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Antarctic Disability Project: April update

Monthly blog updating on the progress of my SCAR Fellowship project: “Setting an agenda for disability-focused research in Antarctic Humanities and Social Sciences”.


Welcome to another month in the Antarctic Disability project, a Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) funded project aiming to define the priority research questions related to disability inclusion in Antarctic science.


Read on for:


Survey Update

The most exciting update is that my community survey, launched just over a month ago, already has nearly 50 responses! As a reminder, the survey is available in 5 languages and open to absolutely anyone with relevant experience, which includes anyone whose work relates to Antarctica, and also those with insights from EDI work or related sectors like Arctic research. If you're reading this, that probably means I'd love you to contribute!


Can we get to 60 responses by mid-May? Complete the survey by Sunday 12th May at which point I'll start analysing the results. If you'd rather not do the survey yourself, please share it with your networks - it all helps.




Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. Your honest, insightful and generous responses have given me a huge amount to think about already.


A quotation written on a light blue background, reading "The scientific field of polar science is losing out and not progressing as quick as it could be by excluding researchers with disabilities; it is missing out on our talents". Smaller text in the bottom left hand corner reads "Antarctic disability project, Alice Oates, SCAR Fellow 2023"

EDI Caucus blog

Lots of thanks to EDICA, a UKRI-funded initiative aiming to create inclusive research cultures and foster impactful research across the research and innovation sector, for asking me to write a blog about the project.



A trip to Lisbon

A core aspect of a SCAR Fellowship is that you must be hosted by an academic in a different country, and spend time there to help widen your network and experience. I am hosted by Dr Pedro Marques-Quinteiro in Lisbon, which meant I have the privilege of taking work trips to one of my favourite cities on the planet.


Apart from being a much-needed experience of several consecutive days of warm sunshine, something that hasn't happened in the UK since somewhere in June 2023, this was a great chance to spend time with my host in person, discuss progress, and agree on next steps. I also feel like I came back much fitter; Lisbon's steep hills are something of a challenge to someone who spends most of their time in the very flat city of Cambridge! Pedro has been a wonderful host, generous with his time and knowledge, and I'm looking forward to going back again soon.


A college of 6 images. The main image is a large square oriented toward the upper left corner of the college. 5 smaller square photos are arranged alongside the right and bottom sides. The main image is a photograph of the entrance of the Universidade Lusofona, with the name of the campus written on a tall metal oblong. The other photos are, from left bottom to right top, a photograph of Alice Oates, a blonde white woman who wears glasses, wearing a bright yellow outfit, sitting in a sunny garden; the skeletal jawline of a fish in a museum case; a piece of street art depicting a woman with flowers in her hair and doves flying from her hands; a view of the city of Lisbon from a high point; and a selfie of Alice Oates with Lisbon buildings in the background

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