Archive for January 2019

January 14, 2019 (Note: this is #14 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). Today’s “featured image” isn’t particularly related to this post, but I thought everyone might like to see a seal 🙂 Are you on twitter?? (I’m not…maybe a goal for 2020). If you are,…

Today we approached Avian Island where our birders planned to set up a field camp and spend the next five days surveying the resident penguin population. I think most of the other scientists on board are envious of this remarkable opportunity. When I was describing it to my mother over email, she thought it sounded like a…

January 11 2019 (Note: this is #12 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould) I’ve been conducting experiments in which I incubate copepods under different food conditions. I’m hoping to use these experiments to get insight into how fast copepods respond to a lack of food. I…

January 10 2019 (Note: this is #11 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). Yesterday was another set of firsts for me, filled with moments where I was struck with, “Wow, I’m really in Antarctica.” We’ve moved steadily southward, zig-zagging toward and away from the coast…

January 9, 2019 (Note: this is #10 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). One thing I like about being in the field is that problems happen and you have to deal with them. I guess that’s true of life in general, but in the field,…

January 8 2019 (Note: this is #9 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). I’m on my 9th post about this copepod project and I’m finally showing my first picture of a copepod! It sounds a little strange, but the logistics of working here are pretty extreme.…

January 7 2019 (Note: this is #8 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). Photos in this post courtesy of Patricia Thibodeaux. On our second day of sampling, I got my first chance to help deploy the 2-m plankton net. The net is big and heavy,…

January 6 2019 (Note: this is #7 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). It was a beautiful day. The seas were calm and the sun was shining, …AND ten days after leaving the states, we finally got to take our first zooplankton sample! We towed…

January 5 2019 (Note: this is #6 in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica aboard the Laurence M. Gould). As we left Palmer Station around 10 am, it felt surprisingly bittersweet. I was energized and excited to start sampling, but as I watched the bowlines detach from shore one by one,…

January 4 2019 Note: this is the fifth in a series of posts describing my NSF-sponsored fieldwork in Antarctica about the Laurence M. Gould. Click here for a brief description of the project.     Another note: Before I talk about today’s events, check out the picture above…this is where we did the “Polar Plunge” yesterday. Today started…