Life at the pole has become routine. From the outside, it might seem that being at the South Pole could be anything but routine. But when you live and work here… much less work nine hours a day and six days a week, it does eventually just become where you live and work. Granted, it [...]
» Full Story »
Snow Stakes Run
South Pole Station, Antarctica
11 December 2005
Every year since 1990 the meteorological (MET) department goes out to measure how much snow drift has accumulated over the previous year. About half a dozen “snow stake lines” radiate 20 kilometers out from the station in all directions to get away from the swirling influence of the buildings and other structures that cause wind [...]
» Full Story »
Pole Happenings
South Pole Station, Antarctica
20 November 2005
Things are really swinging here at the Pole now. I’ve joined the South Pole Station Fire Brigade and we’ve had a few fire alarms, but no fires thank goodness. I’m working in the station greenhouse. And oh yes, there’s still plenty of snow shoveling. But the shoveling has declined as other projects start to demand [...]
» Full Story »
Getting to the South Pole
Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
27 October 2005
Mine may well have been one of the fastest trips to the South Pole. Amundsen, who led the first party to reach the South Pole ever in 1911, took 15 months and 9 days from Norway via ship and dog sled. Byrd got to the South Pole by ship and by plane in 15 months [...]
» Full Story »
River Geology
Deschutes River, Trout Creek, Oregon, United States
1 August 2005
My Uncle Eddie has been rafting for many, many years. I remember when I was young, doing 15 miles down the Santiam River (san-tee-AM), a tributary of the Willamette River in Western Oregon with him and a bunch of our family. Well, since then, I’ve started joining him on more trips and have been helping him guide trips.
» Full Story »
Turtle Talk
Takanabe & Kagoshima, Japan
15 November 2001
In keeping with what has turned out to be somewhat of an island fetish, my trip down south to Kyushu, the southern most island of the main Japanese islands, I also visited Kagoshima, a small island even further south! The main purpose of the trip was to see another friend from college teaching English in [...]
» Full Story »
The Hunt for Sea Turtles
Monterey Bay, California, United States
7 September 2001
Patience is key in scientific research and no one knows that better than Scott Eckert and Peter Dutton. The two scientists and their crews have been researching the lifestyles of huge ocean faring sea turtles for years. On trips out to sea sometimes they find the giants sometimes they don’t. But they press on. When [...]
» Full Story »
Updates via e-mail:
