ET's continuing adventures with Norwegian soil microbiology

Here's photographic evidence that Elizabeth is working hard in Norway with her Arctic soil microbiology course!She says:
Week 2 was a full one with both science and recreation playing a big part.


We went to two different valleys (Bjorndalen and Adventdalen) and took soil samples from 2 different plant communities in each valley and then did a series of measurements on them in the lab. We measured pH, % water content, and Nitrogen content in NH4 (ammonium) and NO3 (nitrate) forms (which are the forms of nitrogen that organisms living in the soil can use - learn more about the nitrogen cycle with the basic info or a more involved description).

My class of students put together a Friday night group dinner of  pizza, with homemade dough, directed by the Italians.  We took two really wonderful hikes, one was to the highest peak around the area-- Nordenskioldfjellet.  And I did some swimming in the very nice, 25 m, pool here.


Then, I got to meet former President Jimmy Carter.  He was here with some climate change scientists discussing what was happening locally and globally  and cruising around on the National Geographic (ship) Endeavour.  He came to the local museum, which is next door to the school, so I and another student walked up to the Secret Service and asked if we could meet him. He was very nice, looking a bit old, but still sprightly and cordial.  He also visited the Global Seed Vault.

The Norway Report

Elizabeth is now up in Svalbard, Norway! She says:
  There are 13 students from all over Europe, several from Norway, and only me from the US. We have lectures in the morning and lab in the afternoon. We toured the German icebreaker-research vessel, Polarstern, on Friday.  Next week will have some field excursions to nearby valleys and will do a couple days of cruising as well later on.  We are looking at both marine and terrestrial/aquatic microorganisms with PCR and various digestion methods.
 The group of students have taken a couple great local hikes, after we got access to rifles with which to protect us from polar bears. On our first day we had to do target practice and safety instructions with the rifles and then swimming in immersion  suits in the harbor. However, the bears are protected so you have to demonstrate afterwards that your life was in danger otherwise you are fined for shooting and killing a bear. On the other hand, the reindeer are very tame and wander through town in ones and twos. They don't really have any predators so they are not afraid. The scenery here is spectacular, steep mountains, glaciers, braided rivers in flatbottomed valleys, the fjord right here.  And the town is very pretty in some ways.  Since there is no green grass it always looks like early spring with barren soil and mining debris.  But the houses are very nice.

From one Pole to the Other

Our research in Antarctica is conducted during December through February. That's our winter, but the Antarctic summer. This is the best time to go to Antarctica, because the days are long, temperatures are at their highest, the weather is the least dangerous. But, while we were down at the bottom of the southern hemisphere bathed in 24-hours of daylight, the Arctic (the top of the northern hemisphere) was in the middle of its harsh winter, with no daylight at all!
Now, in July, it's summer for us here in the northern hemisphere. But, in Antarctica, it's the middle of winter! It's too dark, cold, and dangerous for us to be working down there now. Even though we can't be in Antarctica right now doing our research, we still keep working and learning. We just have to go to the other end of the Earth to do it! Right now, Elizabeth is in Norway, way up north towards the Arctic. She is learning about Arctic microbiology, so that she can see how it relates to what we find in Antarctica. Elizabeth will be keeping us posted on what she learns, sees, and experiences up in Norway. So stay tuned for her posts!

Phoenix is landing!

Perhaps you'll remember the fine company we had at Lake Fryxell for Christmas.

The NASA scientists working with the Phoenix Lander were in the Dry Valleys to explore Antarctica as a Mars analog. While they were digging in the Antarctic, the Phoenix was traveling through space towards Mars. Now, Phoenix is about to land on Mars and begin the mission for which these guys have worked so hard! We here at the "Dartmouth College Chapter of the Phoenix Fan Club" are very excited to hear about what they learn, as we are very curious about how Mars might be an Antarctic analog.

What better way to celebrate your Memorial Day weekend than by watching NASA TV? You can hear the press briefings and stay up to date at the following times by going to NASA TV's website:

Phoenix Mission Briefings
May 22, 2:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. Pacific)
May 24, 3:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, 3:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, NASA TV coverage begins 6:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, Landing on Mars at approximately 7:53 p.m. (4:53 p.m. Pacific)

Other interesting websites are:
The Phoenix Mars Mission website
The Phoenix Mission Info on NASA's website

The Soils are In

Just under two months after we left Antarctica, our soils have finally caught up with us at Dartmouth! While we were flying home on an airplane, our soils were loaded onto a ship that brought them back to the U.S. across the ocean. They arrived in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, then were loaded on a truck that brought them to our front door. Now, we have two big freezers full of our 960 pounds of soil and mosses!
And then we built a beautiful archway out of the empty Thermosafe boxes to greet our wonderful lab tech, Paul tomorrow morning. I am sure we will now be his favorite people, for making the walk into his office a little more exciting tomorrow morning.

Now, the lab work can finally begin!

Return to "Civilization"

Well, I'm back at home at Dartmouth now.

If you want to hear about some of my and Elizabeth's adventures in New Zealand, check out this website: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~beckyball/photos/nz.html

Thanks to everyone for your comments, questions, and excitement during our field season in Antarctica. Stay tuned in for more adventures as we travel to the poles for more soil biogeochemical research!

Time to Go

Well here it is. Our season is over and it's time to leave. In a few hours, we will ride Ivan the Terrabus out to Pegasus Airfield (the ice runway) to get on the C-17 that will carry us back to Christchurch, New Zealand.

It's been a great field season! I've been in Antarctica for just over 7 weeks, and spent 30 days of that out in the Dry Valleys. We collected about 960 lbs of soil and mosses that are being shipped back to Dartmouth for processing and analysis. Over the past two months since leaving New Zealand, I'll have spent about 10 hours on helicopters, 10 hours on C-17's, 3 hours on ships, 2 hours on ATV's, and 0 minutes in a car!

I will travel with Elizabeth for a week around the South Island of New Zealand, then it's back to Dartmouth, my warm bed, and my kitty cat! I will certainly miss being here, and I'm sad to go. But, there's always next year to look forward to!