Nina Gallo

What’s the work that you do?

I’m a guide, Zodiac driver and shipboard historian. When I’m not out in the field, I work as a polar science communicator, writer and strategic communications consultant. I also spend a lot of time reading around the environmental humanities, climate science and systems thinking, and am inspired by exploring new ways to solve wicked problems and make decisions amidst uncertainty.

What keeps you going?

There’s something magnetic about the polar regions. I’ve always been drawn to the contradictions of these stark, spare landscapes that are somehow also brimming with life. When we step away from the hustle and expectations of daily life in the lower latitudes we find the space to see and think in new ways. This time to reflect on our planet and our personal truths is, I think, incredibly powerful. Being part of that experience for others is a privilege. One of the best things about my work is the people. There’s this global community of amazing humans from all kinds of backgrounds, each with unique motivations and ways of thinking, and shared goals of planetary custodianship and conservation. I also love spending quiet time with seals, whales and seabirds, the ocean and the ice.

What’s your message to the world?

The sensory relief of the polar ice, ocean and sky can help us find the stillness in an otherwise chaotic, loud world, and maybe help us see things more clearly. Now more than ever, we must try to understand ourselves collectively within our nested historical and cultural contexts. We humans are marvellous little organisms: wondrous, creative, driven by hope, love and fear. We’re also just another very new addition to a complex ecosystem on an ever-changing planet that could shrug us off at any moment. I believe that it is from this place of humbled polarity, where we can acknowledge our power and insignificance, our capacity for creation and destruction together with compassion, that we can move towards a manageable future.