Carnoustie woman Dr Beth Christie, a lecturer at Edinburgh University, has returned from an all-female exhibition to Antarctica.

Carnoustie primary pupil’s flag was planted during allfemale expedition

A Carnoustie lecturer has returned from the “amazing” experience of a successful all-female expedition to Antarctica.

Dr Beth Christie’s voyage was the culmination of a year-long programme to develop leadership and communication capabilities.

Dr Christie, a lecturer in education at Edinburgh University, said she was excited about bringing the stories of Antarctica back to schoolchildren in Scotland.

She added: : “My aim in being part of the expedition was to meet like-minded inspiring women and to experience a relatively untouched part of the world.

“Specifically, I was keen to meet others who were working in related areas of sustainability education to share the work we have been developing in Scotland.

“I also felt extremely excited and privileged to be given the opportunities to visit one of the most fragile and largely untouched continents in the world.”

Dr Christie worked with the UK Polar Network and a number of schools across the UK to take flags designed by pupils out to Antarctica to tie into learning from their classrooms.

And she revealed one of the flags she took on the voyage was designed by Erin Geekie, a pupil at Carlogie Primary School in Carnoustie.

She will be visiting the school later this week to show them where their flag has been planted and share stories and pictures from the voyage.

The social scientist said: “The class have been following the expedition and studying Antarctica, so have lots of questions to ask me.

“This opportunity to work directly with schools gives an exciting and perhaps more hopeful opportunity to look at both the global and local effects of climate change issues.”

Dr Christie also paid tribute to the support she has received from her family, husband David and children Drew and Ruby.

“As I was unable to be in contact for most of the expedition, my daughter organised for my friends and family to write to me so that I could have something to open when I was missing home,” she said.

“She kept this a secret and surprised me on the day I left with a wee care package of letters and my favourite sweets to keep me from feeling homesick.

“It was an amazing experience to be able to share with my children, even if it simply lets them see that exciting adventures are still possible, regardless of gender or age.

“I’ve spent 21 days living in close quarters with a number of inspiring individuals, such as Nobel laureates, marine biologists and zoologists, and we’ve a number of international and theme-based research projects in development,” Dr Christie added.

jmillar@thecourier.co.uk

Left: Dr Beth Christie from Carnoustie during her Antarctic expedition. Above: a close encounter with a penguin.

Seals and icebergs were just some of the sights Dr Christie encountered during her Antarctic voyage.