Victoria Gómez, PhD

What’s the work that you do?

My line of research is persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging pollutants (ECs) such as microplastics in biotic and abiotic matrices mainly. At the moment I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Universidad Mayor, focused on determining the sources and destination of atmospheric persistent organic pollutants in the Antarctic Peninsula.

What keeps you going?

I love nature, and I am passionate about caring for the environment. I enjoy both fieldwork and laboratory work. I am particularly interested in atmospheric pollution and how it interacts with water, sediments, and organisms. I strive to understand the interconnectedness of everything and how each of our actions as human beings impacts even the most remote areas of our planet.

What’s your message to the world?

I always imagined the poles as untouched landscapes, where ice and snow create a mesmerizing dance, and where wildlife perseveres through thick and thin. But those landscapes are much more beautiful and overwhelming than I ever thought. In the midst of beauty there is a delicate balance, because what happens in these remote lands resonates deeply in the heart of our planet and what happens in the rest of the planet resonates deeply in these remote lands. Polar ice, like a planetary thermostat, influences our climate and ocean and atmospheric currents. The journey of each iceberg, the sigh of each melting piece of ice, whispers to us a world shaped by intricate and profound forces. The pollution of large cities also reaches the poles via the ocean currents and the atmosphere. As I ventured into these lands, I was reminded of the energetic explorers of the past who dared to venture into these icy realms. Their indomitable spirits reflect humanity’s relentless pursuit of knowledge and discovery. Through their stories of triumph and adversity, we glimpse our shared longing to unravel the mysteries that shroud the far reaches of the world, and even to this day many of us continue to do so, rekindling our sense of wonder, venturing into these frozen lands, not as mere observers, but as compassionate custodians, spreading our knowledge.

Dear all, I beseech you to rekindle your sense of wonder and kindle the flames of curiosity. Let your actions resound with the understanding that we are bound by invisible threads, our destinies woven together inextricably.