August is a very special month for women in South Africa and this said we would like to salute women within the South African National Antarctic Programme.

SANAP is filled with strong women in Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and Southern Ocean research. The programme also consist of a number of brave women overwintering at the South African research stations (Marion Island, Gough Island and Antarctica).

There are 29 National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology  funded projects within SANAP and 13 of these are managed by women. This is evident that women definitely have a place within Antarctic research.

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) sends four volunteers to Antarctica every year. These volunteers assist with hard work (physically and mentally). The last take-over to Antarctica, three of the four South African National Space Agency (SANSA) volunteers were women.

During my trip to Antarctica earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet a number of very inspiring women – in the video below, meet the three SANSA volunteers of the 2018/2019 Antarctic take-over and the new VLF (Very Low Frequency) SANSA Engineer, who is currently overwintering at the South African National Antarctic Expedition station (SANAE IV).

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 13 August 2019.