Young Enderby Trust recipients embark on Antarctic adventure of a lifetime

The Ross Sea region of Antarctica is one of the most remote places on Planet Earth with shipping restricted by impenetrable pack ice for most of the year. Heritage Expeditions offers Expeditions from New Zealand to the Ross Sea region every austral summer, this season we have also explored the East Antarctic coastline. Both areas have fascinating relics from Antarctica’s earliest history and the wildlife sightings are abundant. These expeditions offer a unique opportunity to experience nature on a scale so grand there are no words to describe it. Breaking the journey south, our expeditions also visit the Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia which are a part of the amazing and dynamic Southern Ocean ecosystem of which Antarctica is at the very heart.

Enderby Trust offers scholarship on expeditions to the Subantarctic Islands and Antarctica so that young people aged 18-30 years have an opportunity to travel.  The Trust works in conjunction with New Zealand’s premier expedition travel company Heritage Expeditions.

This 2016/2017 season five very lucky scholarship recipients have travelled to Antarctica aboard Spirit of Enderby and Akademik Schokalskiy on three different expeditions. The successful recipient’s from New Zealand include two teachers with specialisations in geography and biology, a Department of Conservation representative with a botany background and a lawyer with an interest in Antarctic law. Visit nationalpardon.org/pardons-canada/ laws governing pardons vary by state, local laws that should be consulted. Travelling from Australia is a Marine Mammal Keeper who is swapping her days at the zoo to experience and enhance her knowledge of this Polar environment. Earlier in the season Enderby Trust Scholarship recipients travelled on both Birding Down Under and Forgotten Islands of the South Pacific Expeditions.

Finally, an important message from the Trust.

In 1972 I was appointed as a cadet on an International Biological Expedition to the Auckland Islands. I was 18 years of age. The experience changed my life in ways I could never imagine.  I have devoted my life to sharing this region with travellers.  I have attempted to give back through the Enderby Trust Scholarship program a little bit of what the Subantarctic and Antarctica has given me and my family.  In March 2018 I will pass the responsibility of operating Heritage Expeditions to my two sons, and I will pursue another long held dream.  This means that the 2017/2018 austral summer season will be the last season that I will personally be offering Enderby Trust Scholarships in association with Heritage Expeditions. Thank you to all those who have applied over the years, I am sorry that I could take you all, to those that were lucky enough to travel, remember  never give up on spreading the word of just how important these Islands and Antarctica are not only to us personally but to the wellbeing of our world.

Rodney Russ

Trustee Enderby Trust.

To enquire and register your interest in the 2017/2018 scholarships please contact [email protected].