FAQ

So over the months that I've been planning and preparing to leave I've gotten some repeat questions from people.  I'm going to try to outline the ones that I remember best with my typical responses here so that everybody reading can be on the same page.

How cold is it down there?  Isn't it -70˚F a lot?
   Actually, since I'm going to be on an island in the peninsula, it shouldn't be that cold for me.  I've been told by people in my lab that it often feels like a brutal Boston winter.  Think this year's polar vortex days, just a little bit colder.  If you go to the United State Antarctic Program (USAP)'s website, you can see the current conditions on Anvers Island (where Palmer Station is located).  In recent days it's been about 34˚F.  Keep in mind though that right now in the southern hemisphere they're in fall.  It's only going to get colder from here.

How many people are usually down there at once?
   During the summer seasons (Boston's winter months), Palmer station hosts about 40 people.  In the winter though, that number is cut in half.  When I'm at the station, I will be only one of two researchers.  The rest of the people there will be personnel such as the station's chef and doctor.

What about polar bears?
   Polar bears are at the North Pole, not the south.  I'll see some penguins though!  My friend/colleague who was at the station for last year's winter season told me that he really only saw 8 on the island though.  He did get to see a seal give birth towards the end of winter when he was preparing to head back to Boston.

What do you do about laundry?
   They have washers and dryers at the station.  We're provided with a lot of our necessities such as detergent and bed sheets.  It makes my packing a lot lighter this way :)

What happens if you run out of shampoo or toothpaste?
   Believe it or not, there is a small gift shop/convenience store at the station.  We can buy toiletries there if we run out of anything.

Well, at least you'll have Netflix to entertain yourself, right?
   Unfortunately, no.  Due to the limited bandwidth, we're not allowed to stream videos.  It would probably take a few hours to buffer anyway.

So then what do you do for fun down there?
   Lots of things considering the location!  There's a wall full of DVDs, and there are plenty of books lying around.  There's also a pool table/ping pong table and a bar.  We have a gym, sauna, and hot tub.  We can also go outside and do stuff too.  I know my friend that I mentioned earlier liked to explore the island (within the, if I remember correctly, 1 mile radius we're allowed to explore with a buddy).  You can go swimming in the ocean too...but not for long.  Dive in, get out, and sprint to the hot tub.

How many hours a week do you think you'd be working?
   At the very beginning of the season when we have more people at the station I'll probably be working 40-50 hours a week including weekends, or so I've been told.  After that things should die down and just be more about maintaining what I already have been doing.

Why would you ever want to go to Antarctica?
   Believe it or not, I thought that way freshman year when the topic was first brought up with me.  Who would ever willingly go and live in the freezing cold where most of your days are darkness (due to the latitude of the location, the sun's rays won't be able to hit us for most hours of the day during winter)?  They must be crazy!  Well, maybe I'm a little bit crazy.  It's a once in a lifetime opportunity (or in two Northeastern students' cases, twice in a lifetime) that I felt I would regret passing up later on in life.  Besides the whole life experience bit, it will be an awesome learning experience.  I've been with the Detrich lab since October of my freshman year of college.  That's about 3 years of bench work.  I think it would be fantastic to learn what it's like to work in the field.  Our field experiments in our basic lab courses at NEU don't count.  Right now I'm not planning to pursue a PhD, but this is still a valuable learning experience, and the skills that I'll acquire for this co-op will transfer to all sorts of different fields.

How long is the flight?
   I've heard it to be estimated at about 24-26 hours including stops.  My flight takes off from Logan airport at 5:45 on the 4th, and I arrive in Punta Arenas around 6:15-6:45 on the 5th.

When do you come back?
   Obviously it's going to be dependent on the ship's schedule, but right now the Antarctic Support Contractor (ASC) booked my flights so that I would land at Logan at 10:45 A.M. on October 22nd.  That means that I should be traveling and in Antarctica for about 6.5 months.

What about your finals and classes?  How does leaving the semester early affect you?
   I've worked it out with my professors to complete the assignments before I leave.  I'm taking two finals (ecology and physics 2) at the station or on the ship.  My developmental psychology final was a take home essay, so I just completed that early.  All in all, I had to complete 2-3 physics homeworks early, take a quiz early, complete a physics lab early, turn in an ecology lab early, write the final draft of my grant proposal for ecology lab and turn that in before I leave, take a final early, and complete my ecology homeworks early.  I also had to do some group projects in physics early, like designing a generator.  Luckily I have an amazing group for ILS (interactive learning seminar; I'm in the engineering physics so it's where we do engineering problems and take weekly quizzes), and they were willing to get started on our simple magnet generator earlier than the other groups.  The professors at Northeastern are really great and accommodating when it comes to these things.  They're used to us students having all sorts of changes in our schedules.  Since I planned out my weekends and homework schedules pretty well, I'm not anticipating that turning things in early will severely hinder my grades from being where I want them to be.

Can you Skype with people?
   Nope.  Skype does not meet the USAP's guidelines for privacy.  Since I'll be at a government base and on a government network, we need higher security services.  I'm not allowed to use Skype and risk the projects' goals.  Some of the students in my lab told me that Google+ hangouts are allowed though.  There's also Facebook messaging, iMessage, AIM (or maybe not since that's pretty much good as dead), and the phone.  There's a satellite phone at the station, and we can use the station's regular line if need be.  The research missions take precedent over personal calls though, so that's something to keep in mind.  There's also email!  And snail mail, but the ship will only come with mail once during my six months.  That happens around June.