Animal Physiologist and Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Alaska SeaLife Center
WHAT SHE STUDIES:
- Animal physiology
- Physiological telemetry
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences
M.S. Zoology
B.S. Zoology
HOMETOWN:
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
ONE COOL EXPERIENCE I HAD WORKING IN THE ANTARCTIC WAS WHEN… "I saw the area where we work from above. The area is flat and white and windy, and it all kind of looks the same from the ground. Seeing it from an overlook made me realize how amazing and beautiful the different ridges of ice are around the islands in the frozen ocean."
MY BEST PIECE OF ADVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN SCIENCE IS… "Find a balance between becoming really good at your speciality and learning about what other people do. You will be much better at asking questions if you have ideas about different ways to answer them."
Dr. Allyson Hindle explains why you always see Antarctic researchers wearing sunglasses. (1:00)
The first thing that you're told before you even get to Antarctica, before they even let you on the plane, is to always wear your sunglasses. We work in Antarctica in the summertime so there's 24 hours of daylight, and we work on sea ice, which is covered by snow. So, you're actually receiving quite a lot of ultraviolet radiation, so it's really important to protect your eyes. Snow blindness is a real problem that if you basically let your eyes get sunburnt inside you have a lot of pain and difficulty seeing and you can actually lose your sight. So, nobody wants to go blind because you fail to take proper precautions like wearing your sunglasses. Also, for us we can't afford anything that would keep us from being able to work for a day so we try to be as safe as possible and that means that you're always wearing your sunglasses.