antarctica
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The Antarctic Crash of C-121 Lockheed Constellation “Pegasus”
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A short distance from McMurdo station, on the McMurdo Ice Shelf lies the wreckage of the C-121 Lockheed Constellation “Pegasus”, from which the Pegasus Airfield gets its name. During my stay in McMurdo, I had the opportunity to travel to the resting place of the aircraft to investigate. Background, From AbandonedPlaygrounds.com: On October 8, 1970,…
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The National Science Foundations Central Offices at McMurdo – The Chalet
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At McMurdo, the National Science Foundation uses a building called the Chalet as their central offices – this includes office space for the senior representative, high level administrative staff, travel staff, as well as general reception and meeting spaces for science and program related meetings. It’s a beautiful building, and a pleasure to visit. A…
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How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 2: Extreme Cold Weather Gear
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In preparation for departure to the ice, United States Antarctic Program members receive standard issue Antarctic Extreme Cold Weather Gear. This year, since I’m deploying to a remote field camp, I was issued a bit more specialzed gear. This was the first of many gear issues for my team as we gear up for deployment…
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Pre-Field Preparations at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
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A quick update from McMurdo Station: For the past week, I’ve been working with my team at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We’re running around town gearing up for our upcoming field expedition to WAIS Divide, Western Antarctica. In addition to our briefings and gear organization, McMurdo has a ton of great stuff to do! Here’s a…
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New Zealand’s Antarctic Outpost: Scott Base
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Just over the hill from US-run McMurdo Station is New Zealand’s Scott Base, part of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme. The base serves as the center of New Zealand’s Antarctic Operations, and is a pleasure to visit. Every Thursday night, Scott Base’s bar, “The Tatty Flag” hosts USAP participants for “American Night”. Shuttles from McMurdo…
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How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 3: Field Camp Expedition Gear
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The final stage of gear preparation for living at Antarctic field camp is preparing the field-specific gear and machines. During the first week at McMurdo, my team and I went through a number of issues, classes, and trainings to get fully ready for deployment to field camp. A few photos from the process:
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How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 1: Personal Gear
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As I write this, I’m en-route to work for a season at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica. This will be my second season working on the ice, and first time working at a remote field camp. My first deployment was to the heated, enclosed South Pole Station. This time I’ll be living…
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Long Haul: Flying from Denver to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp
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Finally, the time has come – I’m departing to Antarctica, for my second deployment to the ice. I’m extremely excited about getting back to work on another great project, and am looking forward to meeting my new work crew, and to working on the IDDO DISC Drill at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp.…
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My Footage from the South Pole used in “The Science of Interstellar” Documentary
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Coinciding with the release of Christopher Nolan’s new movie “Interstellar”, Warner Brothers has released a new documentary called “The Science of Interstellar” – and my footage is in it! The documentary covers the science roots behind the hollywood film, including science looking at the Cosmic Microwave Background. During my time living and working at the…
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I’m In A Planetarium Show! “Chasing the Ghost Particle”
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During my deployment to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica in the Austral Summer 2012-2013, my good friend Blaise was working with the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium at the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Throughout the summer season, Blaise worked with a RED HD…
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I’m Going Back To Antarctica To Work At The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp
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After a year of training, travel, expeditioning, and preparation, this Austral Summer I’m going back to Antarctica to work with the United States Antarctic Program on an science expedition at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, one of the most remote permanent field stations in Antarctica. I’m very excited to be going back to the…
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Speaking on Living and Working at the South Pole, Antarctica at Neptune Mountaineering
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Here’s the recording of my recent talk at Neptune Mountaineering. I spoke about my experiences living and working in Antarctica, and what I have coming up next,
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Applying to the Ecologic Institute’s Arctic Summer College
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This summer, transdisciplinary research organisation The Ecologic Institute will hold its 3rd annual Arctic Summer College, and I plan on attending. To apply, I wrote two essays speaking to my interests in the program, as well as issues facing the region. Here’s what I had to say: Arctic Summer College Application Essays – Summer, 2014…
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Speaking About Antarctica at Percolate Inspire
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Last October, I was invited to appear as the featured speaker at Percolate’s monthly Inspire speaker series. Here’s video of my talk: More on Percolate: Percolate helps brands create content at social scale. Some key features include: – Track events and plan content at the intersection of brand voice and cultural relevance – Employees never…
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I’ll Be Appearing At The New York Travel Festival, Speaking About Adventure Travel in Antarctica
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[column type=”two-thirds”] This year, the New York Travel Festival is taking place April 26-27, 2014 in New York City. I’ve been selected by the organizers to act as the resident expert on Antarctica. Read my bio on the NY Travel Festival website. The New York Travel Festival aims to reinvent the consumer travel show for…
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First Results From The BICEP2 CMB Telescope Announced re: Gravitational Waves in the Cosmic Microwave Background
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A little over a year ago, I had the extraordinary opportunity to work with scientists John Kovac, Jon Kaufman, Howard Hui, and others at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica (summary of my experience living and working at the south pole) on the BICEP2 and KECK Array Microwave Telescopes. Learning about how the telescopes worked,…
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Infographic: Major Icebreakers of the World
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Great infographic today thanks to the US Coast Guard – a comprehensive review of the world’s major icebreakers. My next task, sail on all of them! From the United States Naval Institute: “The Coast Guard Office of Waterways and Ocean Policy (CG-WWM) began producing the chart of major icebreakers of the world in July 2010.…
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Tinder Makes Its First Match in Antarctica
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Not like I wasn’t expecting it – popular social hookup app Tinder seems to be running full steam at both the Sochi Winter Olympics as well as McMurdo Station, Antarctica. From The Cut: On a lonely December night at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station, an American scientist conducting research there decided to log on to Tinder —…
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The Coldest Place in the World: Dome Argus, East Antarctica
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NASA recently revealed that a spot in Antarctica just hit a record -135.3 degrees F below zero – that’s cold! In my time at the south pole, the coldest I experienced was -60F – not even close to the record. Fron NBC News: Ice scientist Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center…
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Scientist Terry Benson Presents On “Innovations in Hot Water Drilling at the South Pole”
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Last Austral Summer, I spent 3.5 months living at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. Among my many jobs on station, one of the most rewarding was the work I did with the Askaryan Radio Array drill and deployment teams. During my time working with the ARA, I got to spend some good time with…
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How To Get A Job In Antarctica
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So, you want to live and work in Antarctica? Sounds good! I’ve lived and worked in Antarctica a number of times (2012-13 South Pole and 2014-15 WAIS Divide), and have fielded countless questions about the best way to get down to the ice. Getting my position down on the ice was no easy task, and took…
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Government Shutdown Halts United States Antarctic Program – Save Science in Antarctica!
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It’s truly a sad day for Antarctica. Because of the government furlough, science operations in Antarctica is being shut down as funds dry up, as a “result of the absence of appropriation and the Antideficiency Act.”, according to the official USAP.gov website. Amidst all of the other shakeup and struggle operations in Antarctica have gone…
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Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013
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During the Austral Summer of 2012-2013, I traveled to Antarctica to work as a Cook, EMT, Tour Guide, and Photojournalist at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. While I was living there, I took over 10,000 photos, hours of video footage, and published an article about life in Antarctica on my blog every single day. Here’s…
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A Tour of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
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After living and working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station during the summer 2012-2013 season, I’ve had the chance to see most parts of the station. Additionally, I also worked as a tour guide for the various tourist groups who visited the station. Here’s a brief narrated video tour of both the elevated station as…