The burned bodies of 18 suspected migrants were today found in a remote rural area in northern Greece where wildfires have been burning for days.

A series of ferocious wildfires are continuing to wreak havoc and incinerate homes across the nation and have triggered mass evacuations from tourist hotspots.  

Firefighters are desperately trying to douse the flames with water but the blaze is raging though the Evros region in northeastern Greece and close to the capital of Athens.

The wildfires, which were sparked by a dangerous mix of 41C heat and gale-force winds four days ago, have killed 20 people and destroyed dozens of homes across the country.

Authorities said they believe they have found the burned bodies of 18 migrants near a shack in the Avanta area north of the city of Alexandroupoli. 

‘Given that there have been no reports of disappearances or missing residents from the surrounding areas, the possibility that these are people who entered the country illegally is being investigated,’ fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios. 

Officials believe the suspected migrants entered the region via Turkey, a popular route for those travelling to Greece illegally. 

‘Searches throughout the entire area where the fire broke out are ongoing,’ Artopios added. 

The wildfires are continuing to burn unchecked in the northeast of the country near the port city of Alexandroupolis, on the islands of Evia and Kynthos, as well as the region of Boeotia north of Athens.

‘There are nine active fronts… it’s a similar situation to July,’ a fire department spokeswoman said, referring to a wave of wildfires that left five dead last month. 

The latest deaths of 18 suspected migrants pushed the overall toll from this week’s fires to 20, after another suspected migrant was found dead in the area Monday. 

An elderly shepherd had also been found dead north of Athens on Monday. 

In Alexandroupolis, where flames have come perilously close to the University hospital, 65 patients were evacuated in the early hours of this morning onto a ferry in the city’s port as a precaution. 

Another 14 people were evacuated by a coast guard vessel from a beach near the village of Makri. 

Several communities in the broader Evros region, near the border with Turkey, have been evacuated as authorities warned the risk of new fires remained high in the coming days. 

Harrowing images show the extent of the damage caused by the wildfires, with the charred remains of homes and cars seen in the Evros region. 

‘Under extreme weather conditions, mainly due to gale-force winds, a huge effort has been made to manage fire fronts that broke out simultaneously in many parts of the country,’ fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopios said late on Monday.

‘The hours we are going through are extremely critical.’

Over 60 fires had erupted in the last 24 hours, and six countries were sending help via the European Union’s civil protection mechanism, the fire department said.

Some 120 firefighters from Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Serbia will pitch in, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told state TV ERT.

Meanwhile, the European Union announced it was deploying two Cyprus-based firefighting aircraft and a Romanian firefighting team via the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.

A new fire broke out Tuesday at a landfill in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos near Athens, covering the area in a noxious black cloud.

Officials shut down the nearest section of the Athens ring road, and advised residents to stay indoors.

Another fire broke out in the foothills of Mount Parnitha near the capitals, prompting evacuations.

On the island of Evia, near the capital, officials late Monday evacuated the industrial town of Nea Artaki, where the fire has damaged poultry and pork farms.

The burned body of a man believed to be a migrant was found in a rural area in Lefkimi, near Alexandroupolis, on Monday, a local police official said. 

Evros is a popular border crossing for hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Asia who use the river by the same name separating Greece from Turkey to cross into the European Union. 

An elderly shepherd had also been found dead in the Boeotia region earlier on Monday.

The flames were also threatening the national park of Dadia, which is one of the most important protected areas in Europe. It offers an ideal habitat for rare birds and is home to the only breeding population of black vultures in the Balkans.

The very hot and dry conditions which increase the fire risk will persist until Friday, according to meteorologists.

Summer wildfires in Greece are common but have been made worse in recent years by unusually hot, dry and windy conditions that scientists have linked to climate change.

More than 20,000 foreign tourists had to be evacuated from the holiday island of Rhodes in July as wildfires burned for a week, destroying hotels and resorts.

The fire had started on July 18 and was fanned by strong winds ravaged almost 17,770 hectares (more than 43,000 acres) in 10 days in the south of Rhodes.

Firefighters in Spain also battled on Tuesday to stabilise a huge wildfire that has devastated forests on the popular tourist destination of Tenerife for six days. 

More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and nearly 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of pine forest and scrubland have been burned. Large parts of Spain were under alert for wildfire risk due to a heatwave that sent temperatures spiking over 38C in many areas. 

Meanwhile, in Greece’s northern seaside city of Kavala, two firefighters were injured on Monday while trying to contain a blaze threatening homes in the village of Dialekto, the fire brigade said. 

Wildfires have ravaged countries across southern Europe this summer, forcing thousands to be evacuated and thousands more to cancel their holidays. 

Last week, ferocious wildfires ripped through 300 hectares of land in a nature park surrounding the Mount Teide volcano on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Another fire last week ravaged ravaged homes and holiday campsites in a British tourist hotspot in France, forcing the evacuation of 3,000 people. 

The blazing wildfires ripped through 500 hectares of land and saw thousands of terrified tourists flee for their lives from their holiday homes and campsites in the popular holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, southern France.

Britons told how panicked families who had quickly packed their belongings and fled campsites in the commune of Saint-Andre in their cars became trapped in traffic jams after they realised they were in fact heading towards the quickly expanding flames of the wildfire. 

Zak Dhabalia, 55, a retired British hedge fund manager who lives in the nearby village of Sorede and saw the flames come perilously close to his home, said it was an ‘extraordinary and terrifying experience for us all’.

Dhabalia, who lives with his French wife Sylvie Dhabalia, told MailOnline it was ‘terrifying’ to see how quickly the wildfire spread across the vineyards towards the campsites which were gutted by the flames, adding that he could hear gas canisters exploding at the site.

Elsewhere in Europe, Greece, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia combined lost more than 1,350 square kilometers (520 square miles) to blazes that affected 120,000 people in late July, according to European Union estimates.

Two weeks ago, a series of wildfires ripped through Portugal and neighbouring Spain as temperatures soared to over 44C, forcing the evacuation of thousands of holidaymakers from villages and campsites.

Climate scientists say heat waves are more intense, more frequent and longer because of climate change — and coupled with droughts have made wildfires harder to fight.

They say climate change will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

‘Climate change kills,’ Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last month during a visit to the Extremadura region, the site of three major blazes. ‘It kills people, it kills our ecosystems and biodiversity.’ 

Wildfires raging through Europe this summer have so far burned the second-largest area on record, even though the region is only halfway through its typical fire season, according to data from the European Union’s Joint Research Centre. 

Southern European countries such as Portugal and Greece experience fires most summers, but hotter temperatures are pushing severe wildfire risk north, with Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic among those hit this season. 

A farmer who lives off-grid in rural Kentucky is the star of a new YouTube video, which lays bare his very stripped back lifestyle and how he is on the quest for love.

Titus Morris has been living in a remote part of the Appalachian Mountains for eight years with no electricity, mains water, no cell phone, no car and even no shoes in the summer.

In an hour-long documentary made by YouTuber Peter Santenello, Titus sheds light on what his day to day routine looks like, with farming potatoes, doing laundry in the neighboring river and feeding his horses being among his daily tasks. 

At one point, he reveals his monthly expenditure is around $140 and he makes a small income by training and shoeing horses. 

His outgoings include $90 a month for a landline telephone, which has been installed in a shed by his trailer home so he can share it with a neighbor. 

He then spends around $20 a month on food for his dogs Sadie and Spartacus and another $30 on produce he can’t grow, such as bananas and Himalayan salt. 

After being brought up in a ‘very religious’ family, Titus continued living as simply as possible. 

While his parents have a computer and electricity, he decided to take things back to basics even further.

He says he lives in a similar way to the Amish community, but he does not follow their religion and practices pure Christianity instead.

Adding to the mystery, he has no official form of ID. 

His parents got him a social security number for him as a child but he never signed it and later decided to revoke it. 

Then, his birth certificate washed away in a flood and he has never had a driver’s license. 

He tells viewers: ‘I don’t exist in the eyes of the government but I do exist in the lives of people that know me and my Father in heaven.’

In terms of his home base, Titus lives on a 50-acre plot, with about 20 acres of this being open pasture and the other 30 acres being woodland.

At the beginning of the documentary, the outdoorsman gives viewers a quick tour of his small home. 

He explains that it is a little messy, as he has had a friend staying with him. 

The open-plan home consists of a kitchen, dining space and an area to sleep.

While it has a normal kitchen installed, none of the appliances work, and Titus disconnected the electricity when he moved in. 

During the summer, he likes to cook on a wood burning stove on his front porch as it gets too hot inside. 

In line with his religious beliefs, Titus does not eat any meat and he never had any dairy or egg products growing up. 

He shows documentary maker Peter that one of his favorite meals consists of red potatoes, purple onions and kale with a sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt for flavor.

He says his plant-based diet has not impacted his athleticism, and throughout the documentary he demonstrates his strength, doing everything from climbing trees, to backwards rolling off his horse to scaling a rope into the loft of his barn.

Titus also says he is generally in good health and this year he hasn’t been sick at all, ‘not even a stuffy nose.’

He explains: ‘My thought is eat lots of healthy food, breath deep fresh air, try seeing God, get exercise and do things that strengthen your immune system so then your immune system is strong enough.’

There is a small outhouse as a toilet, and Titus has formed a dam in the creek, so a deeper pool of water serves as a bath.

This is fine during the summer months, but during the winter it can get a little chilly. 

When it gets cooler, Titus also starts wearing shoes again as he says it’s ‘not healthy’ to go barefoot in the cold. 

While he content on his farm, Titus says there are a couple of things that would be useful.

Firstly, he says a refrigerator would be ‘handy,’ as currently he has to keep goods cool in the creek. 

He explains: ‘I can put stuff in the creek and it will keep overnight. Like, if I have beans leftover or something I can put them in a pot in the creek and they’ll stay good overnight.’

But over a refrigerator, Titus’ biggest wish is to find someone to share his life with. 

While riding in his horse and carriage, which he uses instead of a car, he muses: ‘I think the only thing I’m missing really is someone to share this life with me and children.’

Titus has shared his landline with viewers in a bid to find love, and he says he can be reached at 606-448-4252.

However, as he is out working the land most days he says it is unlikely he will answer and it’s best to leave a voicemail instead.   

As a further lure to any potential love interests, he says of his tucked away plot: ‘I wake up in the morning and there’s a green hill on that side and there’s a green hill on that side and I just have my own little peaceful valley here.’

Sky-high grocery prices, temperatures below minus 40 degrees and no restaurants or bars.

These are just some of the things that 28-year-old Maryse Pilon had to get used to after relocating to a very remote part of Canada for work as an education specialist. 

The Canadian accepted a job in the summer of 2021, which saw her move to the wilds of Akulivik in Nunavik, northern Quebec. 

This far flung coastal community only has about 700 residents and Maryse said the sparse population made dating a little tricky, ‘but there were still people on Tinder.’ 

The Canadian, who relocated to a slightly bigger community called Kuujjuaq in April, told DailyMail.com: ‘In Akulivik dating life was hard. 

‘There’s not a lot of people to date. In Kuujjuaq, there are more options for sure as the population is around 4,000. 

‘Even though choices are limited, you tend to meet people that have similar interests such as nature and exploring the outdoors.

‘It’s also a place where it’s easy to meet organically compared to cities like Montreal where I studied. There it’s almost 100 per cent online. 

‘When it comes to making friends, I also think you form stronger bonds in remote communities like this.’

Maryse started posting about her remote lifestyle on TikTok and now has more than 24,000 followers.

One of her videos, titled ‘typical day of a northern teacher,’ details what her working day looks like in the depths of winter. 

She explains that at 8am she walks to school through the snow, at 10:15am there is morning recess, at 12am there’s an hour-long break for lunch, and at 3pm she returns home to do some planning.

In another TikTok, she reveals what she used to wear when she was a teacher in the south of Quebec.

At the beginning of the clip she can be seen wearing a stylish outfit comprising a fitted long dress and a leather jacket.

In the next part of the TikTok, featuring the overlaid caption ‘how I get ready now to go to school,’ Maryse sports a parka with a fur trim hood, big gloves, ski goggles, and a scarf. 

The overlaid caption then reads ‘feeling a little less cute.’

Maryse found that the hardest part of her move initially was learning to live among the Inuit community. 

She explains: ‘You realize life here is very different to what you are used to and learning to live among the Inuit world is a journey.

‘You learn to take a shift in perspective and to adapt to ways that can challenge to your values and your belief.’

Along with the culture shock, Maryse had to learn to exist without conveniences such as bars and restaurants, and she was also struck by a feeling of loneliness.

However, she said she gradually formed a social circle and met other workers who had made a similar switch to her. 

Her husky dog, Loki, also provides a form of company.   

While living somewhere so different has been tough, Maryse says she has learned lots about herself. 

She muses: ‘I used to be a people pleaser but now I think I take way better care of myself.

‘I am more aware of having healthy boundaries and I spend time on meaningful activities such as hiking or kayaking. 

‘I also think I am more mindful of what people can be dealing with behind the scenes – we don’t know everyone’s back stories or the trauma they have endured – and I take things way less personally.’ 

In terms of her earnings, Maryse reveals in a clip how she earns about $60,000. 

The government then provides financial incentives to live in remote communities, with these stacking up to more than $15,000.

While her monthly rent is relatively cheap – about $228 – Maryse says the cost of groceries can be up to three times the amount as they are in Montreal as all of the goods have to be flown in.

In one of her TikToks, the teacher showcases some of the products on sale at a store in Akulivik.

A four-liter bottle of water is priced at $15.99, one avocado is on sale for $6.75 and four nectarines are marked at $11.96, while a large container of Sunny D orange juice is selling for $30.19. 

When it comes to alcohol, Maryse explains in another video that Akulivik is a ‘dry community,’ and alcohol has to be ordered online and approved by an official agent.

The beer and wine orders have to be flown in. and it can take a couple of days for them to arrive. 

Travel is another big expense, but luckily Maryse’s work pay for her flights home. 

Flights from Montreal to Akulivik cost about $2,500, she says, and it took almost a day to make the trip. 

Now the journey is a little easier as direct flights run to Kuujjuaq. 

Looking ahead, Maryse says she is happy in the north, but she hopes to start a family ‘in five years or so,’ so the quest for love might sway a return south. 

She concludes: ‘I do love life here for now. I am an authentic gal and I think I get to live a pretty authentic life in the north. I also love the proximity of nature and so does my dog.’

When it comes to remote living, this adventurous mom has embraced it wholeheartedly.   

Felicity Aston, 45, went about purchasing a tiny island called Vigur off the west coast of Iceland four years ago and now she is the sole resident along with her husband Gizli and their six-year-old son, Thrainn. 

The Brit, who is a polar explorer and scientist, didn’t disclose how much she purchased the 45 hectare island for, but at the time it was listed for $2.6 million.

The outcrop came with a 10-bedroom house, a number of outbuildings, and full farming rights. 

Some of the more unusual features include Iceland’s only windmill (which is a protected monument dating back to the 1860s), Iceland’s oldest boat built in 1800, and the smallest post office in Europe.

Felicity told DailyMail.com that her main source of income comes from harvesting duck down, and welcoming visitors – either for a brief stop offs or for overnight stays in their guesthouse. 

Vigur, which is around 3km from the mainland, receives around 10,000 visitors a year from passing tourist boats. 

While the windmill and post office are two of the island’s most photographed features, the abundant nature is another lure.

On the marine side of things, seals can often be spotted hauling out on the rocks and there are many whales, particularly humpbacks, in the fjord.

The family also find many fish bones washed up on shore, with some cod skulls proving to be very big in size – sometimes twice the size of a human skull. 

Moving on land, there are around 7,000 breeding eider ducks on the plot, more than 100,000 puffins, a rare colony of Black Guillemot and ‘more nesting Arctic Terns than anyone can count.’

The down harvesting season generally runs throughout June and Felicity describes it as a very labor intensive activity.

‘Eiderdown is picked by hand – lots of hands! 

‘There are approximately 3,500 eider nests on Vigur and they are randomly scattered across the 2km long island, often in well concealed nooks and hard-to-reach places.

‘Our days are spent scrambling and exploring every inch of the island, section by section, seeking out every single nest and collecting whatever eiderdown is not needed. 

‘We will make several rounds before we are done. Fortunately, Vigur is a beautiful and endlessly fascinating place to be outdoors amongst the birdlife and nature.’

Now that the eiderdown season is almost over, Felicity says they can all take a bit of a well-earned break.  

For a change of scenery, the trio take trips to the mainland. The journey in their boat can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on the sea conditions. 

From the local fishing village it is a 20-minute drive to the nearest town, Isafjordur which Felicity says has a population of 2,500 and ‘everything you need.’

She revealed: ‘There’s a supermarket, a bakery, a pub, a good place to eat, a hardware shop, a garage and so on. 

‘There is also a hospital but for anything serious patients are transported to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland which is a 35-minute flight away.’

Felicity and Gizli, who were previously living in Reykjavik, found out about Vigur after news of its sale made national press. 

There was a campaign for the island to be bought for the nation but the authorities issued a statement ruling that out. 

It was then on the market for about three years before the couple started to think seriously about ‘whether this might be the future.’ 

Felicity explained: ‘Both me and my husband knew Vigur and we both felt the need for a new challenge, something that we felt had legacy and that we could do together.’

After battling it out against other bidders, Felicity and Gizli discovered their offer had been accepted. 

One of the hardest things about living on the island, Felicity says, are the winters as they are often trapped there for days at a time. 

She revealed ‘We are very comfortable here but the seas around us can be huge – the Denmark Strait is at the end of the fjord, the Arctic Circle a little to our north and we’re much closer to Greenland than to Europe – so getting on and off the island is hard work. 

‘We can’t keep the boat in the water in winter so every time we use it we have to drag it out of the water and up the beach. 

‘It’s hard when we are just three of us. Every trip to the supermarket is a major expedition – it gets tiring!’

In the winter, the fjord doesn’t freeze but ice around the shore drifts up from subsidiary fjords. 

The island also gets enough snow that Felicity can make a cross country ski circuit around the island and the drifts ‘sometimes build up to the roof of the buildings.’  

In the summers, the weather can be warm but Felicity warns that ‘you always need a good coat in the evenings,’ as Iceland has famously changeable weather delivering ‘everything all at once.’ 

While the adventurous couple ‘love’ life on Vigur, they admit that ‘it is not for everyone.’

Felicity concludes, before heading back to welcome the stream of visitors ashore:  ‘There is, I think, a need in us all to find our “place” in the world, somewhere we feel we belong but also somewhere we feel we have contributed or made a difference. 

‘For us, that is Vigur. Being here has taught me that you really don’t need much to be happy. It is amazing what you can do without.

‘Vigur has this incredible peacefulness to it and yet it is a riot of noise and life. Nature is so chaotic and brutal and yet being around it is somehow soothing!

‘Everyone who comes to Vigur recognizes that there is something special here – but none of us have quite put our finger on exactly what it is. You’ll just have to see for yourself.’

A adventure-thirsty couple from Canada have told of how they ditched their city life for a remote island in Panama and they have no regrets more than one year on.  

Mark and Bethany Sikora were living in Calgary, Alberta, but sick of the sub-zero weather and increased cost of living, the duo started looking for an alternative place to put down roots. 

In January 2022, the Sikoras came across a TikTok about life in Panama and within three weeks they had sold or given away almost everything they owned in a bid to relocate to Central America. 

To get residency in Panama, expats can invest $200,000 in local real estate and Bethany, 30, told DailyMail.com that ‘we essentially sold our 1,000sqft bungalow in Canada for two acres of land with 10 structures on it.’

The Sikoras’ island plot – which they found within three months of moving – includes a house, two guest huts, an outdoor kitchen, a greenhouse, a chicken coop and a boat house with its own dock.

There is also a storehouse that contains a solar energy plant and rain water collection system, so they don’t have to be hooked up to main supplies. 

In terms of their location, the Sikoras live on a remote island called Isla Cristobal in the province of Bocas Del Toro in Western Panama.  

The lush outcrop has about 800 residents and it is only accessible by boat. 

The closest international airport is Bocas del Toro and it is about a 20- to 30-minute boat ride from there. 

In terms of making money, the Sikoras decided to market one of their guest houses on Airbnb and it is currently available to book for $94 per night.  

Bethany says the response to their island property has been ‘incredible’ and in the coming months they are 90 per cent booked. 

To generate extra income they offer a number of tours around the area, from dolphin-watching excursions to waterfall treks. 

While Mark focuses on the Airbnb and keeping that running, Bethany works remotely online as a recruiter in the U.S. and Canada.

The couple also generate a small amount from a relationship-focused podcast that they run called Pillowtalk With Mark And B.

Touching on the type of content they offer, Bethany said: ‘As most relationships these days are bringing trauma or baggage into relationships, our goal is to promote healthy conversation around that with solutions and examples for other couples.’

Looking ahead, the Sikoras’ aim is to be completely self sufficient and from their plot, they are able to fish for dinner and grow their own produce. 

Currently their only outgoings include $99 per month on internet, $35 per month for their cellphones and they get groceries every one to two weeks from the local town. 

The cost of food varies depending on how many guests they have staying. 

Asked what she misses most about life back in Calgary, Bethany mused: ‘Oh man, there is truly nothing like Alberta beef. Steak in Panama is just not the same. 

‘I also really miss driving. Cars were always my thing when I was in Canada and now we only have boats.’ 

When it comes to Mark, Bethany says he has ‘sunk in hard to island life and doesn’t seem to miss a lot.’

She continues: ‘We were intentional about this move because we wanted to get away from the media, politics, etc. 

‘He was a big podcaster before we left running a program called Lorehammer, which is focused on the game Warhammer. I think the break has been good for him. When he’s not working, he spends his time spearfishing or making new hiking trails around the island.’

On their TikTok channel the Sikoras have made it clear they do not plan on having children. 

For now they have their hands full with an assortment of animals which include two dogs, four cats, and a number of chickens.

While they say their off-grid lifestyle is ‘a lot of hard work,’ the Sikoras say they ‘still find time to play’ and they 100 per cent feel they made the right decision with leaving Canada. 

Asked to sum up Isla Cristobal in three words, Bethany concludes: ‘Paradise. Peaceful. Serene… You’ll just have to come see it for yourself!’

When it comes to remote places, this scientist has ventured to some of the most off-grid places on the planet in the hope of learning more about climate change.

And now Ulyana Horodyskyj Pena, 37, has revealed to DailyMail.com some of the wildest places she has visited, from the icy coast of Antarctica to a far-flung peninsula in the Russian Far East.

The Colorado-based adventurer, who has worked with NASA in the past and currently teaches climate change at the University of Colorado Boulder, says traveling to non-tourist spots requires lots of preparation and having a satellite communication device is another key way of keeping safe. 

Some of her more terrifying travel encounters include spotting polar bear prints in Greenland and falling into a glacial river in Nepal which ‘took my breath away.’ 

Trek down to learn more fascinating insights around Ulyana’s intrepid travels…

A giant iceberg caused a tsunami wave in Antarctica

 

When she was 21 years old at her final year at Rice University in in Houston, Texas, Ulyana had the opportunity to work on the back deck of an icebreaker ship – a toughened ship designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters – in Antarctica. 

‘I took part on a trip on the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer as part of the US Antarctic Program, under the supervision of Dr. John Anderson (Rice University) and Dr. Bernard Hallet (University of Washington). 

‘I would say that this research expedition really launched my career – where I took an interest in the extreme and remote environments on the planet. 

‘At the time, it was still quite hard to get down to the Antarctic Peninsula if you weren’t doing research and tourism wasn’t as rife there. 

‘As an undergraduate student, I worked 12-hour day shifts for a month aboard the ship, helping where I was needed. 

‘This particular project was focused on tidewater glaciers from Patagonia to Antarctica. The ship was outfitted with a jumbo piston corer that collected samples of sediment from the ocean floor. Much like tubes of ice, called ice cores, tell us about past climate, tubes of mud, or, sediment cores, do the same, but through the presence of shells and single-celled algae called diatoms. 

‘Together, the information reveals our past climate and how it’s changed due to natural cycles, and how that compares with the unprecedented amount of fossil fuels we’re pumping into the air currently.

‘Some of my other tasks included listening on headphones for whales singing in the depths, through use of an underwater hydrophone. If they were, we would cease all research operations so we wouldn’t disturb them. 

‘The reason for the surveys was to find the best locations to collect sediment cores: you need soft mud near the glacier faces – not too close, for safety reasons, but also not where you can hit hard rock and break the piston corer. 

‘When running night operations, with the lights on, sometimes birds would land on the slippery deck and then not be able to easily take off. So, one of my jobs was chasing down the birds and storing them in boxes for the night, then letting them go the next morning, when it was light again.

‘During one operation, we witnessed to a massive ice calving event. Calving is when glaciers give birth to icebergs. Any land-based ice that ends up in the ocean directly contributes to sea level rise. 

‘When we saw the magnitude of what was happening, the big tsunami wave headed our way, we made a run for it, getting to safety inside the ship. I remember when the first wave hit and I got thrown across the lab. Samples went flying off the tables. 

‘Someone who was showering later said she got flung out of the shower and wondered what had happened.

‘Once we were out of there and the seas had calmed, we assessed the damage: large storage containers had been hit and deformed by large chunks of ice. We had to take sledgehammers to some pieces of ice that still populated the back deck.’

I almost got swept away by a glacial river in Iceland

The year after her trip to Antarctica, Ulyana received a small grant to do research in Iceland as part of her masters. Her field project looked at using the landscape as a testbed for Mars terrain, looking at how water erodes rock and alters its chemistry.

‘The work I conducted during my first scientific trip to Iceland took place in the interior ‘wasteland’ north of the Vatnajokull icecap. 

‘This is also one of the regions where Apollo astronauts have trained for the lunar missions. This part of Iceland, with its vast volcanic terrain, can be used as a simulation for the environments found on both the Moon and Mars. 

‘Still today, this wild area is still not visited as often as other parts of Iceland, but it is becoming more well-known. 

‘The travel can be tricky, requiring careful and well-calculated river crossings and glacier trucks kitted out with monster tires and snorkels. 

‘Given melt from the icecap, sometimes these rivers can be quite high in the summer (when the research took place), so the snorkels come in handy!

‘At one point, we almost got stuck while trying to cross a glacial river with a strong current. There were numerous crossings of this nature. 

‘I quickly realized there was a real danger of getting swept away but we managed to make it out in one piece.’

Polar bear prints prevented us from sleeping in Greenland 

During her trip to Iceland, Ulyana also had the opportunity to explore an area on the east coast of Greenland called Ittoqqortoormiit. The settlement has a population of around 345 and it has been described as one of the world’s most remote settlements.

‘I explored the area of Ittoqqortoormiit scientifically (in terms of geological history) through sampling of soils. 

‘This work was carried out primarily on the ground, through hiking, while flights (by plane and helicopter) gave perspective from the air. I found the specific area to be highly metamorphosed (subject to great pressures and temperatures), indicating a violent history, as is to be expected with the initial opening of the Atlantic Ocean. 

‘Foggy weather rolled in from the south every day, requiring me to stay close to town, as getting lost in the surrounding mountains, especially after observing fresh polar bear tracks and bloody snow, was not desirable! It was impossible to sleep the day I spotted those paw prints and all I had was my gun to protect me.

‘While camping on a sandy beach in Walrus Bay, I observed (and listened to) the melting ice pack. In fact, one night was filled with the sounds of ice breaking apart, sometimes sounding like thunder.

‘On my way back into town from camp, I had an encounter with the local wildlife. A musk ox had wandered from the mountains into town and was shot by the local police. 

‘Through this jolting experience I learned first-hand about the hunting society in northern Greenland; how life operates here above the Arctic Circle. It was interesting to learn how the Inuit people of the Arctic have adapted to particularly harsh conditions yet have somehow made themselves comfortable with their surroundings. 

‘The small hunting town of Ittoqqortoormiit made me, an American, feel welcome, despite their limited contact with the outside world. The local people told me stories of dog sledding across the ice to hunt for seals and of kayaking in the fjords in search of whale meat. 

‘I learned narwhals are very intelligent creatures. They only come into the fjords and bays at certain times of day, when they can see the shadows of kayaks approaching, so as to avoid them!

‘There were no polar bear encounters during this trip – though prints were seen in the snow.’

Battling poisonous gases, bears and mosquitos on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula

On one occasion, Ulyana signed up for the International Volcanology Field School and took part in a two-week course on the remote Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. Her course took place mainly on the Mutnovsky volcano, which is one of the most active peaks in the area with the last eruption taking place in 2000.

‘From 6500 ft on Mutnovsky volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula, the world below looks small. You can almost reach up and touch the clouds. 

‘Being a part of the International Volcanological Field School was informative as much as it was adventurous! I got to learn that the land of Kamchatka is beautiful but deadly. 

‘On most days, we (a team of students and scientists from the US, Russia, England, Denmark and Iceland) woke up to cold, cloudy and rainy weather. 

‘One morning we were forced to stay in camp due to 45 mph winds that nearly lifted our tents off the ground. The mosquitos in this region were relentless – taking a bowl of soup from a nearby small cabin (where the cook was making food) to my tent often resulted in a dozen mosquitos landing in the bowl, thus becoming part of the protein intake. 

‘One night, my tent mate slept with her arm against the side of the tent and, the next morning, her arm was swollen with dozens of bites!

‘On most hikes, we encountered steep, uneven, and unstable terrain. To get into the active crater of Mutnovsky volcano, we needed to climb up using a tattered rope. 

‘Once over the rim, we discovered that it was not only narrow but one wrong step could send us down the slope and into the poisonous gases pouring out of the crater floor.

‘We came across one bubbling hole which was the sight of an accident, years prior, where a scientist had died while sampling. We made sure to stick together as a group and follow our instructors closely.

‘At times, it was difficult to breathe because the gases, interacting with the water vapor in our lungs, created acid. Other times, it was difficult to hike when the wind intensified, and fine ash particles assaulted our senses. 

‘Equipment malfunctioned in the extreme environment and sometimes weather conditions worsened as we ascended, making the hikes back more daunting. In those moments, you begin to understand why it is so difficult to get good scientific data in remote and hazardous locations.

‘In addition to the volcanic hazards, there were other dangers one needed to be aware of at all times: bears (we saw fresh tracks), changing weather, and crevasses that were opening up due to the melting of overlying snow. 

‘Hiking across snowy terrain was not always the easiest, especially if it was at an angle. Occasionally we resorted to sliding down the snow and ice, especially near the end of long hikes when our knees and ankles could not take the punishment of the uneven terrain anymore.’

Deadly avalanches and ice cold rivers in Nepal

Ulyana spent her PhD year in Nepal, where she got explore various mountainous and glacial areas, and she returned for 10 months on a Fulbright fellowship in 2013/2014. One of her highlights was visiting Ngozumpa, which is the longest glacier in Nepal, located under the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu.

‘While I was backpacking around Nepal, I remember seeing the evolution of internet and Wi-Fi arriving to the village where I visited for many years.

‘In 2011 I could barely send a 100 kb photo. However, these days smartphones can connect and upload high resolution photographs pretty quickly. It’s stunning to see that change in just over a decade. 

‘Aside from my 2011 PhD expedition, I had the opportunity to live abroad in Nepal for 10 months, on a Fulbright fellowship a couple of years later. This gave me a lot of time getting to know the ‘habits’ of the Ngozumpa glacier, through the various seasons. 

‘I ventured close to the Tibetan border, to explore the Nepalese base camp for Cho Oyu, the sixth highest peak in the world, and the source of the glacier I was studying, 18 kilometers down the valley.

‘One of my most terrifying moments during that time was falling into the glacial river at the outlet of Ngozumpa glacier while I was taking measurements.

‘I underestimated the strength of the current and capsized. Two of my colleagues were with me and we had a safety rope, so it ended up okay in the end. But the shock of that cold water was unbelievable and it took my breath away – literally!’ 

‘During my year abroad, I also tried to climb Himlung, a 22,965ft peak in the Nar Phu valley of the Himalaya, with a small team. That was cut short when our team leader fell in a crevasse, unroped. Fortunately he survived but he sustained many broken bones. 

‘But the valley and the peak sticks out in my mind for a few reasons – there weren’t tea houses nearby. Rather, we had a ‘homestay’ with a family. It was a neat experience to gather by the kitchen fire and take our meals in that traditional way. 

‘There was no one else on the mountain we were climbing, either – a rarity these days. So, the beautiful and pristine nature of the peak stands out. My work in Nepal was two-fold: understanding how glacial lakes are changing due to climate change and impacts of pollutants, like soot, on the snows of the high peaks. 

‘Himlung was not the first choice as far as big mountains go. We were attempting Lhotse, nearby to Everest, but an ice avalanche in 2014 killed 16 people, including one of our local team members (Asman Tamang), so we cancelled our climb.’

Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic

In 2016, Ulyana set out to the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic thanks to a grant from /National Geographic. She visited the remote area with two other scholars to collect snow samples to observe the impact of climate change. 

‘The Penny Ice Cap is one of the last remaining ice caps from the last Ice Age and our goal was to cross it, collect snow samples for pollutants along the way, and also make ground measurements to compare with what satellites were measuring at the same time. 

‘In order to lessen our carbon footprint and transport over all the equipment for the expedition, Jorge Rufat-Latre and I flew in a Cessna 210 plane from Boulder, Colorado, to Baffin Island. It was an arduous journey and took us five days in total. 

‘Despite coming in April, some of the sea ice was melting out quickly, preventing easy access to the ice cap. 

‘Instead, we had to find an alternate route. We decided to head to a place called Coronation Glacier, where we had very little information on the terrain, let alone how to navigate it safely. 

‘All of this had to be done on the fly, entrusting our mountaineering and navigation by instrument skills (especially in white-out conditions, which happened pretty often). 

‘The length of the glacier (35 km) and the tricky access due to moraine rocks not being covered up completely by snow, made for very slow-going, especially with loaded-down sleds. Several times we punched through the glacier into crevasses. It’s a really unsettling to feel your leg dangling in air below you!

‘However, we still managed to collect samples on the ice cap and along the length of the Coronation Glacier despite not crossing it. This was an example of adapting quickly, on-the-ground, to a new plan and still getting some science done.’