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Doug KowalewskiDoug Kowalewski investigates ancient buried glacial ice in Antarctica and studies past climate conditions that have allowed for long-term preservation of the ice. He is a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the UMass Amherst Climate System Research Center. He uses ice sublimation models and regional scale climate models to calculate the range of temperatures for the McMurdo Dry Valleys over the past 8 million years. This will be his fourth trip to Antarctica, and he is excited that the ice coring during this field season will recover some of the oldest ice on the planet.

Project Page: The Oldest Ice on Earth?

All Posts By Doug Kowalewski


Greywater and Waste

By Doug Kowalewski · January 5, 2010 · comments 1 comment
BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA- One of the more common questions that I am asked regarding the field camping experience is how do we dispose of our waste in such an environmentally protected region of the world? Nothing can be released into the soil. Everything must be contained and returned to McMurdo... {Read More »}


Beacon Valley Timelapse

By Doug Kowalewski · November 27, 2009 · comments 4 comments
BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- There are two things that I never get accustomed to while in Antarctica: the beauty of the landscape and the rapid changes in weather... {Read More »}


Bad Weather Day

By Doug Kowalewski · November 12, 2009 · comments 3 comments
BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- The early morning started out with blustery winds and soon snow from the polar plateau started blowing in; it was by far the worst weather we have experienced during this field season... {Read More »}


Welcome to Beacon Valley

By Doug Kowalewski · November 5, 2009 · comments 5 comments
BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- On November 3rd the field team arrived into Beacon Valley where we will spend the next six weeks working, sleeping, and enjoying life in sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures... {Read More »}


Age Matters

By Doug Kowalewski · November 2, 2009 · comments 3 comments
MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- The primary science objective for our field team this season is to core buried glacier ice to depths of 40+ meters. The outstanding question is, how old is the ice?... {Read More »}


It Has Begun!

By Doug Kowalewski · October 25, 2009 · comments 5 comments
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND-- On October 23rd I departed for Antarctica from Boston Logan Airport with three of our team members... {Read More »}