Nia Owens 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Hello! I’m Nia – I’m Welsh born, Australia based, and have somehow instigated this whole expedition! I am passionate about achieving huge goals and see our Antarctic Valkyries expedition as the journey of a lifetime!

I'm currently based in Hobart and I work as a rural emergency specialist doctor, often travelling the country working in Indigenous communities and for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I have also worked extensively for expeditions, including multi-day adventure races, ultramarathons, mountaineering expeditions, Antarctic expedition vessels and television work. I find taking part in expeditions a great way of recalibrating myself and in my spare time love to surf, kite surf, trail run and ski.

I have also spent a lot of time in the past few years working in the humanitarian sector. This includes extensive time in Gaza in 2024 alongside other areas post disasters and conflict zones such as Ukraine and DRC. I am acutely aware of how life can change in an instant and I think everything in life is worth doing!

I have loved learning how to thrive in the polar environment. I have completed multiple short and longer polar journeys including in Norway, Iceland and a 26 day west to east crossing of Greenland. I find the opportunity for our team to make history as the first all-female team to traverse Antarctica via the Pole of Inaccessibility is an incredibly exhilarating if not humbling concept. We are so excited to plan and train for Antarctica and as a team we see this expedition as the natural progression of our technical skills and personal goals.

Nia is a proud member of The Explorer's Club.

‍

Ida on Nia

"Nia is a bubbly inspiring woman with an infectious energy and an amazing sense of humour. She is the glue for this expedition and we could not do this without her!"