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Zoe CourvilleZoe Courville studies snow and ice in the Arctic and Antarctica. She has a PhD in material science and works as a research mechanical engineer at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab in Hanover, New Hampshire. During the summer of 2008, Zoe’s research took her to the top of the Greenland Ice Cap. From November 2008 through February 2009, she’s reporting from along a 1,865-mile (3,000 km) journey from the South Pole to Troll Station as part of the Norwegian–U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica. Zoe loves working in the polar regions and sharing her experiences with others.

Project Page: Into the Great White Open

All Posts By Zoe Courville


The Recon Flight and Sastrugi Problem

By Zoe Courville · November 21, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SOUTH POLE STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Last week, a reconnaissance flight over the vehicles determined that the surface out there is too rough to land for the Basler aircraft we were scheduled to take on Saturday... {Read More »}


Journey to the South Pole

By Zoe Courville · November 13, 2008 · comments 6 comments
300KM FROM SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- The Norwegian-US Traverse, Year 2, Begins! We still haven't started on our big trip, (the actual traverse), but we are getting closer and closer! This seems amazing given how far we've come already... {Read More »}


Looking for Ozone Destroyers

By Zoe Courville · August 5, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Drs. Jochen Stutz and Jennie Thomas from UCLA are up at Summit looking for halogens which could be contributing to the destruction of ozone, here at Summit and in other polar areas. The instrument they use for this is a large telescope... {Read More »}


Snow Oxidants

By Zoe Courville · July 29, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Dave Tanner from Georgia Tech works on a project measuring various chemical species in the snow and in the air at Summit. It is a long way from Georgia up at Summit, but luckily Dave enjoys his work... {Read More »}


Meet a Meteorologist

By Zoe Courville · July 22, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Meet Jeff Luxford, a graduate student working with atmospheric chemist and Summit veteran Dr. Jack Dibb. Before graduate school, Jeff worked as a meteorologist for five years, which comes in handy up at Summit when you're working outside all day... {Read More »}


Meet a PolarTREC Teacher

By Zoe Courville · July 17, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Meet Craig Beals, a high school teacher from Billings, Montana, working primarily with snow photochemist Dr. Barry Lefer and his group, helping them to collect data... {Read More »}


Tethered Balloon Launch

By Zoe Courville · July 15, 2008 · comments 1 comment
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- In this video dispatch, meet Dr. Craig Clements from San Jose State University, a micrometereologist studying the atmosphere above Summit with an interesting-looking piece of equipment... {Read More »}


Studying Sunlight

By Zoe Courville · July 14, 2008 · comments No comments yet
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- In this video dispatch meet Dr. Barry Lefer, a professor at the University of Houston researching the amount of sunlight that penetrates the Greenland snowpack. This information helps photochemists understand chemical reactions in the snow... {Read More »}


Snow Freaks

By Zoe Courville · July 10, 2008 · comments 6 comments
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Working in the snow all day takes a certain type of skill set: digging skills, drilling skills, and snowmobile driving skills. It also helps to love what you do... {Read More »}


Meet the Summit Staff, Pt. 2

By Zoe Courville · July 7, 2008 · comments 3 comments
SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- All of the science up at Summit Camp is made possible by a small group of amazing camp staff. In this second series of videos, meet some of the other staff essential to Summit Camp's operation... {Read More »}

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