MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Last Wednesday the Main Team left Moss Landing, bound for Antarctica. But before leaving, I played one last morning of beach volleyball - as I won't get much beach in my volleyball down south! Here is a short video... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- To introduce you to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, let’s get right into the jargon. There are abbreviations and acronyms for everything, and the new language adds to the disorientation of being in a new, strange, and extreme place... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Our reason for being in Antarctica is to fly small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), known as Aerosondes, to make measurements of the atmosphere and ocean over the Terra Nova Bay polynya. Today we took a major step towards that goal when... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- We’ve been in Antarctic for just about a week now. Much of our time since we’ve arrived has been spent unpacking, setting up, and testing our gear and attending training sessions and… {Read More »}

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN– Phytoplankton cells can become toxic under certain conditions. Still a mystery to scientists why they produce toxins, there has been a proliferation of large concentrations of toxic cells, or blooms, also called red tides, during the last 20 years... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN-- Adios Punta Arenas, Chile. Hello Research Vessel and Ice Breaker, Nathaniel B. Palmer. We, the crew, support staff and scientists of the NBP Iceberg Cruise III, left port in Punta Arenas on March 6th to begin our 40-day cruise... {Read More »}

TAYLOR VALLEY, DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA-- In this interview from in front of the Canada Glacier in Antarctica’s Taylor Valley, Hassan Basagic from Portland State University describes the essential role of polar glaciers in supporting the bare-bones ecosystems in the Dry Valleys... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- The Adélie Penguin breeding season in Antarctica is short. By late January it is time for everyone to leave including the penguins. Before our team departs our last task is to band the chicks... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- Penguin chicks are born with a fine cover of small soft feathers. In a few days they will loose those feathers and grow wooly thick gray ones. These feathers will keep them warm for the next few weeks, but are not waterproof... {Read More »}

ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- In this land (Antarctica) and an ocean far away (to most of you), but not long ago (in the past weeks or so), a scenario was played out that in days long past may once have happened, in fact, near by to where you are, but involving penguin cousins... {Read More »}