ONN's Meteorologist Harrison Hove is on Antarctica.
Harrison applied for and received a grant from the National Science Foundation to travel to Antarctica to report on the several Ohioans doing research near the South Pole. Each day Hove will share his travels and projects that he and other Buckeyes are working on to ONN.
Here's the latest from Harrison:
Day one was a whirlwind of exhaustion.
I am not even sure how I am awake right now to write this blog.
I was able to take a short nap after my flight. We had to report to a chalet to meet the National Science Foundation representative to get a brief overview of McMurdo Station and the research interests in Antarctica.
It is so funny to look at maps. Most have the South Pole in the center of the map. McMurdo is usually on the bottom of the map. This turns out to be factually incorrect because McMurdo is always going to be north of the South Pole…. After all, you can’t possibly be south of the South Pole. Talk about a mind bender!
After a great overview of the area, we were taken to Crary Labs. It is a modest building at McMurdo where most of the researchers analyze their data. This is where some Ohio State research is housed under the direction of Dr. Berry Lyons. After a brief tour of Crary and a nice lunch we had to hustle to a survivalist overview workshop.
I had to learn all about setting up tents, starting a stove, using a survival kit, how to operate an old school radio and a bunch of other things. The purpose is to make sure you remain safe during your time here. Even though this place is beautiful, it can and has killed people. The beauty can be deceiving at times. If I ever have an emergency down here I should be prepared.
Once the workshop concluded, I hustled to have my computer approved for use. During the process, I met a wonderful woman in IT from Youngstown! She also went to Antioch College and has been visiting Antarctica for work since 1990! Didn’t I tell you Ohioans are everywhere?!
I went to dinner tonight with a group I have met. It is buffet style food in the cafeteria. I had tofu nuggets, beef stew, some asparagus with mozzarella, and smores. It was not bad at all. After eating my food I had to race back to Crary Labs to meet Dr. Lyons from Ohio State. He had been in the field with his crew today and was analyzing samples tonight. Dr. Lyons let me grab video of this process and then conduct an interview with him. He is a great representative of Ohio State and the Byrd Polar Research Center.
Tomorrow will be packed full of excitement. I am supposed to ride in a helicopter to the Dry Valleys, a desert in Antarctica. We are going to visit a bunch of research sites, including Dr. Lyons’ sites. I better remember that sunscreen!
