Antarctic Meteorologist

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) offers the opportunity for a suitably qualified person to join a multi-disciplinary teams at Rothera (68°S, 68°W) in Antarctica. This is science with a difference. As part of a small, highly motivated team, the successful candidates will be spending a year in the Antarctic, with the possibility of an extension. Life here is like nowhere else, so you must be ready to take on all the challenges that it offers. With the unparalleled beauty of the Antarctic, you will find this a profitable experience in more ways than one. The primary role of the successful candidates will be to make observations and to maintain and operate a suite of scientific instruments for studying the atmosphere and also to carry out quality assurance on the resulting environmental data.

The research station at Rothera supports a broad range of science but these posts will focus on atmospheric physics from the surface to the upper atmosphere, also meteorological support is provided for summer aircraft operations. A number of remote automatic weather stations located along the Antarctic Peninsula and on Alexander Island are serviced from the station.

Rothera make meteorological observations every three hours using an interactive, PC-based Automatic Weather Station, designed to facilitate data gathering and analysis and may make more frequent observations for aircraft. Regular upper air soundings are made at the station using balloon-borne radio sondes. There is also a weather satellite image receiver, which is used to aid local weather forecasting.

The successful candidate will be responsible for maintaining the equipment in good working order and dealing with their observations promptly. Each scientist is a member of a small multi-disciplinary team of scientists and support staff; and as such, he/she will be expected to be adaptable and work on other programmes and to take his/her share of general base work. As the station is isolated for most of the year, the ability to work without detailed supervision and to solve problems as they arise is paramount.

This will be a challenging and demanding opportunity to work in an extreme and isolated environment. Applicants must therefore be physically capable and medically fit to work in Antarctica. You must be adaptable and willing to take on various tasks as they arise including a considerable amount of outdoor maintenance and general base work.

Qualifications: Qualifications: A degree or HND in physics, geophysics, meteorology, electronic engineering or a related subject. Alternatively, suitable practical meteorological or electronics experience, supported by A levels or HNC in Physics or Electronics. An ability to solve problems and to be flexible are also key characteristics of the job.

Duration: The appointment will be for approximately 18 months, commencing in August 2009 in Cambridge. The successful candidates will undertake appropriate specialist training in all aspects of the job, prior to travelling to the Antarctic in the autumn of 2009 and returning in spring 2011.

Salary: From £20,424

Further information: General information on living and working in Antarctica together with details of the work undertaken by the Physical Sciences Division of BAS is on the BAS web site http://www.antarctica.ac.uk  and at http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_BAS/Cambridge/Divisions/PSD/  Further information on the work carried out by meteorologists in BAS is available at http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/met/  Alex Gaffikin, a former holder of the post has a very informative page about the job at http://www.alexantarctica.net . You may also email basestab@pcmail.nerc-bas.ac.uk  for further employment details or for technical details of the posts.