NASA’s Operation IceBridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice, uses remote sensing techniques like LiDAR (light detection and ranging), snow- and ice-penetrating radar, high resolution digital imaging, and infrared cameras to collect information on our changing ice sheets and sea ice. Several times each year a science team and flight crew head out on month-long campaigns in
PolarTREC teacher Paula Dell accompanied researcher Kristin O’Brien’s team to Palmer Station in Antarctica for two
months in 2011 to conduct research on antarctic fishes. This article describes their expedition, their evolving collaboration and includes interviews with both Paula Dell and PolarTREC project manager, Janet Warburton.