Like last year, I will have colleagues from the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program answer questions as while they are working in Antarctica. I will post updates in the "About the Biologists" tab to provide some information about the scientists who will be posting to the blog this season.
Josh (with the McMurdo LTER) is currently in Antarctica and will periodically posting blog updates.
TO SUBMIT A QUESTION, please post questions in the comments below. We will post answers on the main page for the blog.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteWe are a 6th grade science class from South Lyon, Michigan. We have read some of the posts on your blog and we have some questions about your work in Antarctica!
Do you have to worry about natural disasters?
Have you witnessed an avalanche?
What types of animals are there? Have you seen any penguins?
Do volcanoes erupt in Antarctica? Do you worry about it?
What is field research?
Does Antarctica have seasons or is it just winter there all the time?
How does algae grow in cold weather?
What are microbes?
What is the best part of being there?
How do you get electricity?
Do you have cell service or WiFi?
Why don’t the pictures show a lot of snow? What are the dry valleys?
What do you do in your free time? Do you have extreme snowball fights?
Do you miss your family? Are you able to contact them?
Is it hard for your body to adapt to the cold temperatures?
Could you grow food there?
How much clothing or accessories do you need to bring?
We look forward to hearing from you soon! Thank you!
Hi South Lyon 6th Grade. Thanks for the questions! I'll let Josh (our scientist who is in the field this season) know these questions are here and he will craft a blog post for the main page.
ReplyDeleteHow did you get your job here? What were the requirements? How can I possible get a job as a biologist in Antarctica?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. Short answer is you study biology in college, volunteer to work as a research assistant in a biology lab, then to go graduate school at a university where you can find an advisor (i.e., a Professor to mentor you) who studies biology in Antarctica. If you're lucky, you can go to Antarctica as a graduate student working on a project there. Eventually, if you keep it up, you will be able to lead your own research projects there. It takes lots of work and studying, but you can definitely do it!
Delete...This is a great question. I'll try to put a post on the main page about it.
My 14-year-old daughter, Amanda Gracia, is a freshman at Watertown High School in Watertown WI. She is part of their Endeavor program, which is project-based learning.
ReplyDeleteAmanda is very interested in and is doing a project on living in Antarctica, and she requires a "live source" for one of her projects. She asked me to write from my Facebook account to find out if somebody in your organization would be willing to answer five or so easy questions that she would send via email (that would require just a sentence or two each as a response).
Any help would be so appreciated. Please advise on this possibility along with a contact name and email, and she will contact that person directly.
With much appreciation,
Maria Gracia
611 Arlington Way
Watertown WI 53094
getorgnow@charter.net
Hi Maria, I apologize, but I just saw this post. Is your daughter still interested in talking to some field personnel for this project? I can put her in contact with someone.
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