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Mercy Borbor-CordovaSeeking human and environmental health solutions in a global context
Pollution in the coldest place on EarthAntarctica's summer workforce of about 4,000 (four times the winter total) is dwarfed by the continent's tourists: close to 50,000 in 2007–08, with an equal number of support personnel. That may not sound like many people for a continent that's bigger than Europe, but it's enough to leave humanity's unsavory calling card: pollution. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Council for Science has begun an attempt to enlist the 30 nations that conduct research in Antarctica to monitor and protect the health of the unique Antarctic environment. Admiralty Bay, Antarctica, is the home of research stations run by Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Poland, and the United States. To establish an environmental management and monitoring program there, the Ecuadorian Antarctic Institute wanted a South American with a Ph.D., experience in environmental management, and knowledge of coastal environments—a capsule biography of Borbor-Cordova. "We had our first meeting in 2006. We are trying to define what environmental management is already happening, how each station manages their emissions, what contingencies there are for oil spills. We already know what parameters we want to observe to develop a long-term monitoring program." Borbor-Cordova visited three of the Admiralty Bay stations in the Austral summer of 2007. "It's an overwhelming experience," she says. "You feel total isolation, and you get a lot of respect for nature. The weather is the main driver of the daily activities of the expedition. We want to keep this big Earth system the way it is."
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