Well, I have been debating with myself for a little while if I should keep posting about this trip, at least right now. Currently the trip is a bit uncertain due to some potentially unsafe ice conditions near Scott Base that would affect our sea ice research. I am not sure what the current status is but have been told by my supervisor to hold off on booking my flights down to Christchurch, New Zealand. I am a bit worried that it will fall through as I have been working hard to get stuff done before I go. Also I am really really looking forward to this trip.
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| MODIS image from the AQUA satellite acquired on October 14, 201. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response |
At first I thought that I should just stop blogging about the trip until I know more, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that this is an important part of what I do. Logistical and safety considerations play a very important role in our work. Whether it means staying in the base one day and processing data because the weather is too poor for working outside, flying or collecting data, or whether or not the region you want to visit is even safely accessible. I am only really used to having down days due to weather and have not had a campaign cancelled on me yet. One can only prepare as much as possible and then if the trip ends up being a no go, just accept it, ship your equipment home and prepare for the next campaign.
Despite the uncertainty in the trip , I have been working diligently on completing my pre-trip paper work for my upcoming work in the Antarctic. Naturally, people who go to the Antarctic require some serious vetting in order minimize the need for evacuations and to ensure any pre-existing medical conditions are caught for diganosis and to inform the base medical personal of your medical history. For me, this has meant:
1) A complete medical/physical with about 6 pages of questions about past and present health.
2) Tuberculosis test
3) Vaccination boosters, particularly polio and tetanus.
5) Complete blood testing and urine analysis.
6) A certificate of dental fitness (after a dental exam, naturally).
Luckily being under 60 meant that I did not need a chest X-ray or to conduct a fitness test.
I am still waiting on one blood test but once that is in I will send off the forms to the Antarctic New Zealand medical assessor for approval. If the medical assessor has questions or wants additional tests done I will be notified.
This is an interesting process for me because I've never had such a detailed work up before. I have never needed anything of the sort for the Arctic. I am not complaining, it is interesting to see the things they test and nice to get this work up done as I can find out if I am healthy.
Other than medical forms there are the usual emergency notification forms and in this case an equipment requisition form. The logistics coordinator for Antarctica in New Zealand provides most of the cold weather clothing and gear that a person uses while done there. This is exciting as I won't have to take a giant bag of all my own gear. On the other hand, I know exactly what gear I have and how well it works. I may take a few items that I really like having with me. I also need to prepare some equipment to be shipped to New Zealand in the next few week, and maybe learn how to process some ice cores for Ido, the microbiologist I worked with in Alert this past May. Our airborne sensor, the electromagnetic induction sensor "EM Bird" or "HEM", nicknamed "Rosie" has arrived back in Canada for some troubleshooting and maintenance before it will be shipped to New Zealand next week.
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| Our HEM sensor "Rosie" near the helicopter at CFS Alert in May, 2011. |
Today I also finally took the opportunity to fix my blog up a bit with the new dynamic views offered by Google Blogger. I would love some feedback from you guys, and let me know if you prefer one ofthe other dynamic formats as default or if you just want to go back to a traditional view. I also relinked my blog posts to twitter and to Facebook so that more people will be able to receive my blog updates.
As usual, if you have questions or comments regarding my research or blog feel free to post a comment below.
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteI know this is incredibly random and I hope you don't mind someone you don't know posting on your blog, but here goes anyway...
I'm a geologist and I've been wanting to increase my education in geophysics, specifically EM techniques. I was looking at doing a Masters in geophysics and was googling all sorts of things, and up came your blog.
Would you mind if I asked you a couple questions?? Specifically, was your undergrad degree in geophysics? Do you think that is a requirement, or would a geology degree with a lot of maths and physics be considered, do you think? Thanks for your help
Jane
Hello Jane,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see someone I do not know post a comment on my blog.
My undergraduate degree was not in geophysics, nor is my current Masters degree. I do not feel it would be a requirement, especially given a strong math and physics background. However, entrance requirements vary with the school, the program and even the supervisor.
I encourage you to do some research on potential schools, supervisors and research ideas based on a literature review and asking people you know.
I wish you the best in find the information you need. If you have more questions for me do not hesitate to ask.
Cheers
Justin
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying. Do you mind if I ask what your degree is in then? Masters and undergrad?
Thanks!