winter personnel to be peer-support counselors. Some psychologists might also continue counseling via video conferencing or e-mail from the United States.

Past work by psychologists has shown that the services are much needed. For example, psychologist Eric Gunderson, PhD, a major contributor to the field of Antarctic psychology, found that living and working under extreme Antarctic conditions for several months can produce moderate to severe psychological dysfunction. He has studied psychological screening predictors for winter-over candidates for more than 30 years.

In 1960, as director of the Navy's research program at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, Gunderson was assigned to develop guidelines for screening Antarctica candidates. From 1963 to 1969, the Navy sent a psychologist and psychiatrist team each year to visit six U.S. stations in Antarcticathe challenges firsthand during his three-week visit in the early 1960s. After braving sub-zero temperatures, 35-40 mph winds and zero visibility, he became ill with altitude sickness while at the South Pole--which is more than 9,000 feet above sea level.

As for Anker, she also encountered a hitch on her second trip to Antarctica--the worst summer blizzard in 50 years delayed her departure by five days. On another trip, a family of penguins covered the iceway, temporarily preventing the plane from landing.

But her colleague Susan McFarlin, PhD, says the adventure is well worth the trip.

"I truly didn't know much about Antarctica before I went down," McFarlin says. "I thought it would be this big block of white ice, but I suppose it exceeded my expectations in beauty, tranquility and