The far-flung reaches of the planet are part of our daily lives. We often think of the deep-sea and polar regions as the ends of the earth, places of beauty and intrigue. A place for epic stories of hardship and triumph. However, what happens there dictates if Earth remains inhabitable for us all. I study microbes that eat the greenhouse gas methane in these regions. These microbes, by harnessing methane’s energy, keep our earth a place where humans can live. Excitingly, as a byproduct of this process, an amazing habitat is created full of strange, mind-boggling animals. While we know there is lots of methane in Antarctica, we don’t know who eats it, what biodiversity this creates, and whether or not the Antarctic microbes are keeping our planet safe. Looking to the future, we also know that Antarctica will release more methane as we warm our planet, and the first line of defense against a climate catastrophe is the icy deep biodiversity of Antarctica’s methane-fueled habitats. As a National Geographic Explorer, I would discover these habitats to uncover the beautiful and strange life that defines the role of Antarctic methane in the globe, now and in the future.