Kimberly Kenny
Education and Outreach Officer
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)
AUIP alumnus: Antarctica, 2011
Kimberly Kenny, 2011 AUIP Antarctica program participant
Kim Kenny’s 2011 study abroad journey to Antarctica with AUIP was an important event in her career trajectory. The program was her first experience of travelling on a research vessel and her first experience studying abroad, and now just two years out of college she is returning to the Southernmost continent in a professional role. It was a pleasure to catch up with her at the port in Lyttelton, New Zealand, before she set off aboard the JOIDES Resolution as an Education and Outreach Officer for the International Ocean Discovery Program.
On the AUIP program to Antarctica, Kim joined scientists, tourists and students on a two-week voyage to the bottom of the globe. “I learned so much about Antarctica, both prior to the trip during the AUIP online lecture series, and, of course, on the actual field component,” she says. “You learn a huge amount in a short space of time. When studying abroad, you grow comfortable with being out of your element and adjusting to new surroundings quickly, and in the process, also learn a lot about yourself.” In addition to sighting pods of humpback whales and Antarctic sea birds, Kim was inspired by the female leadership on the program. Dr. Lori Blanc, a professor of biology at Virginia Tech and the program faculty leader, is described by Kim as “an authentic, strong female”: she made a major career change to work with her true love—birds. Sunniva Sorby, a member of the ship’s staff, also impressed Kim: enduring 50-mile-per-hour winds and temperatures of 67 degrees below zero, she made history in 1993 as part of the first all-woman team to reach the South Pole on foot without the help of dogs or motorised vehicles.
JOIDES Resolution, docked in Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand
Kim’s journey to Antarctica inspired her to study abroad again, and before graduating she completed three additional programs in China, Australia and Thailand, where she worked with the Save Elephant Foundation. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2015 and has also earned a Masters in Communications from Stanford. She has been employed in various communications roles that have taken her around the world. She has worked with Dr. Adam Smith of Reef Ecologic (another AUIP partner) in Townsville, Australia, doing communications for his Coral Reef Management and Leadership Program. She has journeyed to the Arctic twice on a research vessel, has held a UN internship in Switzerland, and has done communications work for the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva. She is now embarking on her journey with the International Ocean Discovery Program, an international marine research collaboration that monitors seabed environments and explores the Earth’s history through drilling deep sea cores, and invites you to follow along on her journey at http://joidesresolution.org.
