What Are They Doing?
The scientific objectives of the cruise were to collect a range of data in rarely traveled areas of the Antarctic seas and coastline, including the Bellingshausen, Amundsen, and eastern Ross Seas. International science teams worked alongside teachers and other personnel monitoring wildlife, including pinnipeds, cetaceans, seabirds, and penguins; surveying sea ice and meteorological conditions; mapping the chemical, thermal and bathymetric properties of the ocean; and measuring the abundance of plankton and nutrients in the ocean. These studies helped add to our limited knowledge of these remote corners of the Antarctic and allow future researchers to expand their monitoring efforts in these regions.
Where Are They?
Teachers Ute Kaden and Allan Miller journeyed across the world to participate in a unique co-operative endeavor between the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Along with researchers, teachers and other personnel from Sweden, Chile and the United States, Ute and Allen boarded the Swedish icebreaker Oden in Punta Arenas, Chile and traveled to McMurdo Base in Antarctica, finally returning home via Christchurch, New Zealand. This voyage was the first education project to be supported by PolarTREC in celebration of the International Polar Year and presented a wonderful opportunity for international collaboration in science, education, and outreach.