What are the best and worst things about working and living in the Antarctic?
Best: the feeling of contributing to something big. To associate with brilliant people who do what they do and make this place what it is. Even though it’s a temporary community here, it’s pretty amazing. Worst: missing family and friends. I’ve learned to be pretty creative with the US Postal Service, but in the winter, I will have to rely on electronic transmissions. Q. How many times have you got to go to the South Pole, and what is it like? I have only been to the South Pole once – last week I was sent to work on the winter food supply inventory. The station there is a lot smaller than McMurdo, and very interesting. The South Pole is on top of 9300 feet of the polar ice sheet and a temperature of about -30. The cold and altitude affects everyone, yet everyone still has boundless energy to work. It’s incredible. Q. Do you get out of the base to see the wildlife much? Not really. We have scavenger birds in town called Skuas, but they are more of a nuisance. Weddel seals sometimes pop
