Howie Koss | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

Howie Koss studies climate variability of the past to better understand future climate change. He is a graduate student at Queens College in New York City and seeks to understand Antarctica’s role in the global climate system. Howie is also a Science Team member of the multinational ANDRILL sediment coring project.

Project Page: Seeing the Past with Sound

All Posts By Howie Koss

Homeward Bound

By Howie Koss · December 9, 2008 ·

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OFFSHORE NEW HARBOR CAMP, ANTARCTICA-- November 24th, 2008: my final day at the Offshore New Harbor Camp. After completing nearly 48 kilometers of seismic data collection... {Read More »}

Our Scientific Process

By Howie Koss · December 9, 2008 ·

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OFFSHORE NEW HARBOR CAMP, ANTARCTICA-- In this video dispatch, Dr. Marvin Speece, professor of geophysical engineering at Montana Tech and co-Principal Investigator of the Offshore New Harbor Project, discusses how our expedition collects scientific data... {Read More »}

Fata Morgana

By Howie Koss · December 1, 2008 ·

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OFFSHORE NEW HARBOR CAMP, ANTARCTICA-- Fata Morgana. This Italian expression rolls nicely off the tongue, but what do these foreign and wonderful words mean? What is the origin of this ghostly term? How does this phenomenon manifest itself in nature?... {Read More »}

Journey to Our Field Camp

By Howie Koss · November 18, 2008 ·

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OFFSHORE NEW HARBOR CAMP, ANTARCTICA-- This video captures the energy and excitement of our traverse across the sea ice to the Offshore New Harbor Field Camp... {Read More »}

The Ice Cave

By Howie Koss · November 11, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- After our full day of sea ice training, we headed back to McMurdo Station, with a steaming Mt. Erebus looming above us amid a picturesque swirling wispy sky. Yet what was in store was the highlight of the day. We found out that our next destination was an ice cave... {Read More »}

Sea Ice Training

By Howie Koss · November 11, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- The Hagglund awaited us as we prepared to depart for sea ice training. This was a requirement since our expedition is to be based on the ice that forms over the ocean of McMurdo Sound every austral winter. We had to learn how to identify cracks... {Read More »}

Happy Camper School

By Howie Koss · October 30, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- As the Delta drove away after dropping off our group for Happy Camper School, also known as “Snowcraft 1” and survival training, I had a distinct mix of adrenaline excitement and nervousness... {Read More »}

Antarctic Waste Management

By Howie Koss · October 27, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Here I interview James Van Matre, Waste Management Supervisor at McMurdo Station. We talk about Antarctica's waste management practices of the past and present, and why it's important to recycle... {Read More »}

Firefighter Howie

By Howie Koss · October 26, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Today I had the opportunity to interview Lieutenant Mosher of the McMurdo Station Fire Department. He gave me a tour of the whole firehouse and showed me all the fire trucks they use... {Read More »}

A Gorgeous Day at McMurdo

By Howie Koss · October 24, 2008 ·

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MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- The last couple of days have been really busy down here at McMurdo. I’ve been going through a lot of training sessions and have had many meetings with our team. We’ve been trying to get all of our equipment together for the long journey across the sea ice... {Read More »}