116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Retired victim services specialist takes temporary gig at ‘bottom of the world’
She was the victim advocate ‘on ice’ at McMurdo Station in Antarctica
Feb. 1, 2026 5:30 am
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Shari Konarske has worked in victim services for 36 years and will literally go anywhere to help someone in a vulnerable situation, even to the “bottom of the world” — Antarctica.
She retired last year from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a regional victim witness specialist amid funding cuts to victim services. But she wasn’t ready to stop working. Through her professional connections she found a temporary position — “on ice” in the southernmost continent in the world.
Konarske, who lives in Cedar Rapids, took a contract position through the National Organization of Victim Assistance with the U.S. National Science Foundation as a victim advocate for the Sexual Assault and Harassment Prevention and Response program (SAHPR) at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The station is the largest U.S. research hub in Antarctica for scientists working on ocean and climate systems, ice core studies, as well as other fields — such as biology, geology and astrophysics.
McMurdo Station, which is on Ross Island and centered around the geographic South Pole, is surrounded by sea ice for most of the year, so being “on ice” refers to those working on site. Konarske went to Antarctica during the summer season from mid-October through mid-December last year, which is when the majority of scientists are there conducting research.
Konarske said when she arrived at McMurdo, it was minus 12 degrees with a wind chill of minus 23, but in mid-November it was in the upper 20s. It was cold, but the sun helped and she was always wearing “Big Red and white bunny boots” — the extreme cold weather gear she was issued.
The annual mean temperature is minus 0.4 degrees with recorded lows of minus 58 and highs of 46 degrees, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation.
She took a commercial flight to Christchurch, New Zealand, where she did some additional training and waited for a military transport in a C-17 cargo plane to McMurdo. The flight was more than four hours and she said she was a little concerned about landing on ice, but it wasn’t as scary as she thought.
There are limited flights to the station and to the nearest airport in Christchurch.
“There is an entire town set up,” Konarske said. “Everybody lives in the dorms. There’s a galley where we all ate, a store where you could buy food items, memorabilia and other things. There were some bars but none of those served alcohol, although you could buy it at the store. There was a coffeehouse, library, post office, church and large gym areas for different social activities.”
There are only the scientists and research staff, victim services staff and workers who operate the town. The workers include electricians, pilots, carpenters, firefighters/EMS, medical staff, food/bar workers, construction workers, shuttle drivers and air traffic controllers.
Konarske said most of the dorm rooms are shared. The scientists are mixed in with the workers and other staff.
As the victim advocate, she was on call 24 hours a day, like the other staff, to respond to anyone on the coastal station needing service and resources. People in need could talk to her without reporting to authorities, but if they wanted to file a complaint, there were investigators on site.
The SAPHR program was created in 2021 after a culture of abuse had been reported by women who alleged sexual assaults and harassment while working at McMurdo Station, according to reporting by the Associated Press and other media.
Konarske said this was a different “arena” for her than in past positions working from the prosecution perspective, and this role was “true advocacy.” She was interested in this program because it’s new and she “loves program development.”
“It’s kind of my niche to identify gaps in services and figure how to make the process better,” Konarske said.
Konarske was the first victim/witness coordinator for the Linn County Attorney’s Office from 1989 to 1998. Following that, she went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice for 27 years — in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa from 1998 to 2017, and ATF from 2017 to 2025.
Konarske said what was interesting, besides the amazing science research and projects going on, was the people who worked in the town. Some were high school graduates and others were graduate students, engineers and former military members who just wanted the experience of being in Antarctica. Each took on jobs such as being shuttle drivers, working in the power plant, cooking or washing dishes in the galley.
“One of the young women had a PhD and another was a Rhodes scholar,” she said. “It was such a diverse group of people who just wanted the experience.”
She also enjoyed meeting the scientists who would give talks one night a week, explaining their research. There was one scientist who they called “Dr. Snow” because she is the “world renowned expert on different types of now.”
There wasn’t much to do outside of work, so Konarske started hiking, which she never did before, and she had the opportunity to tour Scott’s Hut, built in 1911, by Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, a British naval officer and explorer.
Konarske said his prefabricated wooden hut, which was Scott’s explorer base, was preserved with artifacts inside because of the frigid temperatures. The interior still has food, clothing and scientific equipment from that era.
She also got to climb down into an observation tube to see underneath the ice, and she had close encounters with Emperor penguins.
“They don’t see us as predators,” Konarske said of the birds. “They are curious. I saw a few Skus — big scavenger birds — seals and fish. Those are the only animals in the area. No sharks, but they said the Orcas come in when the ice clears.
She said she would go back now that she knows what to expect. The most difficult part was being far away from her husband, three children and six grandchildren, but she talked to her husband every day.
Internet access was limited, but they had landline phones in the offices. They also could do some video calls and she used phone apps to contact other family and friends.
Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters