Nancy Lucà, MSc

What’s the work that you do?

I’m a PhD student in Polar Sciences at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and “Parthenope” University of Naples. My project focuses on the formation and export of Antarctic Bottom Water in the western Ross Sea, and on the cross-slope exchange of water masses from the Drygalski Trough. I work predominantly with mooring data, from the collection phase (recovery, deployment, and maintenance) during the Italian expeditions in Antarctica, to the processing and analysis of the data afterwards, once the campaign is completed.

What keeps you going?

Nature is my biggest source of inspiration. The moments I love the most are the expeditions, when I can actually be out there and feel its strength and its beauty. What keeps me going is my curiosity about how the ocean really works, and knowing that what I study plays a crucial role in the climate system gives me even more motivation. And then there’s the sense of exploration; this work keeps taking me to new places, new questions, and new things to understand.

What’s your message to the world?

Be curious and keep discovering. Nothing in nature should be taken for granted. The processes and interactions behind things we consider ordinary can be astonishing. The poles are the perfect place to understand them, and curiosity brings greater awareness of how fragile these balances really are.