In our latest OIST podcast episode, science communicator Merle Naidoo talks to Prof. Síle Nic Chormaic, head of OIST's Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit. She joined the sixth cohort of Team Homeward Bound, spending 20 intense days of learning and networking on board the vessel Island Sky. Prof. Nic Chormaic explains how she secured the opportunity of a lifetime to visit the frozen continent, the highlights and challenges of her journey, and the precarious future of Antarctica.