Chase-ing Antarctica: Exploring the South Pole from a Student’s lens
Sophomore student Evelyn Chase blends passion, purpose, and photography during her trip to the South Pole.
Evelyn Chase is a sophomore marine biology major at Texas A&M University at Galveston, with a lifelong passion for animals.
While most college students take winter break as a chance to rest, recharge, and relax with family, some crave to do more than just sip hot-cocoa.
Sophomore Evelyn Chase at Texas A&M University at Galveston is one of those rare few. For Chase, December 2025 was spent sailing among the towering blue glaciers and snowy horizons of the Antarctic Peninsula. As a marine biology major with a passion for inspiring nature conservation through photography, Evelyn traded the sandy shores of Galveston Island for the icy tides of the Southern Ocean, proving that Sea Aggies are a force for good everywhere — even at the South Pole.
Photo by Rodolphe Villevieille, Swan Hellenic Vega
The eye-opening journey began not on a boat, but when Chase first spotted the opportunity — deep within the pages of Texas A&M’s study abroad directory. Although the program was technically an international business course hosted out of the College Station campus, the enthusiastic support of her advisor and the guidance of faculty like Dr. Jamie Steichen, ’06, ’13, Instructional Associate Professor of Marine Biology at the College of Marine Sciences & Maritime Studies, helped her navigate the preparation process.
At every step taken to get ready for the trip, Chase knew that it would be a life-changing opportunity to put her photography and research skills to the test while seeing the world. “My family was super excited and supportive of me going too, because that’s an experience that you can’t really get elsewhere,” Chase recalled. “They were jumping up and down for joy when I got the acceptance note.”
Chase’s preparation culminated in a busy travel itinerary that took her from Houston to Buenos Aires, and finally to Ushuaia, Argentina—the southernmost city on Earth. From there, she boarded the Swan Hellenic Vega expedition ship to cross the infamous Drake Passage. While the journey south through the “Drake Lake” was uncharacteristically calm, the return trip tested Chase’s sea legs with fifteen-foot swells. It was a hands-on introduction to the raw power of the environment Chase has spent her life looking forward to preserving.
Photos by Evelyn Chase
When the Swan Hellenic Vega finally arrived at Antarctica, Chase described stepping onto the continent for the first time was a surreal experience that was an “explorer’s dream.” The scale of the environment was nearly impossible to process, with building-sized icebergs calving off glaciers and glowing with deep, brilliant blues. Because it was the height of the Antarctic summer, the sun never truly set; instead, it hovered in a state of “pseudo-sunset” at 11:00 PM, bathing the white landscape in a constant, surreal orange twilight. Even the temperature was a surprise, reaching a (relatively) balmy 50 degrees Fahrenheit on the warmest days—occasionally making the South Pole feel more temperate than Texas during its brief freeze in December 2025.
“I even sent a picture to my friends during the freeze,” said Chase, “And I was like: ‘Hey, it’s warmer in Antarctica than Texas right now!’”
The isolation of the landscape was punctuated by the vibrant, curious wildlife that calls the peninsula home. From the deck of the ship and the seats of Zodiac boats, Chase captured photos of humpback whales, killer whales, and leopard seals lounging on ice flows. The highlights of the trip for her, however, were the penguins. Chase witnessed colonies of Gentoos and Chinstraps, and — in a rare stroke of luck — spotted a juvenile Emperor penguin chick; a sighting the expedition guides noted was exceptionally uncommon for that time of year. These moments reinforced her desire to pursue a career in expeditionary biology and underwater photography, capturing the beauty of remote environments to inspire conservation.
Photos by Evelyn Chase
A background in marine science made Chase a uniquely valuable asset to the expedition. As the ship neared the Antarctic Peninsula, the experience transitioned from a voyage into a classroom without walls. During this unique opportunity, Chase integrated herself into the “Fjord Phyto” project — a citizen science initiative out of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Utilizing the skills she honed in MARB 101 with Dr. Steichen, and MARS 102 with Dr. Christopher Smith, Instructional Assistant Professor of Marine and Coastal Environmental Science, Chase got firsthand experience assisting with phytoplankton sampling and water quality monitoring. That knowledge allowed her to act as a bridge between the research and the public, as she taught fellow students and cruise guests how the data she helped to collect would be cross-referenced with NASA satellite imagery to track the health of the Antarctic ecosystem.
“I was one of the few people who had done phytoplankton sampling before,” said Chase, “So, I was actually able to help teach some of my fellow students on the expedition.”
After returning from the expedition, the impact of the trip remained etched in Chase’s perspective on her education and purpose. She returned to Galveston not only with hours of video and thousands of photos, but also with a deeper understanding of how her passion meets her selfless purpose, and an invaluable connection to the global scientific community.
“It was an amazing experience. Only a small percentage of people get the chance to see the Antarctic Continent,” said Chase. “So being able to go there with my class, set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula, and be able to see all those creatures and every day it is like — oh, it doesn’t get better than this!”
For Chase, the experience was a reminder that the opportunities at Texas A&M Galveston are as limitless as the ocean’s horizons. Now, she looks toward a future where she might return to the ice not as a student, but as researcher and professional diver — continuing the work to be a force for good building a brighter, safer world at the South Pole.
