Robert Burton

In 1963, Robert Burton joined the British Antarctic Survey for two years' consecutive overwintering on Signy Island, South Orkneys. While officially employed as a Meteorological Assistant, he made a study of the behavior of skuas and continued long-running census programs on birds and seals. Spells of meteorological night-duty gave Bob plenty of opportunity to read the accounts of expeditions and develop an interest in Antarctic history. In the summer of 1971-72, he went to South Georgia to help establish programs on fur seals and albatrosses at Bird Island. Bob's interest in Antarctic history was revived when he became Director of the Whaling Museum at Grytviken, South Georgia, from 1995 to 1999, and was awarded a Shackleton Scholarship to collect records of the early days of the whaling industry and visits by explorers, including Sir Ernest Shackleton. For the last 20 years he has been visiting the Arctic, leading small tourist groups on camping and dog-sledging excursions for his own company, Arcturus Expeditions Ltd. When not traveling to remote places, Bob writes and lectures on natural history. In 1998 he was awarded the Polar Medal for research in the Antarctic and Arctic.