Meltdown : The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist

Meltdown brings intimate storytelling and scientific observation together in a memoir about glaciers and forests, the struggles of academia, and a scientist who just might also be a writer.

Meltdown tells the story of Sarah Boon’s field adventures in snow and ice, the struggles of choosing an academic career over that of a writer, and the challenges of being a woman in science. An undergraduate field trip to Hilda Glacier in the Canadian Rockies ignites Boon’s scientific passion, leading her to pursue a PhD in cold regions hydrology in the High Arctic while writing on the side. Her narrative blends adventure and academia, featuring experiences like traversing John Evans Glacier on Ellesmere Island, building weather stations in northern British Columbia, sampling proglacial rivers, and scaring away grizzlies with helicopters. Interwoven with tales of historic female explorers like Mary Schäffer Warren and Phyllis Munday, Meltdown celebrates the indomitable spirit of women in exploration. However, amid the rigours of fieldwork, Boon faces gender bias, department politics, and imposter syndrome. Her journey is marked by injury, mental health struggles, and job insecurity in the academic workplace. When a severe mental health diagnosis threatens her position, Boon must decide if leaving science is the only way to manage her illness. As the landscapes she studies undergo profound transformations, Boon’s personal journey mirrors the evolving contours of her research. Meltdown is a candid narrative of developing identities, the need for open dialogue about scientific research and mental health, and one woman’s search for work-life balance.