Hanne Nielsen, PhD
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, UTAS (Australia)
Hanne, in polar guide gear including a radio, kneels in the snow in front of a gentoo penguin colony on the Antarctic Peninsula. In the background, ice floats in the water, framed by snow-covered mountains.
What’s the work that you do?
I am a lecturer in Antarctic Law and Governance at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. People and Antarctica is my area of expertise – I am interested in the ways we interact with, imagine, and narrate the south polar region. My research focuses on representations of Antarctica in popular media, including in theatre and advertising material. I also have an interest in polar tourism and Antarctica as a workplace, research that is informed by my 5 seasons as a guide in the Southern Ocean.
What keeps you going?
Antarctica is at the heart of what I do every day. I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm about this incredible continent with my students, colleagues, family and community, but the best part is hearing how other people imagine and narrate the ice (in literature, in film, in advertisements, around the dinner table). Antarctica is important on a global scale – and so are the stories that we carry around in our heads about the continent, because without a connection to a place it’s difficult to care about and protect it.
What’s your message to the world?
Be kind. Listen well. Dream big.
Organisation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, UTAS (Australia)
Nationality:
New Zealand
Disciplines: