Gabriela Roldan

Gabriela is a social scientist with an innate curiosity about the world and people’s connections to faraway places. A native of Argentina, she has travelled extensively and worked as a naturalist guide to all corners of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, South Atlantic Islands and Antarctica. Somehow, the Northern Hemisphere has eluded her so far but Gabriela hopes that experience will happen very soon!

Gabriela discovered a passion for Antarctica while living in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Her Antarctic experience created opportunities to take on many roles within Argentina’s Antarctic Programme and local government, ranging from assisting policymakers in tourism matters to creating and implementing strategies for the development of gateway cities. To satisfy her academic interests, Dr Roldan pursued a PhD in Antarctic Studies from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Currently, she conducts her Antarctic research at Gateway Antarctica, a Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research based in New Zealand. Her academic work focuses on Antarctic governance and environmental management, geopolitics of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, polar identities, and polar tourism.

Antarctic education and community outreach are pillar projects in Gabriela’s career. Over the last 20 years, she has designed and developed education programmes and resources in Argentina, Chile and New Zealand, using traditional learning resources to emerging digital technology. Gabriela is deeply invested with Antarctic education at the international level, serving as a member of the advisory Committee on Capacity Building, Education and Training for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.