7 Sep 2023

Dr Chandrika Nath: Scientific research in the halls of power and at the poles

From Nine To Noon, 10:05 am on 7 September 2023
Dr Chandrika Nath is the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the organisation supporting international collaboration in Antarctica.

Dr Chandrika Nath is the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the organisation supporting international collaboration in Antarctica. Photo: Supplied

Scientific research has taken Dr Chandrika Nath from pole to pole.

As a glaciologist she has worked in Lapland and Antarctica, spending 100 days in the latter collecting data samples in extreme isolation.

The frigid, but tangible research, was an escape from the lab and her life as a particle physicist dealing with computer generated simulations.

Four years later, she traded one harsh environment for another - becoming a scientific advisor to parliamentary policymakers but is now back at the poles as the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the organisation supporting international collaboration in Antarctica.

Dr Chandrika Nath speaks to Kathryn about her career, and how SCAR's work supports the Antarctic Treaty - it's often thought that the treaty expires in 2048, but in fact it has no end date.

Dr Chandrika Nath is the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the organisation supporting international collaboration in Antarctica.

Dr Chandrika Nath is the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the organisation supporting international collaboration in Antarctica. Photo: Supplied