Jennifer L. Rhemann
Jennifer L. Rhemann is a senior consultant, risk and operations specialist, and long-standing member of the U.S. and international polar community, with more than two decades of experience supporting Antarctic science, logistics, and policy. She is the Founder and CEO of Circumglobal Consulting, LLC, a woman-owned small business providing risk-informed operational support, science facilitation, and strategic guidance to polar research programs, federal contractors, and scientific institutions.
Jennifer’s Antarctic career spans more than 14 austral summer seasons, six winter seasons, multiple research voyages in the Southern Ocean, and numerous planning seasons. Her operational experience includes science facilitation, program and expedition logistics, aviation operations management, station and airfield operations, marine science support, facilities coordination, hazardous materials management, and policy implementation. Having worked across the full lifecycle of polar research—from early proposal development and long-range planning to field deployment and post-season analysis—she brings a systems-level perspective on how science, safety, infrastructure, and people must function together in extreme environments.
Her academic and professional education reflects a sustained focus on polar regions, governance, and applied leadership. Jennifer built a foundation in polar sciences at California State University and earned a bachelor’s degree with Honours in Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies from the University of Tasmania. She later pursued coursework and professional training in Polar Law at the University of Akureyri and completed executive education in Economic Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, strengthening her grounding in public policy, leadership, and decision-making under uncertainty. She is currently an Executive MBA student, integrating organizational leadership, risk management, and systems thinking into her professional work.
Jennifer previously served as a Science Assistant in Antarctic Sciences at the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs, where she supported research planning, interagency coordination, and policy development. She has also contributed three years of proposal development and risk planning support for the U.S. Antarctic Program operations contract and continues to advise research organizations and federal contractors on safety systems, workforce sustainability, and long-term infrastructure resilience.
Committed to strengthening the polar community, Jennifer leads a pro bono mentoring initiative that supports early-career researchers, students, and artists as they navigate funding systems, proposal development, and pathways into polar field programs, the polar workforce, and polar academia. As a member of the American Polar Society Board, she brings operational expertise, policy awareness, and a commitment to responsible stewardship and strong institutions supporting the future of polar science.