The time has come for our outgoing winterovers, Alicia and Camille, to pass the torch to the new winterovers that arrived at the South Pole this week. As a winterover, individuals brave the unforgiving environment to spend a year—sometimes longer—at the South Pole, half of which is enveloped in complete darkness. Every year, two winterovers are selected and sent to the South Pole to operate and maintain the IceCube detector.
This year, we are delighted to welcome IceCube’s winterovers for the 2026–2027 season, Justin Hiemstra and Dane Kleiner! Their journey to the Pole started with mandatory training in Madison, Wisconsin, before flying to Christchurch, New Zealand, and continuing on to McMurdo Station, the main U.S. Antarctic facility, which serves as a gateway for all personnel destined to the Pole. Now at the Pole after a brief stay at McMurdo, they will spend a week training with Camille before relieving the previous winterovers of their duties. Next up for Alicia and Camille is a well-deserved trip back home.
Read the Q&A below to get to know our new winterovers!
Justin Hiemstra
Hometown: Saint Paul Park, Minnesota.
Job and institution before this one: Research software engineer at the Morgridge Institute for Research/University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for High Throughput Computing.
Hobbies: Scuba diving, amateur mycology, reading.
How many continents have you been to (not counting Antarctica)? Three (North America, Europe, Asia).
Why did you apply for this opportunity? I grew up listening to my grandpa’s stories about moving his young family to a remote island in Alaska in the late 1950s, where he worked on one of the United States’ first early-warning missile defense systems, known as “White Alice.” From a pretty young age, I developed an itch to have a crazy adventure of my own, and I always imagined it might take place in Antarctica. But with all the standard-track, normative pressures in life, I never seriously thought it would end up happening; I went to college, survived the pandemic, got a job, and started putting down roots in Madison, WI. Still, the itch never completely went away, and I couldn’t shake the restlessness in my nine-to-five desk job as a software engineer. Then, a few years ago, I realized I was working on projects that were used in parts of IceCube’s data analysis pipeline. That discovery jolted those old dreams back to life, and suddenly, Antarctica didn’t feel so far-fetched. Talk about serendipity! I decided that if I wanted to make it happen, I had to take a shot and throw my hat in the ring to become an IceCube winterover. And here we are!
What do you expect life to be like at the Pole? I think life will feel slower and more mindful, even if there’s lots of work to do. Over the past few years, I’ve increasingly felt like there’s a constant pressure to spend huge chunks of my day tethered to a screen, along with what I call “there’s-an-app-for-that” syndrome. Sometimes it’s good to put away our devices to try living in analog technicolor. While I’ll still be on screens to operate the IceCube detector, I think the other facets of day-to-day life will feel considerably different from what I’m used to.
What are you most looking forward to doing at the South Pole? Spending lots of time with my fellow winterovers, who are some of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met.
Least looking forward to? This one is a close tie between being limited to four minutes of shower time a week (to conserve water) and being zapped by static electricity every time I touch a doorknob.
What do you think you will miss the most about living up north? I’m really going to miss my significant other, who I’ve been with for almost six years now. It’s not easy to imagine being away from her for an entire year, but I made sure she was on board before I even thought about applying for the position, and I’ve had her support and encouragement every step of the way. I know she’s excited for me, but going a year without seeing her is still going to be a gut punch.
What is one goal you have for your time at the South Pole? As an undergraduate Russian major, I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I still haven’t read Anna Karenina, War and Peace, or The Brothers Karamazov. No more! I’ll have plenty of time to chew through these behemoths during the six-month winter night. The hard part was lugging these heavy books all the way to the Pole.
Dane Kleiner
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia.
Job and institution before this one: MHONGOOSE postdoc, working at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
Hobbies: Skydiving, BASE jumping, SCUBA diving, rock climbing, and food (cooking but mostly eating).
How many continents have you been to (not counting Antarctica)? I’ve been very fortunate and have visited all six other continents.
Why did you apply for this opportunity? Since I discovered this was a possibility 10 years ago, I’ve always wanted to do it! It offers the unique opportunity for solving the mysteries of the Universe while experiencing the beauty (and extremeness) of planet Earth—two things that mean a lot to me. IceCube itself is such an incredible detector and telescope, and I’m humbled to be the person responsible for it and be a part of the collaboration, especially after it having won the Nobel Prize!
What do you expect life to be like at the Pole? I think there’s going to be a strong community feeling, coupled with unforgettable, unique, and lifelong experiences. At the same time, I’m certain the convenience of regular life won’t be the same, where you can’t “just go outside to get some fresh air”… You need to gear up every time.
What are you most looking forward to doing at the South Pole? Being able to go outside at -70 C (and below!), with the auroras dancing right above.
Least looking forward to? The dryness. The human body suffers in low humidities, and the South Pole is the driest place on Earth.
What do you think you will miss the most about living up north? Sprinkles, flying parachutes, doggos, friends, family, and fresh produce.
What is one goal you have for your time at the South Pole? To volunteer and help with other tasks around the station. We’re surrounded by scientific and trade experts at the station, and I would love to learn new skills and help contribute to running the station from fixing structures to providing fresh water and everything in between. Oh, and finally dealing with all my sport and adventures footage that is sitting on a hard drive doing nothing.