Southland Conservation Board member Nick Humphries off to An
Source: DAVE NICOLL
Blake Antarctic Ambassador Nick Humphries, of Te Anau, will be heading to Antartica from January 19 to 25 next year.
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Though he's only 18-years-old, Nick Humphries has arguably achieved a lot more than many could wish for in a lifetime.
Come January, the former Fiordland Collage student will be boarding a pane to Antarctica.
He has been selected this year as a Sir Peter Blake Antarctic Ambassador and will be visiting Antarctica from January 19 to 25 as the result of winning a software engineering award.
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Humphries said he will be developing three apps for Antarctica New Zealand.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing there yet, but most of the time I'll be getting a sense of what the place is about and what should be put into those apps that I'm developing."
He was selected from an application process through the Sir Peter Blake Trust, he said.
"I guess I put my best foot forward and got selected."
One of the apps will promote health and safety, involving pre-education for people going to Antarctica, while the other two will be outreach and education-based to get more people involved in learning about Antarctica.
Humphries' passion for the environment stemmed from a number of things, he said.
He was involved right form the start with the Kids Restore the Kepler project in Te Anau.
"I think it was Year 10 when I started building the Kids Restore the Kepler website."
Humphries continued to build websites from then on.
He has just completed the first year of his Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Software Engineering at the University of Waikato.
The trip to Antarctica is not his first with the Sir Peter Blake Trust.
In 2012 as a Year 11 student, Humphries went to the Sir Peter Blake Youth Forum, from which 30 people were chosen to go on an expedition to the Kermadec Islands.
"That was an incredible experience that I would say was one of the best experiences in my life."
They were flown by helicopter on to the islands where they spent the night, he said.
"It's a really interesting environment because you've got heaps of tui there and kakariki and it has amazing seabird life as well. It's quite tropical."
One of the main factors influencing his passions had been his involvement in the Scouts, he said.
"I was a Scout from five and a half when you can join."
Last year Humphries attained the Queen's Scout Award, the highest youth award in the Scouts.
His parents had always been passionate about the environment, making sure their business, the Anchorage Motel was environmentally friendly.
"Just having a general interest helped too."
Humphries also sits on the Southland Conservation Board as the youngest member.
He was on the Save Fiordland committee when he learned that the board was calling for nominations for board members, he said
At first he blew it off, but then second thoughts got the better of him, Humphries said.
"I thought I might as well because it would be good to give a young perspective on the conservation board."
It was stereotypical that his generation did not get involved with things like conservation boards, he said.
"The minister decide to appoint me which I was pretty pleased about."
He enjoyed it because he could make decisions that would impact on a regional level, he said.
Humphries has another 18 months left in his term as a board member and he unsure whether he would want another term.
"It would completely depend on where I'm living. I don't think it will be the last time I'm on a conservation board, whether that be Southland or elsewhere."
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