5 November 2019 The Amy Connection

Journal

"I'm gonna get myself connected" -Stereo MCs

You've met Amy, Graham, and Aaron. I'm the final person who, for now, is the 4th member of B-307-the marine ectotherm team. I'm here temporarily to learn as much as I can and share what I learn with all of you!

Amy Osborne in the snow with ECW gear on — Amy Osborne in the snow wearing her Extreme Cold Weather gear.

As an educator with the PolarTREC program my main focus is to participate in the research, learn as much as I can about the project I'm a part of, gain some experience conducting field research, and share that along with my experiences and some information about the polar regions!! At the end of it all I'll also create a product focused on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and one that promotes STEM skills to share with NatureBridge, the outdoor environmental science organization I work for back in California, and other educators.

I also conduct skype sessions with educators and classrooms and I'm planning a live from McMurdo Station PolarConnect event in which you can talk with me live from McMurdo's Aquarium. Anyone can participate! It's happening November 22nd 9:30am Pacific Time, 10:30am Mountain Time, 11:30am Central Time, and 12:30pm Eastern Time. You don't even need to be in the U.S. to participate. You DO need to register and you can do that by clicking HERE. It should last 45 minutes-1 hour. So, please join in! Also, feel free to share my journals and this exciting event that's coming up with people you know. The presentation is geared toward classrooms so let your teacher friends know too!

Scooping ice out of a dive hole in a dive hut — Amy Osborne scoops ice out of a dive hole as Anne Todgham and Denise Hardoy wait their turn to help out. Photo by Andrew Naslund

Three people sitting around a table looking at their computers. — Max Czapanskiy from the Penguin Ranch research team, Denise Hardoy, and Jason John from the Penguin Ranch research team in the library of Crary Lab. We call our workspace study hall.

What my role looks like day to day is a combination of me sitting behind a computer writing journals and also doing a bit of research, dive tending and supporting the divers on the team as best I can, participating in the research Amy and her team are doing back in the lab, and learning a whole heck of a lot about sea spiders, nudibranchs, and life in Antarctica. I attend talks, read books, and ask people what their jobs are and what their lives are like.

In the picture above I'm with Max Czapanskiy and Jason John who are part of the research team that studies penguins at Penguin Ranch. If you want to know more about their project click here or go to penguinranch19.github.io Below check out photos from my hut training. This training allows me to take my team to Scott and Shackleton's huts. Ideally, at the end of each day I type up my experiences and what I've learned in an easy to understand short journal for people to read.

Wooden crate inside Scott's Discovery hut. — Wooden crate from Scott's Discovery expedition 1901-1904. I've been learning more about this hut and am training to be a hut guide. Discovery Hut, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Old cans, a stove, and even meat stacked on wodden shelves inside Scott's Discovery hut. — These cans, old stove at the far end of the shelves, and even meat on the bottom shelf are left from Scott's Discovery Expedition 1901-1904. Captain Robert Falcon Scott was trying to make it to the South Pole.

Overall, my role is outreach person, communications person, knowledge gainer, and research support person. If you are a teacher and would like to connect with our team down here let me know! Also, if you have a question or comment definitely write it below. I'll do my best to find some answers for you.

Speaking of questions...there are a few that I haven't answered yet and would love to share the answers with all of you. Today's will be the simplest and is from Reesha. Reesha wondered, in her haiku, what smells I smell when I'm here. What's really interesting about this question is there was actually a list of smells from each department posted on a corkboard near the Galley, which is where we eat. Here are some highlights:

IT: Old Electronics and Mountain Dew

Search and Rescue: dirty socks

Carp Shop (The carpenters): wood

Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF): grease

Wastewater Plant: "roses" and waterbears (that's how they treat the water)

As for me, most of the smells are keeping things clean and making things run. There isn't the smell of sage or fennel like I'm used to. Instead I smell Tide detergent which is what is provided for free in the laundry room. I get some wafts of combustion smells when I am near the PistenBully and today we smelled some fuel, we're not sure what that's all about. Oh, and then there's the Galley. There I smell a lot of delicious food, especially when they are baking cookies!!!