Still Waiting to Hear "Yes" or "No" on my Antarctic Field Season

Our outstanding government employees have been back to work all of 2 days, and I'm full of anxiety again.

Will my Antarctic field season be one of those partially reinstated? Postponed to next year? Will it - or any other projects - be cancelled outright?  When will we hear?

The NSF head of Antarctic Sciences, Scott Borg, posted this letter today: http://www.usap.gov/news/documents/Borg-Letter-10182013.pdf  It states that they are deciding about projects, and he "anticipate[s] that [the Program Directors] will be reaching out to you within the next few days and would appreciate your responsiveness when they do."

I presume Scott means the NSF Polar Programs Program Directors, but that might be wrong.  My research is funded through NASA, so I'm not sure who is looking out for my project in these negotiations.  I know that my project coordinator for logistics is, but she might not be involved in the decisions at this level.

Scott also says, "Of course, if you have information you feel is critical for your Program Director to have in the near term, please do communicate that information via e-mail. I expect that we will be able to resume normal communications by the middle of next week."

I do have information, which I've forwarded to my logistics coordinator: If we can get 12 days (rather than 4 weeks) of field work, it would be worth it, but it needs to be in November, e.g. prior to significant summer melting.  Also, canceling our field season has international collaboration impacts because we were planning to continue on with a New Zealand project.  My student Tyler is my New Zealand collaborator's dive partner for the second half.  Without 2 divers, there is no scientific diving, which dramatically reduces the scope of science that project can accomplish.

But who else needs this information?

It's Friday evening.  Knowing the dedication of so many of those who support Antarctic science, I predict they will be working through the weekend.  They shouldn't be in this crappy situation!

What to do???


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