Past President Allison Barden – Life member of the OAEA.
A native of New England, Allison has been living in San Francisco and Oakland, California since 1996. She is also known as ‘Sandwich’, due to a sandwich-shaped lunchbox that hasn’t left her side since 1995. In fact, the name Sandwich feels more familiar.
Allison started working at McMurdo with the US Antarctic Program in 2003 as a dishwasher. Over the years she has spent 9 summers and 2 winters in McMurdo and has worked in the Galley, Supply, Waste Management, Berg Field Center, Science Support, and as a Field Biologist (grantee). In addition to her day job in McMurdo, she also was a pinsetter in the Bowling Alley, bartender, outdoor recreation guide, and a guide for the historic huts.
Allison continues to work for the USAP, although the 2020 pandemic has her providing science support to McMurdo remotely. She loves hearing stories about Deep Freeze and is enamored with the Golden Age of Exploration. She was awarded a Life Membership at the 2018 San Antonio OAEA Reunion, after a presentation about her work in Antarctica.
She enjoys long distance road trips and train trips across America, mid-century roadside attractions, world’s largest anything, and far-flung international travel on a shoestring. An avid crafter, her art is often inspired by her time and encounters on the ice. She also plays the tuba, and was in a band in McMurdo that wrote parody songs about life, vehicles, and buildings on station.
Allison served as President of the OAEA from 2020 to 2024, and was one of the co-planners for the 2024 OAEA reunion held in Colorado Springs, CO.