Are you a professional in penguin bum lifting? Derren Fox’s love for penguins began long before he made the trek to the icy sub-Antarctic island of Signy, where he works as a Zoological Assistant. In this episode, Derren chats to Nadia from Signy Research Station, where he spends his days getting up close and personal with Adélie penguins. He’s joined by Peter Fretwell, a satellite-wielding penguin expert who studies emperor penguins across the vast, frozen continent.

Together, they share some of the more interesting ways they weigh and monitor the health of these iconic, charming, and stubborn birds - and spoiler: it involves a lot of careful penguin wrangling. They also discuss the serious threats facing emperor penguins from climate change. From dodging the occasional disgruntled penguin, to the iconic place these flightless birds have in Antarctica’s ecosystem, this episode is a fun, eye-opening look at the challenges and joys of studying penguins in the wild.

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Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team talk climate science, extreme living, expeditions and becoming a community. 

A podcast from British Antarctic Survey, hosted and recorded by marine biologist Nadia Frontier. Produced in partnership with Boffin Media.