Meet the Conservation Team
Following a mandatory two-week period of isolation, the Trustās On-Ice conservation team deployed to Ross Island, Antarctica in early December. They will undertake our annual conservation programme at the historic explorer bases of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary that are under the Trustās care.
The team, led by Al Fastier, the Trustās Programme Manager Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project, will spend the next two months addressing some of the more complicated conservation issues facingĀ Ā the sites and continue the programme of maintenance and monitoring as part of our ongoing care of the sites.
We are excited to have a team of four who will winter-over in Antarctica in 2022 at New Zealandās Scott Base, continuing our ongoing conservation programme for the 20,000+ objects as part of our Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project. This is the first time the Trust has run a winter conservation programme since 2014.
Our team of professional conservators will carry out focused re-treatment of vulnerable objects, including a large number of iron alloy artefacts. They will select these objects during the summerĀ Ā and transport them to Scott Base where they will work on them in a laboratory between February and October 2022, before the objects are returned to the huts next summer.Ā Ā We are excited to welcome six skilled and dedicated professionals to the team.
They are Conservators Jane Hamill, Nicola Stewart, Conor Tulloch, and Belinda Hager, and Heritage Carpenters John Taylor andĀ Ā Zack Bennett.
The 2021-22 On-Ice team, left to right, Conor Tulloch, Al Fastier, Nicola Stewart, John Taylor, Belinda Hager, Jane Hamill, and Zac Bennett. Ā© Anthony Powell
While half the team are experienced Antarcticans, working in Antarctica will beĀ Ā an exciting new experience for the others. Jane Hamill is a specialist in the conservation of metals, and has previously spent two winters in Antarctica working for the Trust in 2010 and 2011.
Nicola Stewart is the Collections Officer responsible for TaupÅ Museumās historic collections. In 2006 she was part of the Trustās first conservation team to over-winter in Antarctica. āI have spent five more seasons on the Ice since then and Iām thrilled to be heading south again,ā saidĀ Ā Nicola.
John Taylor is a ranger with the Department of Conservation in GoldenBay, New Zealand. He was part of the Ross Island Conservation Team for the 2010- 11 summer season, and the field camp installation team working at Cape Adare in 2019. āIām excited to work with theĀ Trust again. This season I will be providing support focused on building conservation,āĀ says John.
For Conor Tulloch, working in AntarcticaĀ Ā will be an exciting new challenge. He has worked as an object conservator for the last nine years in museums in Ireland, theĀ UK, and New Zealand. āI love the outdoorsĀ Ā and I was trying to move out of the city. It looks like Iāve succeeded! Iām looking forward to experiencing the long days and nights of Antarctica,ā said Conor.
Also embarking on their first deployment to Antarctica are Belinda Hager, who runs aĀ Ā private conservation practice on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand, and Zack Bennett, who has spent his career restoring andĀ Ā conserving antique furniture, making high end traditional furniture, wood and stone carving, and restoring and building pipe organs. āIām passionate about the outdoors and very excited to be spending my first summer season on the Ice,ā said Zac.
For news on the teamās achievements over the summer Antarctic season, keep an eye on the Trustās website and social channels.
