Meet Growing Up on Ice Team's Graduate Student Emma Weitzner
Emma Weitzner in Antarctica
Photo Credit: Emma Weitzner
Name: Emma Weitzner
Title: Graduate Student
Where stare are you from? Cleveland, OH!
What college(s) did you or do you attend? Duke university (BS) Cal Poly (MS) UNLV (current PhD student)
What was/is your major? B.S. Biology with a Marine Biology concentration M.S. Biological Sciences Ph.D. student in Integrative Physiology
What inspired you to become a scientist? I was always encouraged to ask questions about how the world works and I had a lot of great role models!
What is your role of the research team? I am the graduate student on the team, which means this is a fantastic opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and research toolkit. My role is to help with every aspect of the project - I offer whatever support the team needs (comic relief included). I will also be collecting samples for my dissertation research at UNLV!
What drew you to Antarctica? I have wanted to go to Antarctica to study seals since I was ten years old. Antarctica was always such a fascinating place to me because of its isolation, extreme environment, and especially because it is basically untouched by humans (for now).
Do you have any fears about your expedition in Antarctica? Not being able to get all our samples!
What are your hobbies? Hiking, photography, rock climbing, the Internet
What is your favorite Netflix/ Hulu / TV Show? Bob’s burgers
Who / what are you leaving behind while you are on this expedition? My amazing boyfriend, Ian, all of my family, who are my biggest fans and supporters, my incredible advisor Dr. Allyson Hindle who is letting me play hooky from my first semester at UNLV to do field work, and of course all the dogs in the world I won’t be able to pet during our time on the ice.
What are you most excited about on this expedition? Besides the Weddell seals and just being down there, snowmobiling!
Emma hanging out with some friends including Dr. Heather Liwanag
Photo Credit: Emma Weitzner
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