6 August, 2002

Here we go.

Years ago, I enjoyed keeping a personal journal; in fact, I needed to keep it. Now, I’m not so sure. It doesn’t feel quite so natural … or maybe I’m just lazy. In any event, here are some thoughts on the day. Much like yesterday, I have mixed emotions. Yesterday and today, I saw some wonderful presentations – and some that scared the heck out of me. The Antarctic talks were lovely, and completely relevant to my own interests and areas of teaching. The Arctic talks were interesting, but alas, did not seem nearly so in tune with my interests. I’m sure that I’m being premature but, I do hope that I’m able to be attached to a project akin to my teaching areas.

The Day’s Events

This morning we were treated to a talk by Patricia Matrai, the principal investigator for Dena Rosenberger’s project. She spoke primarily about parcticulate matter in the Arctic waters and atmospheres, and the extent to which their presence signals natural or human causes. Though the talk frequently went outside my background, it was quite interesting to learn about the variety of parcticles in Arctic climates – locales normally considered pristine. Furthermore, it was impossible to deny the enthusiasm she felt for her research and TEA.

Guy Guthridge and Renee Crain gave talks about research experiences in the Antarctic and Arctic regions, respectively. They also gave great suggestions for positive experiences. The key piece of advice coming from everyone was to remain flexible and “shut up and stay out of the way” whenever necessary. These were telling words, to me – it sounds as though some one has learned the hard way. We were also cautioned about local customs and people. It’s pretty obvious that the folks in the Arctic are going to be subjected to a wide variety of environments and requirements. That in itself is pretty cool

Perhaps the most fascinating talk of the day came from Priit Vesilind, veteran writer for National Geographic. I really wish I could have heard this talk early in my days as a graduate student in history and philosophy of science. He presented great suggestions for writing, from the mechanical ends to the philosophical. In a way, however, it has made the talk of journal writing more daunting. Previously, I had not considered writing a journal for large audiences. I’ve written technical papers for mass reading, but this seems, well, scarier.

The day closed with a tour of CRREL, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. It was a bit of overkill – many buildings, many cold rooms, and many projects. I suppose I was most impressed by the way engineers scale down large projects to fit conveniently in a warehouse; I’m thinking specifically of the Lock mimicking project, where it was necessary to determine ways to keep ice out of locks. The first room we visited was a room kept at –20 degrees F, which certainly came as a shock to me – the kind of shock that makes me wonder if I’ve made the right decision to begin this endeavor.

So there it is. A busy second day in an amazing program.

This will soon become home.