Lecture: Life and Work at the South Pole - A Slovenian Researcher’s Experience at the Amundsen–Scott Station

Life and Work at the South Pole: A Slovenian Researcher’s Experience at the Amundsen–Scott Station Antarctica, the most recently discovered and perhaps the most extraordinary continent on Earth, is defined by its vast ice sheet and extreme climatic conditions, making it a unique environment for cutting-edge astrophysical and geophysical research. Michel Adamič, a PhD researcher at McGill University in Montreal, became the first Slovenian to serve as a winterover at the U.S. Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, where he is responsible for operating and maintaining the South Pole Telescope (SPT) on behalf of the University of Chicago. The SPT uses superconducting detectors cooled to 300 mK to study the cosmic microwave background from the early universe. The South Pole is an ideal location for such observations due to the exceptionally low concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere. A crew of 44 winterovers must remain in complete physical isolation from March to October, enduring temperatures as low as –80 °C and six months of continuous polar night. In this lecture, Michel will briefly outline the history of human presence in Antarctica and the operation of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). He will then focus on the mission of the Amundsen–Scott Station, the technical and logistical challenges of maintaining complex scientific equipment under extreme conditions, and the realities of daily life within this remarkable community at the end of the world.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, at 10:00 am via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96906312546 (A group viewing will also be available in the meeting room of Reactor Center IJS).