Natalia Jaramillo, M.A.

What’s the work that you do?
I am a second year Ph.D. student at the College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, studying tourism-related environmental impacts in Antarctica using remote sensing, GIS, and geospatial data analysis. My research combines satellite imagery, drone-based data collection, and spatial analysis to monitor vegetation and evaluate how tourism activities influence Antarctic ecosystems across coastal and terrestrial landscapes.

What keeps you going?

What keeps me going is that in Antarctica many of the things I love in life come together. From the first time I visited, I knew it was a place I wanted to understand deeply. Antarctica allows me to combine my background in the humanities as a historian, my passion for environmental science, remote sensing, and aircraft-based tools such as drones, and my love for outdoor fieldwork. Above all, I love contributing to knowledge while continuing to learn, and using science to better understand the relationships between people and the Antarctic environment.

What’s your message to the world?

My message to the world is that places like Antarctica invite us to slow down, observe, and learn. They remind us that knowledge is built through curiosity, care, and long-term commitment. I believe science is not only about measuring and monitoring, but also about understanding relationships—between people, landscapes, and time. By learning from polar regions and approaching them with respect, humility, and responsibility, we can make better decisions about how we explore, study, and care for these extraordinary places, now and in the future.