I Spent a Year Leading a Team in Complete Isolation in Antarctica. Here Are 4 Strategies You Need Right Now
Rachael Robertson led a team of 17 people on a year-long tour of duty at Davis Station in Antarctica. Her hard-won lessons are increasingly relevant as we move through the pandemic.
By Rachael Robertson
I’ve been in extended isolation before, with nine months of temperatures hovering around -35 degrees Celsius, blizzards, months of darkness, and the inability to get in or out. The lack of privacy, the mundane nature of the days, and the interpersonal pressure of living with 17 other people were extraordinary.
As the station leader at Davis Station, Antarctica, I was in charge of a mixed bag of projects. In summer, with over 120 people working on the station, it was a crazy buzz of activity. The days were long, 24 hours of daylight. I even had to lead the search and rescue following a plane crash. But many of these people return home in February, and a small group of us remain behind to manage and maintain the station.
The first five months was a breeze. Everything slowed right down–no back-to-back meetings to get to, no traffic to navigate, no constant list of birthdays…
