We decided that we would write a blog entry all together, as opposed to having separate entries. This is the first of our group entries.
We received the itinerary for the expedition from the Instituto Antárctico Chileno (INACH), the Chilean Institute in charge of the scientific program. Here are our reactions, in author’s alphabetical order, to knowing exactly what will be done. If the following texts leave you with questions, do not forget that you can ask us questions through the tab “Ask the Team”. We will be very happy to interact with you.
Anna’s perspective
When I saw the itinerary and science program, I discovered a lexical gap for the adjective necessary to describe how excited I am.
Even though field biology is not one of my strengths, I am really looking forward to learning about antarctic plants and pollen, especially with the influence of climate change. I have studied lichens native to the boreal forest/taiga biome of the northern United States and Canada, and it will be interesting to see the similarities and differences between North American and Antarctic lichens.
The itinerary is equally mind-blowing. I knew that we would have a chance to visit some of the other bases, but it hadn’t occurred to me that we might be doing science with Russian and Chinese researchers! Right after reading about our adventures to come, I told my mom that I was going to learn how to read the cyrillic alphabet and work harder on my Hanja (Korean with Chinese characters). Quirky, yes, but that’s how I express my enthusiasm.
Claire’s thoughts
When I first read about the two research projects we will be working on in Antarctica, I immediately saw the word "palynology" and was a little panicked that I didn't even know what one of the projects was about. After a quick internet search, though, I discovered that palynology is simply the study of dust. In our case, we're going to be studying the airborne matter reaching Antarctica. This matter was described to us as a "pollen rain," and we will be investigating the plant species that make up this rain and attempting to determine where the pollen originated. We haven't even left yet and I've already learned something new! This makes me excited because I can tell that throughout this expedition, I will constantly be learning and hearing new ideas.
The other project we'll be working on also focuses on plants, but in a completely different sense. For this project, we will study Antarctic plants to determine what adaptations allow them to survive in freezing temperatures. We will also be looking at the effects of global warming on these plants. This part is particularly interesting to me because I find global climate change very intriguing, but I really don't know that much about it. This will be an amazing way to start building my knowledge.
Apart from their purely scientific aspects, I'm also excited about these projects because we will be doing the research under the guidance of real scientists and professors: Dr. Jorge Gallardo Cerda and Dr. Mauricio J. Rondanelli Reyes.
After seeing our itinerary, there are also activities not related to the scientific projects that I absolutely can't wait for. We'll get to visit a sea elephant beach; visit Chinese, Russian, and Uruguayan stations; and hear presentations from the Chilean students about their Antarctic projects. Finally, we'll get to do something that I wouldn't go home without doing: see penguins!
Even though the schedule makes it look like we'll barely have time to eat or sleep, I'm so glad I get to see it now; it makes the trip feel real. I can now see right in front of me that on February 19th, at 8:15 in the morning, I will be visiting a glacier. Having such a detailed itinerary while having no mental images of where I'll be is very surreal. I can still hardly imagine that I'm going to Antarctica, but now that I have this concrete evidence in front of me, I think I'm starting to believe it.
Luke’s ideas
Since word has leaked that I’m going to Antarctica,I have had countless interactions with people wondering what exactly I was going to do there. The majority of the time I found myself saying something along the lines of, “We're going to do some science and hopefully see Penguins and other neat animals..” But to be honest I didn’t really have a clue to what we were actually doing. But recently I have been given a schedule with a daily itinerary of what we plan on doing.
Flipping through the packet I could feel my excitement grow, seeing the activities on paper seemed to make the trip feel more real. Events ranged from visiting different research stations, to studying arctic plants. What really caught my eye were the visits to see elephant seals, penguins, and other research stations. Not only will we be studying totally unique animals and plants, we’ll be surrounded by researchers with tons of information. Honestly, I feel like this trip was made for me, all the activities look awesome and I couldn’t be more excited for february 15th to come!