Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/28/2009 - 19:14

we've seen pictures of you filtering samples and such but what do you do after the samples are filtered? what instruments do you use? what do they do? what is your favorite instrument to use? how do you get the instruments down there? also, how is the food? besides the holiday dinners what has been your favorite dish?

-Sean Ward

tell Collin I say hello!

Sean Ward

Personally, I really like cheeseburgers! Do you get any down there?

Sarah Diers

Hey Sean, What do we do with the water-
The water we filter is tested in a variety of ways, some of which I discussed in previous journals-Chlorophyll-a and Bacterial Production. In addition, we look for microbial DNA, microbial lipids, and a number of nutrients, like particulate phosphorous, nitrogen and carbon, nitrate, nitrite and ammonium.
I finally cornered Collin into giving me his take on answering your question... We collect stream water from sites on the Cotton Glacier and the Canada Glacier. When we get back to the lab some water is set aside for the biological samples, some for a 24-hour time series, and the rest is filtered through the RO system. (RO is explained in a DOM PolarTREC journal.) The aliquot of water for the 24-hour time series is run through the UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and through the Fluorometer every hour during the given time period to observe changes, if any, in the DOM. We are looking to see if the molecular structure of the DOM is recombining, or changing, over the course of the day.
The collected stream water, that runs through the RO system is further processed by freezing at -40*C temperatures. Once frozen, the concentrated stream water is freeze dried so that all that is left is "fluff," the dissolved organic matter and salts. This "fluff," or retentate is sent back to the States for testing to determine the chemical composition of the DOM.
In regards to instruments used- check out my journals on lab tests, DOM, and RO. 
What is my favorite instrument? - My favorite instrument is my computer!
How do we get the instruments down to Antarctica? -Many are shipped from the States, which takes a lot of forethought on the part of the scientists. Other instruments are from the Crary Science stockroom, or borrowed from other science teams.
How is the food? - All in all- delicious. Especially considering the galley feeds 1000 people 4 square meals a day. There are always meat and veggie entrees, salads, desserts, fresh veggies and fruits (unless a flight from New Zealand is canceled), lots of drink options. Sometimes the choices are overwhelming. Oh, and it is all free! My favorite dishes tend toward the vegetarian options and the soups.
There is also a Burger Bar on Sundays and Wednesdays- not free, but very cheap. $3.00 gets a burger with all the fixin's and fries.
I miss pizza- we have only had that in the galley one time this year. I cannot wait for a good pie from my favorite place on Whidbey Island.
Keep cool! Sarah
Collin says "hello" to you, too.