On Saturday, March 23, 2013 I flew Alaska Air from New York to Seattle, Washington, and then to Fairbanks, Alaska for a week o intensive training in preparation for my expedition to Antarctica, South Pole. Flying over the Denali snow covered mountain range brought back memories. This is my 2nd time in Alaska, having visited last time in Summer 2010 for my Teacher at Sea Pollock survey on board NOAA's Oscar Dyson. This time even though it is Spring Break, we arrived at a snow-covered land, in very low temperatures for spring. Upon getting my luggage I noticed a group of folks and I inquired if they were also PolarTREC teachers and they said yes. It was Mark, Jamini, Paula, and Nell, teachers from the Eastern seaboard, just like me. They were mostly from Chicago. We then hailed a cab and headed straight to the Fairbanks West mark hotel, where I crashed in bed after flying over 10 hours.
First Day of PolarTREC Orientation week
The following morning we began what proved to be a full week of heavy technology training, ranging from how to write online journals from the field, using Mac Books to create, edit and post video clips, remote communication on the field using satellite phones, the PolarTREC interactive website, as well as exciting field trips. I was able to finally meet Janet, Sara, and Julie, the ladies from ARCUS that I had been corresponding through countless emails. I also met Zeb, Ronnie, and Joed, our multimedia and tech gurus. Definitely, my coolness factor has gone incredibly up this week with all the Mac training I received from these guys. My I Phone and IPod was all Mac I was familiar with, but now I am Mac Book Pro proficient. PolarTREC also issued me a Mac Book Pro laptop so I could do my online journals from the field. Also meeting an incredible and wonderful cohort of ladies and gentlemen like-minded educators, with extensive experience and knowledge of outdoor education was a n awesome experience. Former PolarTREC alumni were present throughout the whole week, like big brothers and sisters, dispensing us advise left and right about what to expect in our field expeditions and the challenges of online journalism.