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Saffia HossainzadehSaffia Hossainzadeh is an undergraduate student majoring in physics at the University of Chicago. For the past two summers, her research has focused on what affects the motion of ice streams in Antarctica, and how to translate the many forces that can push or pull the streams into a computer model to simulate the streams' motion. Saffia will be helping the rest of the field team put out instruments near the Whillans Ice Stream in western Antarctica.

Project Page: Under the Glaciers

All Posts By Saffia Hossainzadeh


Escorting Dynamite Through Siple Dome

WHILLANS ICE STREAM / ICE STREAM B, ANTARCTICA-- In these two audio dispatches, I describe our journey to our field site via a stop at Siple Dome station. In part one, hear about the difficulties involved in escorting 700 pounds of explosives through Antarctica. In part two, hear about our combat-style landing... {Read More »}



- 57 Degrees with Wind Chill

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Any person who is required to venture off base, or out of McMurdo, has to take a course called Snowcraft 1 or ‘Happy Camper School’. We learn the basics of camping in Antarctica with our survival kit... {Read More »}



The Real Antarctica

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- We have finally made it to McMurdo Station, our first Antarctic stop before our final destination: our remote field site on the Whillans Ice Stream. We’ve been preparing for this for months, but as I'm learning, our preparations are far from over... {Read More »}