Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 16:13
Forums
Seafloor Organisms and Changing Ocean Conditions in Antarctic

Ms. Herrmann,

I never knew a "Fuelie" career path existed, especially in a place like Antarctica! Do you have any idea how Emily, Lisa and Jen got started doing this? I also can't help but think, from what I read in your journal, that this would be a perfect candidate for the TV show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel (the odor seems to be legendary)!

I also can't imagine Palmer Station being a place where people settle down with their extended family, if I'm not mistaken. As a research center, how much time per year do the researchers and other workers stay? Antarctica seems like such a magically beautiful place, but I'm sure it's hard for the people working there to be apart from their friends and family. I also have to inquire about when people get up in the mornings. To be frankly honest, a career as a polar scientist won't be very possible for me if you guys are getting up at the crack of dawn. I'm not really kidding. :)

Sicong

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 01:41

Nell Herrmann

Hi Sicong,One thing that I'm finding very interesting about the support people here is that most of them have college and advanced degrees (Masters and even PhD's), but they've fallen in love with Antarctica so they work here in a number of roles. Emily is actually going back to school to become a teacher and I think she'll be great. It seems that most of the "non-scientist" people who have worked in Antarctica for several years started off in some sort of maintenance or other support position (working in the kitchen, etc.) and have continued because the pay is good and the lifestyle is interesting. Some of them also have a nice amount of time off which they use to travel or visit with friends and family back home. The scientists are usually affiliated with universities and come here for a couple months a year for their research, but then return home.
I agree about the Dirty Jobs idea- maybe Mike Rowe would be interested!
You're right about the extended family observation, although there are some couples here (Dr. Amsler and his wife for instance) here. Most researchers stay for 2 months (or so) a year but some of the workers stay much longer. Janice, who was my roommate on the ship, will be here for 8 months as the lab manager. She's "overwintering" which seems a bit daunting to me. There is a nice sense of community here and people look out for one another; there are often movie showings, science talks, and games in the evenings which keep people from getting down about being away from home.
As far as the early mornings, we usually start around 8:00 a.m. so it isn't much different from your regular school day. You could definitely do it! :)
On Monday I'll be going in the field with a group of scientists from Rutgers. One is a physicist who is studying the bio-optics of phytoplankton. They use autonomous gliders (big robots) that they send underwater to collect data. I think it's going to be REALLY cool.
Thanks for writing and keep in touch!
-Ms. Herrmann