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Explore the coldest, windiest and driest continent on earth through the eyes of Dartmouth College research scientist Elizabeth Traver.
On Friday night, Traver will present her various experiences as both a support staff worker and scientific researcher in Antarctica for Colorado Mountain College's ongoing Peak to Pique Productions speaker series. She will talk about the continent as a land form, its current “natural history,” the Antarctic Treaty — which prohibits military activities and mining and promotes scientific research — and how humans commute and live in the scientific preserve.
“It's like living in a small mining town,” Traver said. “I find the landscape absolutely spectacular ... it's a desert — a very cold desert.”
Traver spent several seasons between 1998-2009 on the continent.
As a scientific researcher, Traver spent time working at McMurdo Station, the largest station on the continent, accessible by flying from New Zealand. She likened staying there to living at a summer camp — residents live in dormitories and see the same people day after day. There is telephone access to the United States. But some of her most interesting memories stem from being “way out there” at tiny field research camps, “where your radio contact to the plane that may or may not come get you is sparse.”
“Being exceptionally isolated with a couple of people in one of the most isolated places in the world,” Traver said of the experience.
Throughout the presentation, Traver will show “lots of pretty photos,” many her own and some from colleagues.
She is currently working as an ecology field/lab technician at Dartmouth College and is thinking about applying to return to Antarctica in the next year or two.
On Friday night, Traver will present her various experiences as both a support staff worker and scientific researcher in Antarctica for Colorado Mountain College's ongoing Peak to Pique Productions speaker series. She will talk about the continent as a land form, its current “natural history,” the Antarctic Treaty — which prohibits military activities and mining and promotes scientific research — and how humans commute and live in the scientific preserve.
“It's like living in a small mining town,” Traver said. “I find the landscape absolutely spectacular ... it's a desert — a very cold desert.”
Traver spent several seasons between 1998-2009 on the continent.
As a scientific researcher, Traver spent time working at McMurdo Station, the largest station on the continent, accessible by flying from New Zealand. She likened staying there to living at a summer camp — residents live in dormitories and see the same people day after day. There is telephone access to the United States. But some of her most interesting memories stem from being “way out there” at tiny field research camps, “where your radio contact to the plane that may or may not come get you is sparse.”
“Being exceptionally isolated with a couple of people in one of the most isolated places in the world,” Traver said of the experience.
Throughout the presentation, Traver will show “lots of pretty photos,” many her own and some from colleagues.
She is currently working as an ecology field/lab technician at Dartmouth College and is thinking about applying to return to Antarctica in the next year or two.
