Alice Oates
About Me
CV and experience
I am a geographer and researcher specialising in the history of British Antarctic science, and disability inclusion within the Antarctic community.
My PhD research at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, focused on Halley research station, Antarctica: it's history, the science conducted there, and the people who work at or on Halley. This was funded by an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship working with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Royal Society.
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Experience and Qualifications
Other activities
Member: Leadership Steering Group of the SCAR Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Group
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Postgraduate Liaison: RGS History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group (2021 - 2023)
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Co-convenor, Scott Polar Research Institute 'Polar Humanities and Social Sciences' (PHaSS) seminar series, 2019 - 2023.
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Member, SCAR Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences
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Member, Geographies of Knowledge Research Group, University of Cambridge
September 2023 - August 2024
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University of Cambridge Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre
November 2023 - January 2024
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Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
ECR Fellow
May - July 2022
UN Office for Outer Space Affairs
2019 - 2022
SPRI PHaSS
February - May 2021
Tackling Loneliness Intern
2018 - 2019
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2021
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
2016 - 2019
Pembroke College, Cambridge
2015 - 2016
Royal Holloway, University of London
Specialist one-to-one support for students with disabilities, addressing barriers to learning such as time management, anxiety and stress, and focus and concentration.
Project title: "Setting an agenda for disability-focused research in Antarctic Social Sciences and Humanities"
Hosted by Dr Pedro Marques-Quinteiro, Universidade Lusofona, Lisbon
Research internship in the UNOOSA Space for Persons with Disabilities Programme, producing a Special Report on Sonification in Space Sciences: "Sonficiation: A Tool for Research, Outreach and Inclusion in Space Sciences"
I co-convened the Scott Polar Research Institute's Polar Humanities and Social Sciences (PHaSS) workshop, an ECR workshop series aimed at connecting PHaSS ECRs and sharing their research
AHRC policy internship at the UK Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) Tackling Loneliness team.
SCAR Communications and Information Officer 2018 - 2019
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General assistant 2018 - 2024
College Recorder
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MSc Geopolitics and Security
2011 - 2014
University of Cambridge
BA Geography
PhD Work
October 2019 - July 2024
My PhD research tells the story of Halley research station from the IGY to present, utilising a combination of interviews and archival research to explore the history, science, politics, and people of this unique and important place.
Halley Station was founded by the Royal Society in 1956, in preparation for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. The station was transferred to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), the precursor to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), in 1959. Science undertaken at Halley has had global impact, most notably the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer in 1984. The station, currently Halley VI, remained in continuous operation until September 2017 when a crack opened in the Brunt Ice Shelf (NERC, 2017). The station has since been successfully automated throughout the 2019 austral winter. Halley's current scientific remit includes atmospheric sciences, space weather, and geology, including observation programmes that have been ongoing since 1956.
