I’m Tom Pence!
My name is Tom and I am a half Filipino, half Scotch-Irish person from Arizona who has worked 8 seasons in Antarctica, 6 seasons in Alaska, and 3 seasons in Greenland. I started as a janitor/dishwasher (AKA Stewie) in Antarctica in 2012 and am most recently a Cargo Coordinator at Summit Station on the Greenlandic ice sheet. I find this work to be a fun and exciting mix of outdoor solo work and collaboration with scientists in the field. If there is a flight heading to our facility, I am running the show and coordinate with various departments to accomplish our needs to support the flight crew. When I'm not behind a plane, I am running logistics to get science equipment to and from station and getting out as much trash and recycling as possible to be processed back in the states.
Summit Station sits at about 10,500 feet in elevation and supports some of the most important climate change science in the world. We have people from various countries come to our facility to test the atmosphere, run experiments in our clean air or clean snow accumulation sectors, and even test equipment that is destined for off-world experimentation. Knowing that I am directly helping climate change scientists accomplish their research brings me incredible amounts of joy and a sense of pride.
Though I am not a scientist myself, I feel very educated by those who come through Summit who take the time to teach anyone and everyone who wants to know more about their research. Being able to go to the ends of the Earth is amazing in itself, but it's the people who you find there that make all the difference. The people who find themselves in these conditions typically have astounding personalities that should be celebrated. Some of the most important people in my life come from polar environments. I believe every person in the world could learn a lot about themselves and the people around them by being in a Polar Explorer.
I am an avid outdoors person, something you will find extensively in these environments, and love to spend my time hiking through mountains, standup paddle boarding through lakes and (mild) rivers, fishing creeks, and watching the sun rise from high peaks. I come from a family that spends most of their time in the city and to say the least, I am a total black sheep. Many members of my family work 9-5 and come home to their families, while I travel to these icy deserts to work crazy hours for months so I can find a new area to explore. Now, I live in a mountain town in Arizona to be close enough to family and the trails to keep everyone happy.
When I first heard about Antarctica, my friends were returning from their first season on the ice and they spent a couple of hours explaining what it is like and answering my unending questions. I had no idea you could go to such a place for an extended period of time! Later that day, I submitted my first application and felt my life shifting directions. The moment I set my first foot on the continent filled me with a raw feeling of excitement. This is what it felt to be an explorer and it was a feeling that I became an addiction.
It took my family a very long time to even understand where I was going geographically and even longer to understand my part in everything, especially as I changed jobs. They all thought it was a passing phase that I would outgrow, but after my 5th consecutive season, they began to understand how important this was to my existence. My mother, who is very much from the Philippines, has the understanding that where I go is cold and I work very hard. I have shown her countless photos and videos of my work and it is just so different from her upbringing in the Philippines that she doesn't understand why I would ever spend 2-6 months in a place like that.
I am hoping to continue to support climate change scientists in all of their endeavors in hopes that they will be able to inspire active change in the way the world handles carbon emissions. With enough support, we can all change how the world operates to stabilize the future.
Every single scientist I have had the honor to meet have all been such wonderful people who want to share their knowledge. Not only are they researching something profoundly important, but they themselves have proven to be such amazing people. I would recommend that anyone who wants to seek out polar regions for work, talk to everyone about everything. Everyone is brought there for a reason, whether it be direct science research or washing dishes. Everybody is worth at least a conversation and you will be surprised at what you learn.
Follow Tom on Instagram @fancypence