Dawn in Antarctica

It's mid summer, and plans for our next season in Antarctica are in full gear.  Our core team this year consists of: Dale Andersen - SETI Institute Dawn Sumner - University California, Davis Ian Hawes - Aquatic Research Solutions Anne Jungblutt - Natural History Museum, London Asim Bej - University Alabama, Birmingham Tyler Mackey - University California, Davis We'll also have guests from Chris McKay's Astrobiology Science and Technology Project who will help with our project: Alfonso Davila - SETI Institute Wayne Pollard - McGill University Stephen Emmons  My other team members have been "PQed", in other words, medically pre-qualified or approved to go.  My forms aren't in quite yet, but they are in the envelop ready to mail tomorrow. I've been working on getting equipment together to ship before we go.  I am taking two of my own microscopes this time.  We are also looking for a LED UV light source for them.  UV light makes the cyanobacteri...

I've given several talks to friends and colleagues about my experiences in Antarctica, but I gave my first talk on the scientific results at the Astrobiology Science Conference in League City, Texas, yesterday.  It was well received and I got some good questions.  Here are my slides: My talk followed two on the Endurance robot that was exploring Lake Bonney down the valley from us at Lake Joyce.  I claimed that Ian and Dale were highly sophisticated observers that beat out any robots. It's important to say where you were. And to describe the regional context. Lake level rise is one of the big stories.  The yearly data until the 80's are from surveys by NIWA, whereas the lower graphs show the depth of the salty layers in three different years, including our data.  Both show that lake levels are sometimes stable for years and often rise rapidly. I started with the shallow mats and worked my way deeper.  Chla is the concentration of chlorophyll...

C-17 planes transport people and cargo between Christchurch, New Zealand, and McMurdo, Antarctica.  I really enjoyed both my rides on them.  They are cold and noisy, but the crews are fantastic and the "interior decorating" is much to be admired.  My dad sent this link about the challenges of flying and how the best McChord Air Force pilots want to be part of Mission Deep Freeze:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010883061_antarctica25m.html   It's always nice to have the best looking out for you! Here are some of my C-17 pictures. Our plane in Christchurch: Cargo waiting to be loaded: Looking toward the front of the plane over a sea of 127 scientists and support experts: Me in my seat on October 5th, 2010: Looking back at the cargo: The cargo is held in place by slots in the floor that special pallets slide into.  The same is true for the seats. Lots of tools are essential and look great! I had handy tools to secure cargo ...