Today was a day of preparing the samples of soil we collected out in the field for viewing of the animals in the soil. My assignment was to work in the "hood". This means that I was working in the fume hood. I was weighing samples from our bags of soil into accurately measured amounts (100 grams), to send to the next person in the lab who will continue to work to separate the animals for viewing. Dr. Adams showed this procedure a few journals back.

    Fume Hood
    Me working in the fume hood "hood". I was weighing specific amounts of soil. That amount of soil would be used to count animal concentrations that live in that soil.

    This was the view out of our lab window.

    Polar Star
    This is looking out the window of our lab. It is the US Coast Guard Polar Star Icebreaker.

    This ship has spent months coming in from Seattle to break up the ice for our resupply vessel that is on its way. It is expected that the members of the Coast Guard crew (Coasties) will be very ready to step foot on land here and have a little fun for a couple of days before they turn around and head for home.

    McMurdo Hospital
    Visiting the medical clinic, also known as "McMurdo General Hospital".

    This evening, I went into the medical clinic. I met Rob. He is an Air Force Flight Nurse. He gave me a great tour of the clinic here. All people who come to Antarctica need to be PQ'd (physically qualified), which can prevent medical issues. They can't be eliminated though. When sickness or injury occurs, it is great to know we have these medical professionals I will show you in this video.

    Later in the evening, I took a cold and windy hike out to the point where Scott's Hut is located. We have a tour scheduled in a few days where we will get to go inside. I understand the hut was left just the same as the members of Scott's team left it. More information will be coming when we do that.

    Want to ask a question or leave a comment? Email me at: kdickerson [at] alpinedistrict.org

    Date
    Location
    McMurdo Station, Antarctica
    Weather Summary
    Mostly sunny
    Temperature
    23F
    Wind Speed
    15 mph
    Wind Chill
    15F

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