Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/28/2013 - 18:27
Forums
Soil Ecology in Antarctic Dry Valleys

Grandma wants to know about all the hiking. Do all the researchers have to hike so far to the different sites? What is the time difference between Arizona and there?

Fri, 11/29/2013 - 13:14

Justin Kendhammer

Hi Mom/ Grandma,The hiking is not typical for researchers here. It is mostly a result of the area of study (soils). We have to go to these sights to get the needed soils to make comparisons, conduct experiments, get samples, and make observations. Some of the sites are far enough that they require a helicopter but they are very expensive and not always necessary. That being said, there are plenty of research teams that do hike, fly, have lots of manual labor, and the like. Some seem to have really boring roles, like the folks that are mapping the ice on the continent. They fly around, sometimes 14 hours a day, just going back and forth in really slow planes getting computer images or the terrain and storing them in massive archives. The seal research team working next door brought in a huge load of seal shit and stunk the whole building up. So, it may not seem always be glamorous but the hiking is really my favorite part.To figure the time here add a day and subtract four hours.Love you