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IN
SIGHT

“When you look into the eyes of a
whale, it touches your heart; when you
touch an iceberg, you feel the fragility
of the planet. And that's when things
start to happen, that's when change
begins...”
Geoff Green, founder and executive
director of Students on Ice

A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE! POLAR RESEARCH FOR YOUNG
PEOPLE
Both deeply affected by their Arctic expeditions,
two former winners shared their thoughts and ex- Lastly, Céline Le Bohec, a CNRS researcher in polar
periences. "It's as if everything I do has to have so- biology at the Scientific Centre of Monaco, descri-
mething to do with the environment," says 22-year- bed the work carried out by Monegasque scientists
old Célia Limandat, winner of the SOI competition in in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, with a focus
2017 and a history, politics, and economics graduate on the long-term monitoring of seabird populations
from University College London, who recently set to understand changes in polar ecosystems, which
about creating MUSU, an eco-responsible eyewear are sentinels of the planet's state of health. She also
brand. "When I got home," confides Justin Sargenti, spoke about the training courses for researchers and
24, winner of the SOI competition in 2015, "I felt very the specific features of polar research, such as the
small, wondering what contribution I could make to spirit of innovation, enthusiastically sharing her perso-
the environmental issue". With a degree in architec- nal experience in the polar environment and her latest
ture in his pocket, he embarked on a mission to An- discoveries on tracking emperor penguins: "The Arctic
tarctica, while at the same time initiating a doctorate Ocean plays a fundamental role in regulating the wor-
in architecture in a polar environment in Strasbourg. ld's climate. Research conducted in this environment
Both spoke about this unique experience, which has helps us to better understand the Earth system."
shaped their professional careers and strengthened
their commitment to the environment. The conference closed with the announcement of the
"Un lycéen en Arctique" competition, inviting volunteer
Justin Sargenti then gave a more detailed account of students from the Principality's high schools on
his work at the Concordia Franco-Italian research sta- Wednesday, 29 March to tackle the theme of global
tion for the Monegasque grey water recycling com- health. Two winners will join Students on Ice for a
pany FGWRS, as part of a project supported by the trip to the Arctic in July 2023, departing from Ottawa
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (see interview along the Labrador coast to the Torngat Mountains
on next page). National Park in the Inuit region of Nunatsiavut.