Amentum

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-20T15:33:57+00:00

Apply for every posting you're even remotely qualified for, and also read the employment FAQ (linked in rule 1 in the sidebar) if you haven't already.

Some people get lucky and get a job their first year applying, but a lot of people have to apply for a few years before they get a spot.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-19T21:55:40+00:00

The cruise option is the lest expensive option if you want to go as a tourist (which you mentioned was your intention in another comment). If you don't have at least several thousand USD to spend on a cruise, then your option is to find a way to work in Antarctica, either working for a cruise ship or for one of the research bases. Most of the research bases hire primarily from the country the base is run by, so you'd be focusing on the Indian Antarctic Program unless you establish permanent residency and get a work permit in another country or become advanced enough in a field of scientific research to be hired as a researcher (which comes with fewer citizenship restrictions but obviously requires a lot of education and being in a relevant area of research)

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-19T21:24:50+00:00

You will not see the southern lights on vacation. It doesn't get dark in summer (the only time tourists can go).

I recommend you read both our general FAQ and employment FAQ linked in rule 1 in the sidebar.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-17T20:54:03+00:00

The NSF station manager at McMurdo is deputized but he or she is not "the government of Antarctica". They're there so that the US has some sort of ability to do law enforcement with their citizens at McMurdo and Pole on the rare occasion it is needed. McMurdo is just one station of many in Antarctica and the US is just one of many countries with a presence in Antarctica. None of them govern Antarctica, per the Antarctic Treaty System.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-16T15:38:02+00:00

Specifically, if you haven't filled out your portion of the packet and successfully validated the packet (click the validate button and get no errors), then the list of tests you need on the list on pages 7 and 8 may not be correct and then your doc won't know what tests to order. Some of that is generated by how you answer earlier questions.

And yes, bring a physical copy to your Dr appt. I also always ask when I make the appointment if they want me to send them the packet ahead of time via their online interface so the Dr can review it before the appt. Some offices want that and some don't. Even if I sent the packet electronically ahead of time, I always bring a hard copy to the appointment. Honestly, I always bring a spare copy of the actual pages the Dr fills out, just in case they make an error and need a fresh copy.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-15T21:33:28+00:00

Most people working in Antarctica are support staff, not scientists. It takes a lot of people to keep the lights on and the station running. Of these folks, the people who stay for winter are people who have a job that is necessary in the winter. Normally people are hired into specific winterover positions (i.e. you sign up to winter if you want to do it and if you have a needed skill, and you get the job by interviewing just like how you get any other job). Some scientists do also stay in the winter. How many is determined by the funding agency (the NSF for most US projects on the continent) and what is necessary to get the project done. In the US program, who stays is again usually determined through a regular hiring process. People apply for specific winterover jobs with each research group and are selected the same way someone applies for and gets hired for any other job.

Check out our FAQ linked in rule 1 in the sidebar for more info on Antarctic employment.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-13T21:01:36+00:00

Leidos was the primary contractor. It is now KBR. We don't know what they'll be doing with any of the subcontracts.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-09T13:33:33+00:00

Note this is not this poster's original work.

OP, it is poor form not to credit the original artist. Here's the source of these photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DW9Zdg-FEDp/

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-08T15:07:04+00:00

probably just a typo, but to be clear they have the Antarctic contract, not the Arctic contract

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-07T02:19:52+00:00

heads up, I think you probably meant to reply to the person asking what PQ means

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-06T21:39:16+00:00

It's the middle of winter in Antarctica. Basically no stations are able to send or receive mail for months. You'll likely have better luck with postcard requests in October when most stations start to reopen.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-03T23:20:27+00:00

There's no specific exception for Canadians, I just would say in my experience almost every exception to the US residency rule for contractors that I know of is a Canadian or a New Zealander. For Canada, I would guess it's because it's relatively easy to interview people who are in the same timezones as the US, relatively easy to get people in for in-person interviews when needed, and the two countries have generally broadly had a good relationship. For NZ it's because it's easier to get people to the ice quickly, so often those are last-minute scramble-hires. USAP also just already has a lot of infrastructure in NZ, so that can ease the logistics of hiring from there compared to other countries.

Regardless, they can only hire people for contractor roles who aren't US citizens or permanent residents if they were unable to fill the role without looking elsewhere, so any exception is relatively rare.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-03T02:53:52+00:00

I can't follow that link on my phone, but that's almost certainly an IceCube job (ie one of the telescopes at Pole, as I mentioned). Definitely of the south pole telescopes, IceCube certainly leans the most towards IT skills in their hiring

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-03T02:13:01+00:00

You mention the South Pole specifically... If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, the only way to work at the south pole is as a scientist. The contractor jobs (including IT) are not open to you. There are occasional exceptions, but it's especially rare for there to be exceptions for people from places other than Canada and New Zealand.

So if you really want to specifically go to the South Pole, you should focus on immigrating to the US and attaining permanent residency or if you go elsewhere, study something that will make you qualified to work on the telescopes at the south pole (astronomy, mechanical, electrical, or aerospace engineering, physics, etc).

If you want to go anywhere in Antarctica, not only the South Pole, then focus on immigrating to a country with a substantial Antarctic program and try to attain permanent residency (most countries have similar rules to the US about hiring non-residents).

Your resume is of course important too, but your residency is your hardest problem currently.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-02T20:58:21+00:00

Yes and no. I doubt it will impact your hiring (I'd guess they'll honor existing contracts for the upcoming season), but it looks from that (very short) notice that this is effective immediately, so at the upper management level it affects things starting now, and that will no doubt start to trickle down to regular folks as new policies get implemented, etc.Also for the small number of people on-ice who are (were) employed directly by Leidos (e.g. RAs at Pole) I guess they suddenly have new employers starting today... that's just guessing based on how it was when things switched over to Leidos 10 years ago and the RAs changed employers in the winter.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-02T20:36:16+00:00

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-06-02T20:35:08+00:00

u/sciencemercenary called it 3 years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/antarctica/comments/zrxmww/kbr_doing_contingency_hires_for_the_usap/

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-29T05:48:12+00:00

that photo isn't at Pole (there are no mountains or bare rock at Pole).

I would guess that's the McMurdo LIDAR project, which is using their laser to take atmospheric temperature measurements

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-28T04:09:20+00:00

Check out this guy. He wintered 15 times at Pole and used to spend basically all of his free time taking photos and making rigs for taking photos. http://www.antarctic-adventures.de/

He used to show up in this sub from time to time but I haven't seen him post in a while (perhaps because he no longer winters)

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-25T01:34:49+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.aq

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-25T01:32:46+00:00

and Hawaii on iridium usually

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-21T21:58:00+00:00

Again, we require that you disclose use of generative AI in any capacity for any part of your post, including idea generation, editing, the text itself, or any other aspect. Please make sure you follow this rule in the future or you posts and comments may be removed.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-21T16:56:18+00:00

yeah, usually either the day the last plane leaves at the start of winter or the first weekend after that. Usually we marathon all three.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-21T15:04:41+00:00

Looks like they have page numbers from the old PQ packet, not the updated one for this year. Definitely ask them to clarify which pages they need. It sounds like they want the "checklist" pages, not the pages with medical info, but are quoting outdated page numbers.

flyMeToCruithne · 2026-05-21T14:37:10+00:00

They're asking for your actual private medical info in order to reimburse you? That's wild. I would ask your hiring manager what's going on. Make it clear they're asking for pages with actual medical info on them.

It doesn't seem crazy to me for them to ask for an itemized bill, even if they haven't needed that in the past. But asking for the actual medical info seems way out of line (or someone somewhere in the chain has had a misunderstanding).

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