Outreach!
At Palmer Station we love what we do. In my case, it is my climate change research. One way to share my excitement about my research is by talking to students at schools in Lubbock, TX, and in Flagstaff, AZ! These are Northridge Elementary School (Lubbock) and Sinagua Middle School (Flagstaff). The three of us, Kelly, Alicia and I, will be talking to them late January and in early February!
Meanwhile we have been doing outreach by engaging with other scientists (e.g. those on board the James Clark Ross who visited us earlier), staff and scientists from other Antarctic stations (e.g. from the nearby Chilean base) or with tourists! There is a limit as to how many cruise ships Palmer Station can handle (and number of passengers on board), otherwise it would be hard to get science done!
How exactly do we do the outreach? With the schools back in the US we will be Skyping. Because of limited bandwidth, resources (bandwidth) on station will be allocated to that purpose for a short time period. For ships we can do two things (but sometimes only one is possible). First, we give off-shore lectures, so we travel to the cruiseship (left photo below) where we give short presentations about the research conducted here. Second, and not always possible, we invite them for tours on the station (right photo below).
It is nice to connect with visitors. For some, going to Antarctica, it is the trip of a lifetime. Thus, to be part of their trip and making it even more meaningful for them is valuable in its own way. These interactions are important and it is wonderful to see that others get excited about your research too! Share the love (a.k.a. the science!).