonous, she sometimes struggled to find a sense of achievement or advancement.
This trip has reminded her that medicine is more than just advising people to eat healthier and exercise more. As opposed to what she was used to, there were many challenges in Antarctica. She had to deal with many cases that she didn't look into before, allowing her to investigate fascinating topics. She found this process rewarding as she learned a lot of medical knowledge and gained valuable experience.
She believes that Antarctica as a whole is a good demonstration of international collaboration. In the 60s, countries would claim parts of Antarctica, dividing it into various parts. However, all of these claims are now invalid; nor can anybody set up new claims. Antarctica does not belong to any country. Despite the research stations scattered all over the continent run by different countries, they aren't actual territories. There is also good collaboration across stations. For instance, stations nearby would supply spare parts when machines such as generators or airplanes break down. She compliments Antarctica as a helpful community.
Dr. Possnig also considers the most beautiful thing there to be the insanely cold weather. In June, the sky would be pitch black even at noon. Because of the high altitude, the crew’s breaths would become heavy just after a short while of walking outside. The temperature would drop to as low as -80°C. Dr. Possnig describes that she could feel the cold "down to her bones''! Despite that, Antarctica is insanely beautiful, because one could witness the starry sky, the Milky Way, the galaxies, the shooting stars, etc. One wouldn't even need a flashlight at night as the stars are so bright - they are so bright that they reflect in the snow and into one's eyes, lighting up the path! Dr. Possnig describes this as a mind-blowing experience. It enabled her to experience the vastness of the universe in contrast to the insignificance of a mere human being.
When asked whether humans can set up a society in Antarctica, Dr. Possnig says it would be challenging to do so since there are many problems that people would face, for instance, extreme weather, isolation, etc. Of course, some people are better at coping with those changes. Their character and the way they react to stress might be the cause of these differences. Of course, Antarctica is still unspoiled. Dr. Possnig believes that Antarctica should remain to be dedicated to research since there are many things we can learn from it and the ecosystem is extremely fragile.
On her experience of writing her book about her expedition, she found it challenging since it demands a lot of focus. On top of that, there was so much content she wanted to include, making it hard to find a balance. She enjoys writing, and felt that writing this book was quite demanding since she wanted the book to be personal as if it was a diary, but also to include heroic tales of Antarctica expeditions from the past in addition to including scientific facts of the adventure – which of course should be easy to understand for every reader. To sum up, she wanted the book to be a mixture of personal feelings, science, and expeditions. Through repeated modifications, she was able to complete her book to both her own satisfaction and glowing reviews of readers.
COVID has taken its toll on our lives, and medical science is no exception. Inevitably, the new crew in Concordia was also affected by it. Usually, people are selected half a year before their departure, and the crew was supposed to undergo an extensive training period in summer, spending two weeks meeting each other and two weeks for team-building exercises. Yet, COVID made the meet-ups impossible, so the crew only knew one another in Antarctica, making the social interactions more challenging.
Lastly, Dr. Possnig has two pieces of advice for aspiring medical students. The first is to step back occasionally and have a view of the big picture. As time passes, medicine is getting more specialized. Indeed, we can't learn everything in the medical field. Nonetheless, a doctor should acquire the ability to review the human body altogether and connect everything to find a solution. In general, self-consciousness is crucial. One should reflect on everything one has done from a bird's eye view once in a while. It allows people to improve much quicker than otherwise.
The second view of advice is for medical students - in fact, everyone in general - to learn how to focus. There is no cell phone connection in Antarctica, so there were no distractions for her. It allowed her to dwell more on tasks, which she found rewarding since the work produced was of high quality. However, when she came back, she realized how much people were distracted. People would always be on their smartphones; even her friends would be checking their smartwatches while chatting with her.
Dr. Possnig leaves us with a conclusive piece of advice: We live in a world with many diversions. Developing the ability to focus and immerse yourself in a task is very important. It is only in this way can we gain knowledge and improve ourselves.
