{"id":44,"date":"2017-01-07T03:58:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T03:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/?p=44"},"modified":"2017-01-09T14:28:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T14:28:39","slug":"final-preparations-before-departing-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/01\/07\/final-preparations-before-departing-south-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"Final preparations before departing South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week has been a flurry of activity preparing for my upcoming trip. The most immediate task was packing my gear for Antarctica. For this project we are collecting a variety of samples.\u00a0\u00a0 Some samples will be of rocks, looking for microbes that can thrive inside the rocks. There are also frozen lakes in the area and I hope to be able to drill a hole in the ice to sample the water underneath. Additionally, we hope to collect snow and ice samples, as microbes can live there too. Finally, we will also attempt to collect pockets of dark colored material where microbes like to live in the ice. Because of the wide variety of samples that we plan to take, this also requires a wide variety of sampling gear.<\/p>\n

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My science luggage consists of three well-insulated coolers and smaller instrument case. I chose the very fashionable and hard to miss colour of hot pink for the coolers. While I would normally gravitate towards black or a more understated colour, I figured they would be easy to spot on the luggage carousel and on a cargo palette. One cooler is filled with water sampling gear (clean bottles, filtering apparatus, hand pump), another cooler is filled with gear to collect samples of ice (gloves, ice picks, notebooks, sampling bags, scoops, etc), and finally the third cooler is mainly empty apart from some sampling gear (rock hammer and chisel, pH meters, thermometer).\u00a0\u00a0 The smaller instrument case contains a drone because I hope to be able to collect some useful aerial footage of our sampling sites to share with you later. Being a good citizen of my current university that loves the school mascot, I also packed a small mascot for photo opportunities later. I may or may not have also packed a rubber chicken because you never know when you might need a rubber chicken.<\/p>\n

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A new-to-me piece of \u201cequipment\u201d I am excited to take on this journey is an infrared thermometer<\/a>. Using this thermometer we can measure the temperature of the rock, ice or water simply by pointing the laser at it. Just to test it out, I measured both the temperature of my dog and my lab freezer accurately!<\/p>\n

While there were many administrative things to take care (due to being out of the office for five weeks), the major thing that I took care of this week was getting an all clear from an endodontist. In my last post, I mentioned how I needed to have a thorough medical exam before I was cleared to travel to Antarctica.\u00a0\u00a0 Well, once I was medically cleared I had a dental accident. The week before Christmas, I cracked a molar while eating popcorn. Luckily, I was able to get the molar repaired within 48 hours. However, as the trip approached, so did my general stress level increased and this led\u00a0to some teeth clenching. This past week I started developed tooth pain that also involved some sensitivity to cold and sweets. Did this mean that the cracked tooth had become infected? Bless my dentist\u2019s heart for being patient with my impromptu visit to his office this past Tuesday morning about the integrity of my filling. Sensing my worry, my regular dentist got me an appointment with an endodontist. Long story short, I ended up seeing the endodontist today, the last business day before I was scheduled to fly away on this journey. If I ever need to get a root canal, I now know who to see. The endodontist evaluated my teeth, determined that they were normal** and then, because I was obviously overanalyzing my \u201csymptoms\u201d, he went on to spend the next 30 minutes showing me data from other patients to reassure me that it will be OK. I learned a lot from him today and he made me feel a lot better. Thank you Drs. Gillespie and Brantley!<\/p>\n

So tomorrow I will pack the boxes for the last time, pack my duffel bag of personal gear, and say my final farewells before I start my journey on Sunday.<\/p>\n

**That said, I am travelling with a 10 day supply of antibiotics and some prescription strength pain medication, just in case things go awry!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week has been a flurry of activity preparing for my upcoming trip. The most immediate task was packing my gear for Antarctica. For this project we are collecting a variety of samples.\u00a0\u00a0 Some samples will be of rocks, looking for microbes that can thrive inside the rocks. There are also frozen lakes in… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8gMFS-I","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":179,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/01\/23\/finding-life-in-antarctica-its-possible\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":0},"title":"Finding life in Antarctica. Its possible!","author":"Lori Ziolkowski","date":"January 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the name of this blog implies, the purpose of this trip is look for life on Antarctica in order to understand what conditions support life here.\u00a0 In more temperate climates, we have trees, flowers, bees, animals and of course microbes that life in the soil.\u00a0 Here, where the conditions\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-sampling-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/01\/12\/and-so-it-begins\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":1},"title":"And so it begins\u2026 -Dr. Steffi Lutz","author":"Lori Ziolkowski","date":"January 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It feels like it was only yesterday that Lori asked me to join her on her adventure and today I am about to get on the plane to Antarctica. Having been to the cold north several times but never to the south, I didn\u2019t hesitate to say YES! I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2016\/12\/28\/why-go-to-antarctica\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":2},"title":"Why go to Antarctica?","author":"Lori Ziolkowski","date":"December 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing up, there were many warm summer nights when I laid in the grass and looked at the stars in the night sky. On particularly clear nights, it seemed impossible to count all the stars.\u00a0 It also seemed improbable that there were so many stars yet no other life forms\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":161,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/01\/19\/assessing-sampling-sites-and-testing-techniques-around-the-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":3},"title":"Assessing sampling sites and testing techniques around the station","author":"Peyton Moore","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Before we can venture too far away from the station to look for suitable samples, we need to get some safety training and familiarize ourselves with working in Antarctica.\u00a0 Also, just to reassure those that may be worried about our safety, when ever we go sampling in the field away\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/steffi-and-lori.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/01\/26\/life-is-everywhere-even-in-the-driest-places\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":4},"title":"Life is everywhere, even in the driest places","author":"Lori Ziolkowski","date":"January 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Humans need water to live, so do any other organisms on this planet, even the tiniest microbes. Therefore one would expect the least to find life in very dry places. In order to find out what the limits are here in Antarctica, we went to a so called \u201cdry valley\u201d.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Green-band-endolith.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/2017\/02\/04\/bad-karma\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":5},"title":"Bad Karma","author":"Lori Ziolkowski","date":"February 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we got here, things have gone mostly well. But like at home there are those days where everything goes wrong and you feel like you have done something bad that caused bad karma. Two days ago was one of those days. We had a big sampling day ahead: visiting\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.science.loriz.ca\/antarctica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}