Thursday 24 June 2010, 11:30 AM (AAD Theatrette)

Rob Stephenson

The Antarctic Circle coordinator, New Hampshire, USA  [Presentation.pdf]

A Low-Latitude Antarctic Gazetteer; Antarctic Sites outside the Antarctic — memorials, statues, houses, graves and the occasional pub.

FOR MANY YEARS Robert Stephenson has sought out places that have some Antarctic association but aren't actually in the Antarctic. This largely harmless avocation—a form of vicarious Antarctic exploration, if you will—has led to many pleasant and sometimes surprising adventures. The number of sites in his database is now approaching 1,000. Scattered in every continent, they include ships, trains, airplanes, graves, houses, museums, streets, moon craters, mountains, plaques, statues and even the occasional pub. These sites are described on the website he's been coordinating since 1996: www.antarctic-circle.org. As we are now in the midst of the centenary of Captain Scott's LAST EXPEDITION Stephenson will highlight some of the many Scott-related sites during his presentation. But Amundsen, Shackleton, Byrd, Charcot et al will get their due as well.

Bio: Robert Stephenson worked for some time as an institutional planner in New York and Boston and started collecting Antarctic books after reading Cherry-Garrard's The Worse Journey in the World when in college. He lives in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, where his collection now resides in a renovated 19th century textile mill. Visitors are always welcome.