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:
I woke up early this morning to Skype a couple classes back in Ohio. It was great seeing the children so excited to talk to someone in Antarctica. I had a blast! They all asked fun questions and highlighted the major differences between here and the United States.
Today was a whirlwind blast. This is my last day in Antarctica and I had to make the best of it. This journey was work related so I have to make sure I cover my bases and get all the footage I need…and then some! My producer Kathy Chambers, who is teaming up with me, told me to shoot and shoot and shoot. Well, I hope she is ready for 250+ minutes of video. Hey, I do what I can!
I had to meet an Ohioan bright and early at her job to get some footage of her. From there I went to the National Science Foundation chalet. I sat down with the NSF official in charge of the base. He knew so much about the history of McMurdo Station. Did you know the first explorer, Scott, reached this part of land in 1902? The US Navy started building McMurdo in 1955. The navy did not pull out and turn this over to NSF and other contractors fully until the 1990s.
I ran to meet the executive sous chef here at McMurdo at 11 a.m. He is from the Warren, Ohio, area and worked in Cleveland before heading down to Antarctica. He gave me a great behind the scenes look at the kitchen and food prep here at McMurdo. People were moving quickly to make sure the desserts, meats, and veggies were all ready for lunch. He gave a great interview too about the difficulties in getting fresh food here and how they try to waste as little as possible.
I had to run to Scott’s Hut next. It was so cold and cloudy today. This was by far the coldest day we experienced here. The wind was whipping at the point over the ice shelf. I wasn’t dressed properly because I did not realize how cold it would be. I had on a windbreaker and t-shirt! The hut is preserved very nicely and the cold kept many of the goods intact for more than 100 years.
The next Ohioan I met was Joe Ramey. He is a utility technician from New Albany, OH. He recently injured his finger so they have him on light work duty for the remainder of his time here. We got to chat about Ohio and life at McMurdo. It was real nice to get Joe’s perspective.
After quickly interviewing Lou the chef, I ate a quick bite. It was delicious. I had to meet the NSF Science Representative. Julie Palais not only has this prestigious position with the National Science Foundation, she is also a Buckeye! She got her Master’s and PhD from Ohio State University and told great stories about the significance and contributions of Ohio State research in this area. She says we are very lucky to have the Byrd Polar Research Center in our backyard. They have been groundbreaking in their polar research.
I enjoyed chatting with you all on Twitter this afternoon. I hosted a Twitter chat for about 45 minutes this evening (my afternoon). I’m happy to answer questions regarding this adventure and that will hold true once I get home. Please let me know if you would like me to Skype your class or just answer a few of your questions!
I had to drop my bags off for my military flight back to New Zealand tonight. After that I met some weather observers and forecasts at the McMurdo weather station. Did you know there is NO Doppler radar down here? Did you also know planes fly without radar here? They follow certain GPS latitude, longitude paths. How interesting is that?! I got to go up to the observation deck and get great video. I will return tonight for a weather balloon launch.
After that, it was dinner time. I still have to run around and get some additional video before I head back to New Zealand. It has been a blast and I am so grateful for the experience. I am thrilled the National Science Foundation selected me as the only television journalist and I am happy to bring all these stories back. The men and women working down here are sacrificing so much. They are here for many months without seeing their family. They are not even allowed to Skype! They do this to help continue the ground breaking scientific research being conducted in the true last frontier.
