Press Release - North Pole Expedition is a Success

News

Antony Jinman reached the North Pole on Earth Day on 22 April at 22.05 GMT.

Antony and his team mates, Eric Larsen and Darcy St Laurent skied and snow shoed (and sometimes swam) over 500 miles from Cape Discovery to the North Pole for 51 days.

Antony, who was being funded jointly by the University and by Microsoft Bing, said: “It’s very emotional to come to the end of this journey. It’s taken three years of hard training in a number of locations in the Arctic to get to this point.”
“Thanks to everyone from Plymouth and the rest of the UK that have been following me on this expedition.”

The team had an especially hard journey as they often had to negotiate cracks in the ice called leads, by either swimming across or jumping from frozen floating lumps of ice, weathering storms and temperatures as low as -50 degrees C with wind chill, ski against negative drift, climb over pressured ice and keep a wary eye out for polar bears. Despite all of this the expedition was a huge success.

Antony said; “I’m really proud and exited that we have managed to collect over 20 scientific samples to take back for analysis. I can’t wait to get them into the lab and see what we’ve found.”

Professor Simon Belt, of the University’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, said; “I am looking forward to receiving the Arctic sea ice and seawater samples which Antony has collected from Northern Canada right up to the North Pole. It has not been possible to collect such a unique set of samples through conventional ship-based means before. This will hopefully contribute to our knowledge of past sea ice conditions and climate in the Arctic and build on our existing research.”

Antony came home to Plymouth via a Russian floating base called Barneo, which is now closed as the ice begins to break up this time of year.

From May, Antony will be taking part in a series of outreach events with local schools through the University’s Widening Participation and Lab Plus initiatives. He said: “I’ve learnt some really valuable lessons on this expedition, which I will be bringing back to share with the local community and schools. I hope this will inspire people to learn more about the Arctic Ocean and how to protect it. Dare to dream, believe and you will succeed in whatever you wish from life”

ENDS

Notes to editors:
For more information, please telephone Alison Theaker in the University of Plymouth Press Office on 01752 588004.
Other pictures available

About the University of Plymouth

Consistently ranked one of the top modern universities in the UK, Plymouth has a strong record of excellence, enterprise and innovation across its teaching and research activities and is distinguished by its long-term engagement with employers.

With around 30,000 students, including those studying at its partner FE colleges throughout the South West, the university is one of largest in the UK. With four government-funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, the maximum awarded to any single institution, the university enjoys a high rate of graduate employment and has recently invested more than £110 million in state-of-the-art facilities to enhance the student experience.

Plymouth is ranked in the top 50 research universities in the UK*. The results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 showed the majority of areas submitted by the university included world-leading research, achieving the highest rating possible, scoring 4 stars. Overall, 80% of the research was judged as being of international repute.

As the enterprise university, the University of Plymouth delivers outstanding economic, social and cultural return for business, the professions, the public sector and its wider community.

For further information go to www.plymouth.ac.uk *Research Fortnight league table

About Antony Jinman
Further information on www.antonyjinman.com

Posted 21 May 2010