I woke up on the morning of November 21st to the sound of quiet. The wind stopped blowing and it was a beautiful day in Beacon Valley. The night before Dave and the team were contemplating abandoning…
I went out to the drilling site in the morning and it was really windy. How windy was it? It was so windy that Andrew had to hold on to me to keep me from hitting the ground. I was literally knocked…
When we set up camp in the evening on November 17, it was a dry, sunny, clear day and I thought to myself, the Dry Valleys are not like the rest of Antarctica. The temperature felt like it could be a…
Today is the Big Day. Almost one year in the planning with a few twists and turns in the expedition, but I will shortly be in a helicopter beginning the PolarTREC experience in Beacon Valley. In…
This is the last day in McMurdo and I have a choice. I can do laundry, or go SCINI dipping. Cameo Slaybaugh tells me that her researcher, Dr. Stacy Kim, needs extra hands to help with the Underwater…
Since I am spending a few days in McMurdo while waiting for notification of the date of my helicopter flight to Beacon Valley, I decided to look around and take some photographs from McMurdo Station…
On November 11 and November 12, 2008 I completed mandatory Snow School, also known as "Happy Camper School". This course is a requirement for anyone leaving McMurdo proper for a field camp at any…
It is Monday November 10 in New Zealand and this is the day of my scheduled "Ice Flight". I arrived at the Clothing Distribution Center around 0530 and began playing "musical luggage" again. I left…
I left Los Angeles on November 6, 2008 on a clear day with a temperature of 81° F and good air quality. The day was so beautiful, it reminded me why people continue to flock to a city known for its…
Life, like planet earth, is constantly changing and full of surprises. Our department (Earth Science and Anthropology) moved from a Math Science Building which was built shortly before the Dinosaur…
Each school year I take 2-3 field trips with students to the Channel Islands National Park. Over the years, we have visited four of the five islands that comprise the national park (Anacapa, Santa…
The Physical Geology laboratory class took an end-of-semester field trip to George Dukemajian Wilderness Park in Glendale, CA. The park is named for a former governor of California. Although the…