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Sandra Chapman recounted the thrill of being chased by angry fur seals, the wonder of observing the blue light inside ice caves and the difficulty of sketching foam-topped waves from a rolling ship on a voyage to the Antarctic on which she served as artist for the British Antarctic Survey, writes Yfke van Bergen. Last week, the astrophysicist told Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ¡¯s scientific society about her trip in 2003-04, when a ¡®dream-time fellowship¡¯ from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts allowed her to put aside her work as head of the Space and Astrophysics Group at Warwick 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ. Professor Chapman journeyed aboard the RRS James Clark Ross , a research ship that sails from Rothera on Adelaide Island to supply remote BAS bases. She has exhibited her Antarctic photography, sketches and paintings at Harvard 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ and at Cambridge. She wants her field art to illustrate how a scientist sees the world, to capture the essence of discovery and exploration. ¡®People want things to be natural, and Antarctica is the ultimate unspoilt wilderness,¡¯ she said. ¡®But by exploring it, you change it. I want to convey that in my art¡¯