Silpa Saila Kumar, MSc, MPhil

What’s the work that you do?

I’m a PhD candidate in Environmental Psychology at the University of Groningen. Through the GUIDE-BEST (Antarctica) project, I study how Antarctic tourism shapes people’s experiences, and sustainable behaviors. As tourism grows, many visitors return as ‘Antarctic ambassadors,’ reporting life-changing connection to the region. I will be exploring what being an ‘Antarctic ambassador’ really means and the motivations behind this transformation. Additionally, I plan to investigate the behavioral changes tourists experience before and after their Antarctic visits.

What keeps you going?

Hearing travelers speak so openly about how the continent touched them always reminds me why I do this work. It feels meaningful to know that my research can support both personal growth and environmental care. That sense of purpose is what inspires me every day.

What’s your message to the world?

If I could share one message with the world, it would be this: we don’t need to travel to the ends of the Earth to know what deserves care.
Antarctica shows us how fragile environments can be and how important it is to protect them, even from afar. We can support distant, vulnerable environments through the choices we make at home, in our communities, and in how we care for our planet every day.
We don’t need to stand in a place to stand up for it. Let empathy, not experience, guide our actions.