Hello from Connecticut. I am a high school Earth & Space Science teacher (9th grade) in Manchester Connecticut. Manchester is a suburb of Hartford with approximately 55,000 people living in the town. I refer to Manchester as "Home Town USA". We have a main street with shops along the sides that hosts a number of activities-parades, the Manchester Road Race at Thanksgiving, concerts-everything you could imagine from a New England town.

I have been teaching since 1996 and love my job! I just received my Master's degree from Central Connecticut State University (2000) in Natural Science with a concentration in Earth and Science Education. I applied to the TEA program (Teachers Experiencing the Antarctic and Arctic) because I wanted to become involved in "cutting edge" science. My interest is in Meteorology and Geology. The project I am working on at Greenland's Summit will be monitoring nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions as they relate to ozone depletion. My parcticular project will be to quantify cloud cover and correlate this with solar insolation and absorption. I'm sure that I'll have a much better understanding of these activities when I return to CT. I will be working with Dr. Koni Steffen from CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It was through a wonder program named Earthworks that introduced me to CIRES and TEA.

Besides my love for teaching, I also am a competitive triathlete. I have competed in all distance triathlons from sprints to Ironman (4 including Ironman Hawaii 1988 and 1998) since 1983. This year, I have put my training aside (or somewhat-I've only ran 3 marathons in 6 months) so I can concentrate my efforts on academics and science. I will be fortunate that I can train in high altitude while in Greenland (elevation 10,000+ feet). I am bringing my cross country/telemark skis and was just recently told to bring my running shoes too. Maybe I will be in shape when I return!!

While I am in Greenland, I will leave my dog, a black lab named Namche, and my two cats, Dancer and Javelin, in the care of my good friends Chuck and Pam. I will miss them but I know that they will be taken care of well.

My departure dates for the Summit begins on June 5th where I fly from the US to Copenhagen Denmark arriving on June 6th. I will spend the night in Copenhagen and depart the next morning to Kangerlussuaq on the west coast of Greenland. I will spend the night in Kangerlussuaq then depart for the Summit on June 9th via twin prop plane. I will be at Summit until July 15th when I return to the US via military plane to Schenectady NY. From there I'll drive back to Manchester.

Read my journal to get a real flavor for the research being conducted at the top on the world. I look forward to your emails!!!!!

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Konrad Steffen, Ph.D, University of Colorado at Boulder

The PIs propose a field sampling program at the summit of the Greenland ice cap to examine the effects of energy from the sun on the chemistry of organic compounds contained in the interstitial air trapped in snow. The results of the research will be used to determine if the chemistry of the air/snow changes through time in response to fluctuations in light energy penetrating the snow. The study is critical to developing a method for interpreting ice core records for the history of atmospheric chemistry in the past. The photochemical process under study could lead to more accurate interpretations of past atmospheric conditions and provide better estimates of both natural and anthropogenic impacts on the atmosphere from changing climate or human activities. The results of the research will also provide evidence of the role of the Greenland ice sheet on modern atmospheric chemistry that will be critical to understanding how high-latitude processes affect the atmosphere.