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Tim Spuck

About

Tim Spuck's picture
Expeditions: Airborne Survey of Polar Ice
Occupation: Teacher
Organization: Oil City Area High School

Tim Spuck teaches Earth & Space Sciences at Oil City Area Sr. High School in Oil City, PA, and has served as the District’s K-12 Science Department Chair. Recently he completed an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship with the National Science Foundation’s Division of Graduate Education's GK-12 STEM Fellows Program. Over the years he has also taught courses at the undergraduate level, lead many teacher training programs throughout the US and abroad, and is currently pursuing his D. Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction at West Virginia University. For the past 20 years Tim has worked to engage his students in authentic science research, and those students have been recognized throughout the scientific community for their discoveries and contributions to astronomy. Tim’s contributions in education have been recognized through numerous awards including the Einstein Fellowship, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics Educator Achievement Award, Tandy Technology Scholars Award, the Pennsylvania Christa McAuliffe Fellowship, and the Kevin Burns Outstanding Science Teacher Award. Although his primary focus over the past 20 years has been astronomy education and the development and support of partnerships between STEM researchers and educators, he maintains a strong interest in a wide variety of STEM areas.

Tim Spuck's Content

Title Reply Post date
Physical Change Question

Your body also goes through changes acclimating to the environment ... your brain swells to acclimate to high altitudes. Before I went to Antarctica I rarely remembered my dreams. I came back home nearly a month ago, and I now have vivid dreams that I remember on a regular basis. It was a...{read more}

January 21, 2013 - 1:00pm
Living Quarters

Hmmm ... the Scott Tent I stayed in at the Penguin Colony was about 6 feet x 6 feet, and the Mountain tent I stayed in at the AGO site was about 6 feet x 4 feet. I had both of them to myself.

{read more} 		January 21, 2013 - 1:02pm
Diet

One thing they make sure you have is lots of food and a variety of it. We have lots of snack type stuff like candy, granola bars, etc.. And of course anything that can be frozen is available. Keep in mind that environment is like living in a shelter or tent inside your freezer at home. So...{read more}

January 21, 2013 - 1:03pm
Transportation

Yes ... the transportation was different. I traveled via snowmobile, helicopter, airplane, or a land vehicle with huge fat tires or tracks. There are no roads in Antarctica so you are either traveling across the snow or in the air.

{read more} 		January 21, 2013 - 1:06pm
Danger

No. But things in Antarctica can change very quickly. Ice can cave in and severe weather can move into the area in a matter of minutes, so it is something you are always keep in the back of your mind.

{read more} 		January 21, 2013 - 1:10pm
Check-in Process

You arrive on via airplane and are taken to a classroom for about two hours of orientation. After that you get your room key and you're on your own.

{read more} 		January 21, 2013 - 1:18pm
shower

Well the good thing is everyone smells about the same. Because it's so dry there bacteria on your body are kept in check and that keeps the odor under control. Your hair that's another thing. Almost everyone wears a hat almost all of the time. It hides the crazy looking hair.

{read more} 		January 21, 2013 - 1:22pm
Training

Alex and Ben,

Attributes ... you need to be a sort of "goes with the flow" sort of person because plans change sometimes on an hourly basis, so you just have to go with it. A good sense of humor is a big positive too. Although you don't have to love cold weather, you have to at least...{read more}

January 21, 2013 - 1:33pm
Question

One of the reasons Space Weather is studied from Antarctica is that there are no people who live there so you don't get a lot of interference from cell phones, radios, etc. and this is the location where the magnetic field lines dip into the Earth. So space weather observations don't have a lot...{read more}

January 21, 2013 - 1:39pm
Weather

Nothing like a tornado. You can get snow devils ( see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ88OoBl2P0). But usually (other than on the coast) its sunny and windy or calm, cloudy and windy or...{read more}

January 21, 2013 - 1:45pm

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