An anthropologist who has overcome two bouts of breast cancer is about to take on another challenge - half way round the world.

Anna Craven, 60, is preparing to live under canvas for 16 days in the cold and wet of a Chilean river basin.

Mrs Craven, of Kettlewell, near Skipton, has been selected to undertake scientific research with the environmental charity Earthwatch.

Last year she had to pull out of an Earthwatch project to investigate neolithic art in the Jordon Valley because she became ill with breast cancer.

She was treated at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, three years after she overcame her first attack of breast cancer.

"I had to reject the trip to Jordon because of the treatment. But I was determined to try again - there is life after cancer," she said.

Her group, including three other women aged over 50, will be living rough in a tent, taking water from nearby streams and waiting two hours for food to be driven to the camp over unmade roads. She said: "It's autumn over there, so it will be wet and cold. There'll be no electricity. I'll be buying a new sleeping bag to keep me warm in temperatures down to zero."

The project will involve studying the habitat of river otters in the Tolten basin, central Chile, paying special attention to how well they cope with re-introduction schemes.

"It will enable me to change direction in my 60s and take up an interest in zoology and animal behaviour from my teenage years," she added.

When she returns home, Mrs Craven hopes to use her knowledge to get involved in a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust project in upper Wharfedale, where otters are being re-established.