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University of Northern B.C. student Tasha Peterson wasn't about to let a broken wrist from a snowboarding accident get in the way of the trip of a lifetime to the bottom of the Earth.

"I was worried that they wouldn't allow someone to go if they weren't in good health," said Peterson, one of four UNBC students who are trading the relative warmth of Prince George for a unique course in the Antarctic.

"A broken leg might have been a little difficult. But a broken wrist, that's not going to be a problem," Peterson, 21, said in an interview. "This is a great opportunity. I just finished a 20-page essay on the impact of tourism in Antarctica. And I'm particularly interested in the climate change aspect."

Peterson, her fellow students and UNBC professor Patrick Maher, who teaches outdoor recreation and tourism management, left this week to participate in the Students on Ice Expedition to Antarctica from Thursday to Feb. 28.

While there, the students are taking a course on Antarctic tourism as part of their UNBC program. They can also take additional courses in atmospheric and earth sciences offered through the University of Alberta while they are there, and another on glaciology offered through the University of Ottawa.

Maher said in an interview that these will be the first university courses ever taught in Antarctica. "We'll look at the environmental, economic and social impacts of tourism in Antarctica," he said. "We'll study the physical footprint that tourists have on the land sites. And what are the impacts for the gateway communities, specifically Ushuaia, Argentina [from where 30,000 tourists leave by ship each year for Antarctica]? It should be a great trip, for sure."

Maher said UNBC is one of only three Canadian universities participating in the program, which coincides with the International Polar Year. He said 71 students from Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia are taking part. Besides his UNBC students, Maher will host three other students from other universities.

"It gives them a first-hand look at a place that's as different from their everyday outlook as they can find," he said.

The trip is costing each student about $10,500, but the school has been fundraising to reduce costs.

Maher said that while the expedition will expose students to the geography and biology of the area, they will also look at the ways global warming is affecting Antarctica.

Lectures and hands-on workshops -- based in classrooms on their ship, a former U.S. polar research vessel -- will cover a variety of topics, including the geological, political, and cultural history of the region, environmental issues facing the polar area, ice and glaciology and wildlife identification and observation.

Original source taken from: http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=33c82e8d-b42a-4001-a4b8-47abf5ff9820

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