Nine weeks, six Antarctic nations, eight planes, two ships, two zodiacs, one tender, several snow mobiles and skidoos, many treks through deep snow, all types of weather, countless wildlife, abundant ice bergs, samples galore, the Antarctic Olympics, one school, one Antarctic baptism, one erupting volcano, South America, the South Shetlands, South Orkneys, South Georgia, Southern Ocean, Scotia Sea, Falkland islands, Ascension Island, and several thousand miles later I arrived back in the UK.

In addition to all the field sampling for my research this fieldwork campaign has enabled me to make new friends and new collaborations and I am now able to continue along, and also pursue new, avenues of research which would otherwise not have been possible.

I would like to thank all those at the British Antarctic Survey, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Direccion Nacional del Antartico-Instituto Antartico Argentino, Bellingshausen, Jubany, the James Clark Ross and Newcastle University for making it all possible. And thanks also to all the people I met along the way who made the whole Antarctica 2011 field experience so rewarding and enjoyable.