in november 2023, i was part of the largest ever women-in-stemm expedition to antarctica

I joined Homeward Bound as part of the HB5 cohort, a program aiming to create an international network of 10,000 women/NBI professionals from STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) disciplines to collaborate on projects in diverse scientific and geographic fields.

Our expedition to Antarctica in November 2023 was the culmination of our leadership program and my three-year research on predictive models for ice sheet melting and sea level rise.

how is the largest desert in the world helping us tackle the climate crisis?

learn about our journey with homeward bound

Watch our documentary ‘An Infinite Journey’, an audiovisual piece that captures the experience of the 188 women from 25 countries who traveled to Antarctica in 2023 with the aim of generating collaborative and interdisciplinary networks to address the most pressing challenges of the climate emergency.

bring antarctica to your organisation

In 2025, I’m sharing my experience of Antarctica with leaders and change-makers working for our planet, in the midst of hopelessness and apathy.

Check out my keynote below and reach out if you want to bring the lessons of Antarctica to your teams.

  • In November 2023, I joined the largest-ever women-in-STEMM expedition to Antarctica—a stark and fragile front line in the climate crisis.

    What was meant to be a leadership program amidst the climate emergency became a reckoning force to confront a profound inner conflict: to reconcile the devastating reality of a collapsing ecosystem and the suffocating sense of hopelessness, with the urgent call for resistance and action.

    Drawing on three years of research into ice sheet melting and sea level rise, this keynote explores how Antarctica’s rapidly changing landscape became a mirror of our collective force— and ultimately, to the unwavering belief that the way to heal our planet is in the very humanity that binds us to it.

Priscila Chaves holding sign in snowy Antarctica with penguins
Seal sleeping on snow, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Snow-covered research station with penguins, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Orca swimming in ocean, displaying dorsal fin and distinctive black and white coloring, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves smiling in Antarctica with bright blue sky, wearing black and white patterned clothes.
Seal resting on snowy iceberg under cloudy sky, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Ship navigating through icy waters with snow-covered mountains in Antarctica, , captured by Priscila Chaves
Ship's bow with people on deck, Antarctic scenery
Chinstrap penguin standing on snow, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Snow-covered mountains and icy landscape reflected in calm blue water, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves smiling in winter clothing and an orange life vest, standing on snowy terrain with icy waters and distant mountains in the background.
Snow-covered mountains reflecting in calm Antarctic waters under a cloudy sky, captured by Priscila Chaves
Group in a boat near icebergs on the ocean, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Large iceberg against a cloudy sky with snowy mountains in the background, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves standing on snowy terrain by a body of water with icebergs, wearing winter clothing and smiling.
Antarctic landscape with icebergs on water, snow-covered mountains, and a boat with people under cloudy sky.
Priscila Chaves wearing a black jacket and orange life vest, smiling on a boat near a large iceberg, with icy waters and a cloudy sky in the background.
Jagged iceberg in calm water with cloudy sky background, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves in a black jacket labeled 'Homeward Bound' watching a sunset over the ocean from a ship's deck.
Group of people on a ship watching a sunset over the ocean, creating an orange and yellow horizon, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves smiling wearing a beanie and gloves on a boat at sunset over the ocean.
Group of penguins on a snowy mountain slope, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Chinstrap penguin on snow, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Snow-covered mountain reflected in calm icy waters, Antarctica landscape, captured by Priscila Chaves
Chinstrap penguin walking on snow, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Group of penguins standing on snowy ground in Antarctica, captured by Priscila Chaves
Group of penguins on snowy terrain during snowfall, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves on a ship in Antarctica with mountains and ocean in the background
Seal resting on snow with cloudy sky background, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Penguins on a snow-covered rocky cliff under a cloudy sky, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves in winter clothing standing on a boat with a snowy Antarctic landscape and blue ocean in the background.
Gentoo penguins on snowy slope with icy mountain and ocean in the background, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves in heavy winter clothing on a snowy ship deck, with ocean in the background.
Ocean with waves, snowy mountainous landscape, and unique cloud formation in blue sky, captured by Priscila Chaves on her expedition to Antarctica
Priscila Chaves and colleagues in warm clothing on a boat, smiling, wearing life vests and beanies, about to go on an expedition in Antarctica
Priscila Chaves in white jacket with smiling expression, standing on a boat with snowy mountains and a lake in the background.

What is AI? Teaser of our documentary “An Infinite Journey”

A colony of chinstrap penguins nesting and pebbling

Jane Goodall’s message to our expedition

Whale underwater (video credit to Alison Thieme)

One stormy night in Antarctic waters

Interrupting a seal’s nap