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free radicals Gillian Wratt Former CEO, Cawthron Institute THERE ARE PROBABLY NOT many CEOs in New Zealand who can claim to have paid more than 50 visits to one of the world's most far flung outposts – Antarctica. But for Gillian Wratt, who recently finished her posting as CEO of the Cawthron Institute, trips to the Southern Ocean were an integral part of her career path. This Motueka-born scientist remembers her first trip to Antarctica in the mid 1980s as one of the only female field assistants in a research programme in the 'Dry Valleys', a 30-60 minute helicopter ride from Scott Base. She was working with scientists from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and representatives from the University of Auckland. For three months the group lived in tents and field huts on the world's coldest desert as they conducted research into the microscopic-organisms that grow in the lakes and glacial meltwater streams there. The highest, driest, windiest, emptiest, coldest place on earth more than met the enthusiastic 30-year-old's expectations. "When you imagine Antarctica, the first things that come to mind are snow, ice and penguins, but it was so much more than that," Gillian remembers. "My most memorable experience was sharing the 40th birthday of a colleague on my very first trip. At midnight we walked to the top of the peak where we were doing our research programme. At the high point overlooking the sun deep on the horizon, celebrating with some good friends in one of the most amazing places in the world, was unforgettable. "People think of Antarctica as an out-there extreme environment, and it can be," she continues. "I've been at Scott Base at times when there's a blizzard blowing and to go from one building to the next you need a rope between the two. But generally, through the summer it's not blowing a blizzard and its daylight all the time, it never rains and you have the right kit for the conditions. The times that I've felt most in awe of the environment is on the ship in the Southern Ocean. If you're halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica in a storm, it's a very small ship in the middle of a very big ocean. It's a truly awesome experience." From New Zealand, the rousing journey 30 | www.hermagazine.co.nz Gill on Christmas day as an Antarctic tour guide on the Zodiac "The times that I've felt most in awe of the environment is on the ship in the Southern Ocean...it's a very small ship in the middle of a very big ocean." takes five-eight hours by plane from Christchurch or about a week by ship, so what is the appeal for some of the world's most inspired minds to take themselves so far out of normality? "There are amazing and fascinating opportunities to do research because of the environment there," Gillian explains. "To understand how things live there, the environment, the geology, atmospheric conditions as well as climate change-related research, and to look at the potential impact of how warmer global temperatures affect the ice sheet. You can also understand things about the global environment working in Antarctica. If you're seeing effects from things like pollutants in the atmosphere from human activities in the northern hemisphere, it really brings home that the human race is impacting on the global environment." After her first trip Gillian caught the travel bug and it wasn't long before she got her next taste of life on ice. "At that stage I was working for another part of a Governmental science organisation and I went back to my job there. I subsequently won a study award to do an MBA and was Convenor of the Establishment Board for the Crop and Food Research Institute. Then the job for the director of the Antarctic Programme came up. I'd been to the Antarctic and enjoyed it so thought that would be a good job for me – I had a unique combination of science, environmental and international connections." Over the next decade Gillian served as Chief Executive of Antarctica New Zealand and Chair of the International Antarctic Managers Council. Furthermore she has served as a Trustee for the New Zealand Leadership Institute, been a Board Member for the Natural Step New Zealand (TNSNZ), is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and New Zealand Institute of Management. Gillian is now on the board of the Environmental Protection Authority; a Government agency responsible for environmental regulation in New Zealand. Amongst this work Gillian was able to return to Antarctica from South America on several occasions, with a ship-based tourism company guiding and lecturing about 50 people on a converted Russian research vessel – and all the while indulging in her love and talent for kayaking. Gillian organised the New Zealand women's kayak expedition to Sikkim, India in 1991, was crowned the New Zealand Whitewater Kayak Slalom champion, and was in New Zealand Whitewater Kayak team in 1987. Gillian has received many accolades throughout her career including Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Antarctica – Queens Birthday Honours 2004, Chair of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes 1998-2001, Vice Chair Antarctic Treaty Committee for Environmental Protection 1998-2001, Chair of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators Annual Meeting 2003, 2004 and 2005 and