Sami is happiest in the wildest, most remote corners of the planet, and her home is close to many of them. Since 2015 she has lived in Ushuaia, Argentina, often called the southernmost city in the world, where she spends her days among penguins, trying to understand how they are coping with a rapidly changing climate.
She has had a close look at the daily lives of several species. On Martillo Island in the Beagle Channel, time-lapse cameras showed her when adult gentoo penguins arrive at the colony to breed, how hard they work to feed their chicks, and when they finally leave at the end of the season. She later followed Magellanic penguins to discover where and how they find their food around Martillo, Observatorio, and Staten Islands.
Today her focus is on southern rockhopper and macaroni penguins, two species known for their spiky yellow crests and plenty of attitude. She monitors them using time-lapse cameras, artificial intelligence, and a team of online volunteers. You can join them by counting penguins at zooniverse.org/projects/penguintom79/penguin-watch. Sami has worked closely with Penguin Watch for nearly a decade and has traveled south on its expeditions every year since 2022. When she isn’t wandering among penguin colonies or digging through a mountain of data, she loves hiking, climbing, cycling, and being close to the sea.
