Ashit K. Swain

Ashit Kumar Swain is the youngest Indian geoscientist to reach the Geographic South Pole, 90 degrees South. He has worked in all the three polar regions of the world, including the Svalbard region of the Arctic (79 degrees North), central Dronning Maud Land of Antarctica (70 degrees South), and the Hamtah glacier in the Himalayas. (Arctic and Antarctica are geographic polar regions, whereas the Himalayas is considered as the third pole due to its altitude.)

Swain spent a continuous 15 months in Antarctica during the polar winter period of 2007-2009 and worked extensively with Ground Penetrating Radar. He continued his polar thrust during next years as a member of the summer expedition in 2009-10 and 2010-11. During 2010-11, he was selected as a team member of the first Indian Scientific Expedition to the South Pole.

Swain is presently working as a geologist in the Geological Survey of India, Polar Studies Division, Faridabad, India. He is conducting glaciological and geological investigations in Antarctica, where he's also interested in looking for meteorites. For more information about Ashit Swain and his work, please download The Geological Survey of India's PDF on the First Indian Expedition to the South Pole.