Researchers have been overwhelmingly satisfied with the program, citing several specific strengths, including the program's crucial link between the teachers' field research experiences and their classroom; the extensive training provided to educators; and the program's adaptability and willingness to address and solve problems. The following are quotes are from participating researchers and illustrate some attitudes towards the program:
"I think that the scientific process itself benefits enormously from having a high school teacher embedded in there. We have to drop any fancy lingo we may have. We have to cook things down to the raw essence and we have to work with the teachers to try to find out how I get this across to the general public. You could not find a better group of people to put in the field with scientists than high school teachers—or just teachers in general."
"One of the things that we find very, very powerful is finding somebody that we can then leverage in the future for team outreach."
"[PolarTREC] takes a lot of [the outreach tasks] off the burden of the scientists so they can do their science."
"I've got two big projects going on at the same time now. So having somebody who is a specialist and an expert in that [communicating with students] and having PolarTREC as a medium for getting this out and doing the public relations and so on is fantastic."
"It was really considered unique that a teacher could go on this [expedition to Antarctica] so it really enhanced our project and its presentation to the public at large."