»I want to do the things differently than my predecessors.«
Stefanie Arndt
Why the ocean?
The ocean feels like home. My roots are on the Baltic; both of my parents come from Rügen. When I’m on board a ship, surrounded by the vast expanses of the ocean, it’s very fulfilling. Many people find it scary, but I tend to have more problems when I’m in the mountains and can’t see the horizon. At school, my favorite subjects were math and physics – which could have been because of my family: My father was a physicist, my mother taught math and physics. But they never pressured to follow in their footsteps; in fact, my mother would say: It’s much too hard, sweetheart; trust me, it’s the last thing you want to do. Plus, pure physics turned out to be too nerdy for me, so I chose meteorology – and that’s where I discovered my passion for ice.
What motivates you as a researcher?
Especially in the Antarctic, there’s still so much to discover. On my first expedition I took water samples for ten solid weeks – always the same type of reading, day after day. The expedition was exciting, but at the end I knew: I wanted more; I wanted to pursue the answers to questions of my own.
On your first expedition, you were only 22.
I was young, curious, excited – it all came together. I’d read historical expedition journals. But really entering that world, seeing my first icebergs, that was massive.
What does a typical day on an expedition look like?
On board a ship, the daily routine is highly structured, especially by meals. Breakfast, lunch, supper, always at the same time of day. The day begins with the weather meeting, then we pack our gear and fly by helicopter to an ice floe. Depending on conditions, we work there for two to five hours before we get picked up again. Back on board, we wash up our gear, secure our data, and get ready for the next day.
What exactly are you investigating on the Antarctic sea ice?
The world is growing warmer and the Antarctic is changing, but how exactly? My piece of the puzzle is the snow cover on sea ice. The snow determines how much solar radiation is reflected or absorbed by the ocean. I’m looking into how the snow’s properties change throughout the year and how this affects the sea ice. Under a magnifying glass, I can see whether the snow crystals have collapsed, been affected by the wind, or melted. Sometimes penguins walk by and watch me work.
Sounds like a nice job.
Absolutely. There are some snow crystals that I really find beautiful. Then everyone else on the team has to think they’re beautiful too, whether they want to or not.
What was your greatest discovery so far?
That, since 2015, the sea-ice extent has changed, but the thickness of the snow and ice is largely unchanged. Our data doesn’t show any major changes. That forces us to rethink things: Why is the extent shrinking, but not the thickness? My research will help us understand these processes.
You became a professor when you were only 35. What was it like to assert yourself as a young woman?
It wasn’t and isn’t easy. On board ships, the crew is still mostly men; among the researchers, maybe one out of three is a woman. The first time I was group leader on an expedition, I really had to prove myself – even though everyone knew me. I had to prove I could really do it. Men often don’t have to do that. And in day-to-day work it’s a challenge, too; as a young woman, I have to speak louder to be heard.
Were there times when you had the feeling people didn’t think you’d earned your successes?
I’ve been told plenty of times that I only got a certain job or project because I was a woman. At some point, I started believing it myself.
What strategies have you developed?
I’m very ambitious. Back in my first semester, I wrote the coordinator for polar assignments and said I wanted to go to the Antarctic. He told me I was too young and should wait a year and try again. So that’s exactly what I did.
You’re a professor now – does it feel more like the end or the beginning?
I gave a lot of thought to whether or not I really wanted to become a professor, to become part of the administration. At 35, it seemed like standing still. But in reality, it’s not the end, but the beginning. I now have much more creative freedom, I can teach, set up major projects, and continue my own education. Being a professor gives me options I didn’t have before.
What do you do differently than your predecessors?
PR and outreach are important to me. I want to show that girls can also find math and physics cool. I share glimpses of our day-to-day research work, talk about my own experiences, show practical examples – I would have liked to see things like that back when I was studying.
Why are there still so few women in physics?
It starts at school. Many math and physics teachers are old men who give girls the feeling they don’t belong there. That’s why I frequently visit schools and make projects for kids, to show them early on: Girls can do it, too.
What advice would you give to young women?
Do it. Don’t let people talk you out of it, stay curious, ask questions. Compare notes when it comes to difficult topics like salaries and working conditions. Plenty of them were taboo for many years, like when you have your period during an expedition. That’s just now slowly finding its way into the content of expedition preparation courses. Going to the bathroom on an ice floe is a real challenge for women, too, since you’re wearing a full-body snowsuit and there are no bushes or trees.
What could make things better?
Talking helps. I worked with men for years and plenty of topics were no problem at all. It wasn’t until I became a group leader for women that I realized how important it is to openly discuss things, even if they may seem trivial.
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Prof. Stefanie Arndt, born in 1988, is a sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven and head of the Snow Working Group at the University of Hamburg’s Institute of Oceanography.
