23 December 2016 Finally PQ'd and Student Opportunity Information

Good News! I am finally PQ'd (physically qualified) for my trip to McMurdo Station! It turns out that the NSF wants to be pretty sure that you don't have any medical complications when you are in Antarctica. There is a ton of paper work and medical exams to pour through, all of which gets sent down to the University of Texas Medical Branch, where their doctors sift through thousands of exams to make sure that folks like me don't get in over their head in Antarctica. If it seems like we were pushing the deadline (I leave on the 30th) remember those folks work really hard but there are a lot of people that go to the Antarctic so they are really busy. And the exams are pretty extensive. I needed to get a full set of dental x-rays (I have been told that that is so they can identify my body by people who I hope were kidding.) In fact, the only medical exam that I ever had that was more extensive was at Johnson Space Center in 2012 when I was applying (unsuccessfully) for the astronaut program. So its a great relief that UTMB didn't find any reason to keep me home. I don't want to miss this opportunity and I sure would have been embarrassed if I had to disappoint everyone and go back to work on the 4th!

On an unrelated note, I just found out about an opportunity that some of my students might be interested in. The University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics is sponsoring a program called Girls on Ice, a free wilderness education program for female high school students. The Girls on Ice North Cascades expedition is geared toward girls from all countries ages 16 to 18 and explores Mount Baker, an ice-covered volcano in Washington. The North Cascades expedition runs July 10–21, 2016. To be eligible, girls must be at least 16 years old by June 17 and no older than 18 on July 21. The program helps girls learn about the natural processes that create the alpine world, develop critical thinking skills and explore the connection between science and art. Participants learn how to travel on glaciers, design their own experiments and work as part of a team. If this sounds interesting then click here for further information.