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“The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, {s}he's one who asks the right questions.” ~Claude Lévi-Strauss As I tell people about my upcoming travel plans to Antarctica, they, naturally, get curious and want to know more. I’ve decided to post some of the most common questions I

Welcome to Bird Island! Neither rain, nor fog, nor smooth seas stopped the crew from having a bit of a shore party today. All of the scientists and the students went to install a GPS station, and "us extra bits" were able to go ashore and have a tour of a gentoo penguin colony and a wandering

Made it to round two A typical day at sea, the seismic line is in the water, fog, and corn hole. Every now and then at sea there are mellow days. Science is happening, but nothing cataclysmic. The fog today was a bit thick so our visibility was less than 700 meters. A few black-browed albatross

Walk this way Last night, just a smidge before sunset, the MTs deployed the seismic streamer. We are currently collecting amazing data from over 3000 meters below the surface of the RV Palmer, and approximately one kilometer into the sediment. The scientists can look at the data and see trends in

The GPS team has landed! The third time was the charm and the new GPS station is in and operable. The day started at 4:00 am, with the ship stationed off the shore of Smaaland Cove. The wind was down, a slight drizzle and the swell appeared to be less than a few meters. With the Captain's go ahead

Working at Sea! Another glorious day on board the RV Palmer. The sky is a bright blue, and the winds, well they could be a little less than 40 knots. I have a time-lapse camera bungied and duct taped outside, and we will see later if I have any great pictures, or no camera at all. Today is a

Welcome to the October CHALLENGE! Before we begin, let me introduce you to Bruce and Molly. I’ve partnered with the owners at Bricks and Minifigs of Memphis. They’ve given me Bruce Bulkbrick and Molly Minifig to take with me on this big adventure. So make sure to follow my journals – these

It’s official, everybody! After a long year of waiting, the Velvet Ice project is back on!! Last year during the government shutdown, most of the scientists and staff were evacuated out of Antarctica, and WAIS Divide was closed down for the winter. As a result, our research project was pushed back

Welcome to Kings Point! The crew knew yesterday that a storm was approaching. Our plan was to complete as much seismic as possible up until early morning hours and then go hunker down by Cumberland Bay, King Edward Cove (Grytviken "Pot Cove" ask me in a question to explain). By 5:00 am the seismic