I’m Martina Mascioni!

My name is Martina, I was born in Ushuaia (Argentina), a city known as "the end of the world" for being the southernmost city in the world. I lived there until I was five years old and then I moved with my family to San Luis (Argentina), a town in the center of the country. At the age of eighteen, I moved to the city of La Plata to pursue a scientific career in Biology. I started studying biology because I am passionate about nature, animals and plants, all living organisms in general. In 2015 I started an internship at the Museum of La Plata studying microalgae from the Drake Passage, over the years one thing led to another and I ended up doing my PhD thesis at the Museum with samples from the Antarctic Peninsula. Currently, my thesis focuses on phytoplankton (microalgae) ecology in coastal areas of the western Antarctic Peninsula.

In 2016 I also began collaborating with Allison Cusick and the Vernet Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography on a Citizen Science (also known as Collaborative or Community Science) project called FjordPhyto, in which travelers visiting the Antarctic Peninsula during the summer collect samples for us researchers to analyze. The Fjordphyto project led me to explore other aspects of scientific work, outreach and connecting with the public within citizen science. It was also participation in the Fjordphyto project that led me to embark in 2021-2022 on tourist ships to conduct sampling on board, as well as to give informative lectures to passengers.

I am also a teaching assistant in a subject taken by third-year biology students to learn about protist and fungal biology. I love teaching, it gets me involved with young students and gives me the opportunity to share my experience but also to learn a lot from the new generations.

I really love my job and I am passionate about nature! I love trips that involve hiking or long walks in the countryside. I am one of those who stop many times to observe bugs, fungi, plants, and even the soil sometimes! I have many field guides to be able to identify as much as I can every time I go to the field.

I also enjoy cycling and team sports, like field hockey, soccer, and handball. In my free time at home, I like to watch movies and series and spend time with my little dog. I am Latin American, Spanish is my mother tongue, and I also speak English and understand Portuguese and Italian.

Before I ever set foot in Antarctica I had been working with Antarctic samples for 6 years! I had been working with Antarctic phytoplankton since 2015, but I had never had the chance to travel to the white continent. After six years of learning about the entire Antarctic continent only through photos, place names, stories, Google searches, and scientific articles, my anticipation of setting foot in Antarctica was growing. In addition, during the pandemic years, the complication of travel added a sense of uncertainty. Then finally, in November 2021, I was offered an opportunity to finally go and fulfill my dream!

My first trip was aboard a tourist cruise ship, which allowed me to visit many places along the Antarctic Peninsula. The feeling of finally being in the places where I had only observed samples under the microscope was very special, I was able to put in my head a real picture and a real feeling of the places I had so often listed in my manuscripts.

Every time I explain what I do for a living, everyone asks me "when are you going to Antarctica?". So even though my relatives were amazed that I was going to travel to Antarctica, it was quite expected. Argentina has a long history of exploration and presence in Antarctica, so visiting Antarctica as a scientist is not seen as something as distant and unreachable as in other countries.

I look forward to continuing to work in the polar regions! I am passionate about my work, so I don't expect to change the subject, I would like to continue my research on microalgae in Antarctica.

I think I always recommend that you go after what you want, ask around, get informed and ask for help, look for someone who is an inspiration or doing something you would like to do, and ask about job opportunities or how to get involved, there are always people willing to help or involve new people in their work groups. And last but not least, patience and perseverance, somehow things will find their way.

Check out Martina’s research at https://fjordphyto.ucsd.edu/ and keep up with her on Twitter and Instagram @marmascioni