30 June 2017 Back in the Heat

The temperatures in Florida are much higher than they were in Greenland!

Home! After an amazing 4 week expedition I arrived home in St. Johns, Florida late last night. It was great to see my family and to sleep in my own bed. It is, however, also quite a bit hotter here! I will definitely miss being in the Arctic, but all good things must come to an end.

PolarTREC teacher Steve Kirsche arrives home after an incredible 4 weeks in the field.

As I think back on the last month, I can't believe how much I was able to see and do. I also learned a great deal about scientific fieldwork and Polar science. The people I met everywhere I went were so helpful and I am thankful for having met them all. It will take me a while to fully process everything, but I do know that this trip will always hold fond memories.

When I left, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew where I was going and basically what I would be doing, but the details were a mystery. They ended up being even better than I had hoped.

Travelling with the Air National Guard was a lot of fun. I hadn't flown on a cargo plane in many years. While not the most comfortable seats I've ever been in, it was a good experience. Landing on and taking off from the snow was much smoother and easier than I had expected.

My time at Summit Station was amazing. Living in a tent in the Arctic was unique. It was quite warm during the day and a bit chilly (around 20 degrees Fahrenheit) at night. The part that really made it hard to sleep was the 24 hour sunlight while being in the tent. It was very bright all night long. Despite that, I was able to stay well rested.

My attitude while at Summit Station was to try and see and do as much as I could. I asked a lot of people a lot of questions and they were all very gracious and accommodating I feel as though I experienced most of what I could while there.

Working with Dr. Ian Baker and the rest of our project's team was also a wonderful experience. Dr. Baker is a very knowledgable individual and I learned a lot from him. Hopefully I will get the chance to go visit Dartmouth again later this year to see how they use the scanning electron microscope and micro-CT for studying the cores we collected. Teaching science is a great job and having now worked on a project in the field will make me a better teacher.

After a trip like this, there are lots of people I need to thank. I would like to thank Janet Warburton and Judy Fahnestock of the Arctic Consortium of the US (ARCUS) who run the PolarTREC program. I am also grateful to CH2M Polar Services, especially Robbie Score, who helped get me to and from the field. Thank you to my family as well for supporting me in this adventure. I know there are many more to thank but I can't list everyone here.

The following video is my final video for the trip. It is meant as a video scrapbook showing different parts of the trip. I hope you enjoy it!