London Press Service

A FRESH perspective to climate change research and debate - as well as valuable international project management skills - has been brought about by the first UK-led, international women-only expedition to the South Pole.

The Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic trek has meant wider public participation in otherwise highly challenging and often male-dominated specialised projects.

Many of the women involved became the first from their countries to travel to extreme areas such as Antarctica. They braved blizzards, crevasses and temperatures of minus 30-40 degrees Celsius as they ski-ed more than 900 kilometres (540 miles) to the South Pole.

Indeed, before joining the dangerous journey, many of them had never been in sub-zero temperatures, put on a pair of skis or spent the night in a tent - making the challenge they undertook even more remarkable.

Its knowledgeable leader, Felicity Aston, started planning the daunting trek in 2007. Previously, the 31-year-old UK scientist had spent three years in Antarctica studying the ozone hole and climate change with the British Antarctic Survey.

It was following her experience in heading expeditions to Siberia, Greenland and the Arctic that she had the idea of an all-women expedition.

"In 2007 I approached the UK's Churchill Trust, applying for a travel grant to be able to recruit seven women amateurs from international backgrounds to take part in a journey to the South Pole, highlighting the role of women in today's society on crucial matters and working as a team," said Aston.

"When you have lived in Antarctica, you know that political borders matter less. Everybody there is helping each other. Women could achieve a lot in this direction wherever they live," she added.

In her time there she learned that the ice on the land of what is called the world's "water reserve" continent increases because of colder weather. The large snow cover reflects more light, creating a larger ice mass on the seas surrounding Antarctica.

The colder conditions will make it more difficult to visit and explore the continent, therefore requiring closer international cooperation.

In contrast to earlier expectations that more Antarctica ice would melt, raising water levels, the prospect may be that sea levels may increase because of the new ice's bigger body mass.

Although Felicity Aston is humble about the goals of her expedition focusing on international cooperation among women, she also represents a science-based and independent collective voice on climate change.

It is likely that in the future, activists such as she will help determine the way that key political and economic decisions on climate change are taken, because her approach demonstrates one of the successful ways to engage the international public with the main issues of the day.

Aston also approached the UK's Royal Commonwealth Society for help to recruit participants for the South Pole expedition from Commonwealth countries, thus adding another organisation backing her with resources to drive the project.

She received 800 applications from mostly amateurs to generate a team of eight, including herself, from India, Ghana, Brunei, Singapore, Cyprus, Jamaica, New Zealand and the UK - representing a Commonwealth of 52 nations and two billion people around the globe.

Following a successful pitch for 500,000 dollars of funding from the Kaspersky Lab - one of the world's top anti-virus software companies that originated in Russia - Aston and the team had all they needed for the "ski trip" to the South Pole that would take 38 days.

Eugene Kaspersky, the company's chief executive officer, is a committed IT scientist and philanthropist who gave much of his time and resources to see the team set off in autumn 2009 and meet them again in Singapore on their return in February 2010 (www.kaspersky.com/).

The Kaspersky Lab effectively became the ninth member of the team, providing sponsorship and encouragement. The Royal Commonwealth Society was the expedition's organisational support and coordinator.

The participants, aged between 25 and 43, underwent tough training in Norway but just before the South Pole trek, journalist Barbara Yanney, 29, from Ghana fell ill and had to leave the team. She was replaced by Helen Turton who has completed expeditions to the North and South Pole.

In Antarctica another casualty was Kim-Marie Spence, 30, a political researcher from Jamaica who suffered frostbite during the first bad storm. She went home and recovered. The incident served as a warning that whatever the preparation and the support, any journey to the South Pole is life-threatening.

On her safe return, Stephanie Solomonides, 25, an IT expert from Nicosia, Cyprus, commented that the expedition was her "life-time chance" to take part in such a big international project and she was ready to join a similar venture.

Helen Turton, a 43-year-old UK outdoor teacher and Churchill Fellow who replaced Yanney, said that besides her previous experience from expeditions to Greenland and both poles, this one required very high self-sufficiency, mental and physical resilience.

She added: "When you are there you experience 360-degrees view, isolation, monotonous landscape and you need to have the constant ability to escape big life-threatening holes in the ice, carrying 50-60 kilos of equipment."

Dk Najibah Kahar, aged 25, who is from Brunei and works for her country's Foreign Ministry, and Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, 38, a teacher from India, were concerned with widening the role that women play in their societies.

Sophia Pang, 36, an IT consultant from Singapore, was the only mother in the expedition, leaving three daughters behind.

"I wanted to show to women in Singapore and my daughters that it is okay to dare, dream and try and put yourself first - chasing your ambitions," she said ... possibly summing up the view of every one of the team who went on the journey to find the South Pole - and themselves - on the adventure at the bottom of the world.