Can’t a meteorologist do something about this weather? My plane has been delayed three times due to bad weather and I am still sitting on the floor of the Chicago airport. I thought a meteorologist’s job was to control the weather. Or at the least, tell us what it is going to do so people like flight controllers can schedule flights around bad weather. Or maybe meteorologists study meteors falling from the sky? What exactly does a meteorologist do anyway??? I will know soon- well if my plane ever gets off the ground. I am on my way to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to meet the meteorologists who will be taking me with them to Antarctica. Although many PolarTRECies have already headed into the field I don’t leave for The Ice until December.
My students will be returning to school in a couple of weeks, anxious to learn, well at least they will be returning to school. I am on my way to visit with these researchers to find out what a meteorologist actually does, particularly those who study the coldest, driest, windiest place on Earth. During the next couple of days I have the opportunity to meet the scientists, see what they do, visit their facilities all in the hopes that I can better prepare myself and therefore my students to get the most from my PolarTREC expedition.