September Saturday Student: Heather Forrer
Heather Forrer completed her undergraduate BSc degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2015, majoring in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and Marine Biology. She then went on to complete her Honours degree at UCT in 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Fawcett where she focused on the nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate in the summertime Southern Ocean. Her aim was to evaluate the patterns of summertime nutrient utilization across the Atlantic Sector of the Antarctic Zone. Loving everything about Southern Ocean biogeochemical oceanography, 
Heather went on to complete a MSc with Dr. Sarah Fawcett and Dr. Angela Knapp (co-advisor, Florida State University (FSU), USA) in 2017 – 2020. Her MSc research focused on a basin-scale approach identifying the drivers of the Indian Sub-Antarctic biological carbon pump, with a special interest in phytoplankton group-specific contributions and the influence of the Island Mass Effect (IME). Heather is now pursuing her PhD at FSU and is taking a deeper look at how the IME enhances carbon export. Her research focuses on the Sub-Antarctic Indian sector as well as Subtropical Pacific, mapping the spatial and temporal carbon export ‘footprint’ of islands across oceans and nutrient regimes.
In addition to her PhD, Heather is part of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) ASAID (air-sea interactions) sub-working group and is a member of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists South African National Committee (APECSSA). Heather’s work largely falls under the current SANAP Project “A nitrogen cycle view of atmospheric CO2 sequestration in the Antarctic Ocean” (Principal Investigator: Dr. S Fawcett, UCT). Through this, Heather has had the opportunity to participate in a number of research expeditions to the Southern Ocean, present her work at both national and international conferences and attend workshops with international collaborators.
Born into a family of avid divers, sailors and fisherman, my love for the ocean was instilled in me at a young age. Our dinner table conversations often involve my parents recounting their sailing years on their home-built yacht, reminiscing over past family diving holidays and deciding on which ocean adventure we should embark on next. The vast majority of my childhood holidays were spent wading around rockpools along the South Coast armed with a yellow bucket and red fishing net. My sister and I would collect all the dogfish we managed to coax into our nets and then redistribute them to new rockpool homes based on the size of the fish. Thank goodness the rising tides eventually drove us away and hopefully restored the ecological unrest we most likely caused. This fascination with the small South Coast rockpool ecosystems eventually grew to larger Southeast Asian coral reef biomes in my teenage years. My family immigrated to Vietnam when I was 14, and although moving to a different country was a big culture shock, it opened up a whole new region of marine exploration. Within a couple of months of moving there I became a certified diver and knew that the view from my fogged-up, leaking mask on my first dive had just cemented my future in marine sciences. Upon matriculation, I volunteered for an NGO in southwest Madagascar where I assisted with coral reef studies, looking at both anthropogenic impacts as well as recovery rates from cyclone damage. Knowing that marine sciences was my future, I started my BSc at UCT with a balmy tropical island goal. Well…that was until I met Sarah Fawcett in my 3rd year at UCT… and I quickly traded my sandy feet, beach towel, golden tan dreams for thermal underwear, blisteringly cold winds and the raging Southern Ocean… and have never looked back!
I love my career in science because of the people and the places. There is such a diverse group of people within the SANAP community and we are all striving towards a common goal – to better understand how the world works. All of our fields are so interconnected and through collaborative efforts, you have the opportunity to work with the most incredible scientists, where you get to share ideas and develop some form of understanding…only to have even more questions! Exploring curiosities and having the freedom of imagination is what drives science forward and when I find fellow scientists who share similar questions, this encourages me to continue pushing boundaries of what we know. My career in science has also taken me to the most amazing places – places I could never dream of going to with another career. From boarding a Russian research vessel in Chile, to sampling the nearshore coastline of the sub-Antarctic island of Kerguelen, to analyzing samples in a lab in the US, to data interpretation at a workshop in the UK to presenting my findings to at a conference in Switzerland… I don’t think there is another career path that would allow me to do all that! Earth Science is a constantly engaging and exciting field to be in. Things never stop… even during a pandemic. The amount of incredible discoveries and papers that have been published in 2020 alone is testament to this. The SANAP community is an impressive force, driving cutting-edge science that is crucial to our global understanding of the past, present and future Earth and is a community I am privileged to be a part of.
Unlike other career paths, science allows you to follow your passions and ‘immerse’ yourself in different fields. This has allowed me to pursue my interest in Southern Ocean biogeochemical research while being involved in the operational side of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) sensor deployments and servicing along the South African coastline with the UCT Research Dive Unit. I am happiest when in or on the ocean and to be able to take part in both the research and the operational sides leaves me smiling from ear to ear.
Something that I find incredibly special about a career in science is it is a career your family can be involved in and get excited about. My family have been an amazing source of support throughout my scientific career. They have helped me label over 15,000 sample bottles (the Forrer family bottle labelling production line is something to behold!), load ships, move -80 freezers from East Pier to UCT and create figures for my theses. They have also met me in Switzerland and Australia after workshops or cruises and have read all of my work from beginning to end. Whenever I phone my dad, he always asks “is the ship in town?” and if the answer is “yes” he follows up with “how many bottles do we have to label, when are we loading the ship, how many trailers do we have to tow?” Although I’m still not 100% convinced my parents know exactly what I do, and often hear my mom describing my work to her friends as “the study of whale food that is saving the planet from climate change”, I definitely couldn’t have made it this far without their support, encouragement and enthusiasm.
To end, I thought I should share three tips for anyone about to embark on their scientific career:
- Never be afraid to ask questions… and ask a lot of them! It will help you grow as a scientist, develop your curiosities and make you even more enthusiastic about your work. By asking ALL the questions, I inevitably designed my own PhD research.
- Choose your supervisor carefully and build a good working relationship them. If you are starting a PhD, this working relationship needs to last 5 years, so make it work from the start. Supervisors are only human and can only do so much, the vast majority of the work and drive needs to come from you. I am personally very lucky to have great relationships with both of my supervisors. I started working with Sarah in my Honours year and she is now part of my PhD committee. By the time I complete my PhD, we would have been working together for close to 10 years!
- A science degree takes a village… so build your ‘scientific village’. While there is an ‘i’ in science, it is not an individual pursuit. From sample collection, lab analyses, data interpretation and theses writing, it is all about teamwork. So, start building your network. This can involve fellow grad students, people you meet on research expeditions or at conferences, mentors from other universities etc. While they might not directly participate in your research, they help keep you motivated and excited about your work.
With that, I would like to acknowledge and thank my SANAP and greater South African ‘scientific village’; Dr. Sarah Fawcett (UCT), for your encouragement and support over the last 5 years. Ruan Parrott, Luca Stirnimann and the rest of the Fawcett Lab group for help with sample collection and analyses. Dr. Rosemary Dorrington (RU) and Dr. Tommy Bornman (SAEON) for all your contributions to ACE and the fun workshops. Dr. Bettine van Vuuren (UJ) for always encouraging me to “Just apply! What’s the worst that can happen?”. Cashifa Karriem for holding the UCT Oceanography Department together and helping with the admin side. Tahlia Henry for spending hours driving the CTD to the ocean depths for my deep water samples and for helping me with my (many) technical questions. Dr. Tommy Ryan-Keogh (CSIR) and Dr. Thato Mtshali (CSIR) for showing me the ropes when it comes to trace metal sampling and for helping me design my sampling schemes. Pieter Truter, Hazel Little-Leighton and the rest of the UCT Dive Unit for helping me pack for cruises, make incubators, service pumps and for always braving the icy Atlantic waters with me. And last but certainly not least, the APECSSA National Committee for our fun catch-ups and shared passion for collaboration between young researchers on a local and international level.
(Text and images supplied by Heather Forrer)
Antarctic cities and the global commons: Rethinking the Gateways – project by Institute for Culture and Society. How we care for Antarctica is key to the planet’s future. As pressures on the continent increase, five gateway cities will become critical to its future.
These five cities; Cape Town, Christchurch, Hobart, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia have complex histories of engagement with the Antarctic. Located in zones with intense interconnectivity to the Antarctic, they are formally recognised international gateways through which most travel to the region flows. All significant engagement with the Southern Polar Region is coordinated through them, but the ensuing competition for economic advantage that this traffic offers is not always constructive.
SANAP has been involved through the 
This project is the first substantial comparative program to investigate how gateway cities might both re-imagine and intensify their relations to Antarctica and each other. In doing so, constituents across the Antarctic gateway cities will be drawn into an ongoing partnership to research the significance of their Antarctic connection. The aims of this project are to demonstrate how ecological stewardship, political cooperation, cultural vibrancy, and economic prosperity can be mutually reinforcing, and determine how these cities see themselves into the future in relation to Antarctica and to each other. It intends to revitalise these relations through assessment and research processes that include supporting citizens to frame future forms of engagement. The project includes working with youth across the five cities to instigate the engagement of young people in debating the future of these cities and the futures of Antarctica. This evolved into the 
(Above l-r: % champions with Juan Salazar and Elizabeth Leane, 5 Champions and see Rudzi with South African Flag beanie) 5 Champions were chosen from the 5 Gateway Cities to represent their countries. A lot of effort, passion and work have been put in by these young champions. “During the ACYE to King George/25 de Mayo Island, Antarctic Peninsula, in February 2020, 5 young leaders representing the 5 Gateway cities developed a new AYC. AYC will focus on devising youth engagement networks in the five gateway cities to create new connections among these cities and develop a sense of Antarctic custodianship unique to all the gateways.” During the AYCE Rudzi visit the stations of Chile and Uruguay and took a gift from South Africa to every station, a table runner with Proteas the beautiful flower from the Western Cape as well as publications.
Rudzi(left) on 
(Images from ACYE expedition and text from ACYE pamphlet)
Rudzani Silima (Rudzi) have from a young age, always known that she would pursue a career in environmental conservation and science. “I grew up in the very small town of 
(l-r: Rudzi and Nompumelelo(DEFF),weighing my luggage, Ria Olivier(ALSA) sent me on my trip, during transit I said goodbye to my family) To date I have attained a collection of prizes from my university and conferences, further validating my determination to advocate for the oceans and our planet. As the best 
The 
There are many controversies related to climate change today, however, in Antarctica there is physical evidence that climate change is happening right now and not in some distant future. Therefore, the formation of the Antarctic Youth Coalition couldn’t be more perfectly timed. The AYC, hence from now on aims to make accessible the very important science done in the Southern Ocean to everyday citizens in the five gateway cities but also all around the world. 
“Therefore, all of us, common or otherwise, share the responsibility for a healthy, thriving Antarctica and our whole planet! My parting word, specifically to us young people is to never give up on yourself and never give up on your dreams. All of us have the potential to change the world in our own very unique and exciting ways”
South Africa has been part of SCAR since 1959 and over the years researchers of South Africa attended these conferences. Over the past decades, principal investigators of SANAP and their students gave oral and poster presentations. This year the 
Where did it all started for Tahlia: “From an early age I have had an unbridled passion for the ocean and understanding technology, which led me to pursue my studies in Oceanography at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). I chose to study here as it provided a platform to not only gain academic experience within an oceanographic context, but to also gain field experience. In my third year (2014) I was placed at Bayworld Centre of Research and Education (BCRE) in order to complete a number of research projects which spanned across an array of oceanographic disciplines, namely: Marine Instrumentation, Marine Resource Management, Ocean Sciences and Marine Outreach. This placement exposed me to the different aspects of oceanography and allowed me to find my particular field of interest. It was there, at BCRE, that I was exposed to physical oceanography, data processing and development of marine instrumentation. I knew that I had found my niche within the oceanographic community and would strive to further my education, work experience and continue to learn and grow within this sector. After earning a National Diploma, I completed a BTech degree where I continued to work part-time at BCRE and develop my final research project. This project focused on the development of two sub-sea moorings, each housing a 75 kHz Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), which I was fortunate enough to deploy between two sub-Antarctic Islands—Marion Island and Prince Edward Island—while aboard the research vessel, SA Agulhas II.
Following the completion of my BTech degree, I continued to work on this mooring data over the next four years, returning to Marion Island and ensuring the safe retrieval and re-deployment of the sub-sea moorings. The data collected formulated the basis of my MSc research project, entitled Impact of ocean variability on Shelf-Seas surrounding the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands.
More recently I have been exposed to the commercial oceanographic industry by working as a marine technician for Lwandle Marine Technologies. Albeit a brief time spent with Lwandle, I have experienced a very different aspect of oceanography in practice. I worked on a variety of contracts utilising skills I’ve gained over the years such as commercial diving operations, in situ data collection and hands-on instrumentation repairs/maintenance. These contracts also opened the door to innovative ways of thinking, problem solving and team work. I was also involved in equipment sales, field trip logistics and ‘meet and greets’ with clients which have been a great learning opportunity.
In December 2018 I was hired by the 
I love my career as it is ever changing and growing with the current climate or latest technological advances. I have been able to see the world, visit remote and beautiful locations, sail the high seas and build incredible bonds with fellow scientists. It isn’t always an easy journey, but conquering the challenge of this lifestyle and career choice is what makes it worthwhile. The sense of adventure is never ending and I’m always learning along the way. Madame Curie once said that nothing in life is to be fear but rather understood, so that we understand more and fear less. I think this gives us a great sense of pride in what we do and to strive to be curious about our world, to best understand, preserve it and pass the torch on to future generations.
To future researchers, be diligent, work hard and persevere throughout your career. There will be challenging days but there will also be days that out shadow the challenges and fuel your passion for science. Always be teachable no matter your age, and always willing to learn and lend a hand to your fellow scientists. The work you do throughout your career will not only impact and improve your life but will pave the way for those coming up behind you. So take pride in what your work, rise up to the challenges and enjoy the journey! (Right: Photo credit:Alexander Oelofse during SEAmester)
Luca Stirnimann received his BSc at the 
From 2017, he is a PhD student at the 
Earth science, in general, has always been fascinating to me and since I was little, my desire was to discover and learn new things related to our oceans.
Thanks to oceanography, I can attend fantastic expeditions anywhere in the world, exploring from the icy polar seas to the warmer waters of the equator, spending weeks or even months on board of research vessels. During these trips, I always meet colleagues and extraordinary scientists that share the same interests and passions of mine, even if they are from different fields. Furthermore, coming to South Africa, I joined two great scientific communities: one is the 
This is a great career that stimulates you at any moment of your life, and if you are curious, motivated, and resourceful, well… this job is waiting for you.
