4 November, 1999

Good Morning! Today Pete and I start out on an educational adventure to McMurdo Station to begin a collaborative project with some of the Antarctic Support Associates employees and a second collaborative project with the Long Term Ecological Research Project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The ASA employees are the folks that make doing science in Antarctica possible. Many of the ASA employees have volunteered to establish an e-mail collaboration with teachers and students across the country. Our mission is ---To promote a greater understanding of Antarctica and Antarctic science research by teachers and students through e-mail collaboration with ASA personnel. This project is supported by the National Science Foundation, Education and Human Resources; Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education and the Office of Polar Programs.

The second project will take us to the McMurdo Dry Valleys where we will parcticipate in the watershed testing of lakes and streams. You can check out the schoolyard LTER web site and see what the Tuscaloosa Academy and Lakeside School are doing as part of this schoolyard LTER educational outreach program. The site is as follows: www.geo.ua.edu/lyonsden/schoolyard-LTER

We will send pictures along with descriptions of our science when we arrive in the Taylor Valley. For any schools working on a watershed study, this site is a must. Also

check out the LTER site for the McMurdo Dry Valleys

We have our Extreme Cold Weather gear and an early departure time of 2:45 a.m. tomorrow.

Tune in tomorrow for an update. What time is it at your house when we will be getting on the plane here in Christchurch New Zealand?