I was born and raised in California, moving up and down the state several times when my Father was transferred between Lockheed Divisions. My Mother was a Travel Agent and professional Theater Director during this time, so my family did a lot of traveling. The desire to see new and different places was nurtured early in my life. When I was eleven I had the opportunity to tour Europe for seven weeks with a theater group. I was hooked on the adventure of seeing new and different places.

After high school I moved to Laramie, Wyoming where I attended the University of Wyoming, earning a BS in Geology in 1984. Shortly after graduation I entered the Geology business working for In-situ, Inc. working with groundwater monitoring products. My next geology position was in Washington State working for Instrumentation Northwest, designing and installing monitoring pumps and systems at various hazmat sites. While in this position I was approached about a drilling program in The Sudan and I jumped at the chance to work in Africa. It was my experience in Africa that turned me on to teaching. I was amazed at how a little education could vastly change the lives of the people I worked with. I figured, if I can do this much to help people I can hardly communicate with, I could make an even greater impact on kids who speak the same language as I do. Boy was I naive! After returning to the US I enrolled in two programs at the University of Wyoming. Secondary Science Education and Master of Science in Natural Science-Water Resources. To put myself through school I worked as a state water commissioner, measuring water quality and regulating agricultural water flow. This was a job that I truly loved, being able to be outside in the grandeur of Wyoming on a daily basis. The fact that I had keys to all the best private fishing holes didn't hurt either. Unfortunately this job like many others didn't provide the income needed to support a family and so I had to move on to another line of work...equally challenging and sometimes even more rewarding.

After graduation in 1990 I went into the classroom as a 7th and 8th grade science teacher at Kauai High and Intermediate School in Lihue, Kauai. One year later I found myself in Billings when my wife accepted a job in the area as a Speech Language Pathologist. I have been teaching science since 1991 in Billings, first at the middle school and currently at Billings Senior. I have taught all the subjects except Chemistry, (my minor in college!) I think that my administrators are afraid that I might blow-up the school.

I have also been very involved with the state science teachers association and currently am the president-elect. In 1996 I was awarded a national Presidential Award for Secondary Science Teaching and in 1997 a Tandy Scholars award. I also was awarded the MSTA Earth Science Teacher of the Year in 1996 and the MSTA Physics Teacher of the Year in 1997. In 1998 I was very fortunate to spend 65 days on the NOAA Ship Ka'Imimoana as a Teacher at Sea studying El Nino and diving in the Marshall Islands. You can follow along on that adventure on a website provided by the State of Montana (www.metnet.state.mt.us). Once you find the Metnet homepage look for NOAA's Ark and enjoy. I also have done many presentations at State, Regional, National, and Global Science Conventions. In addition to my other activities I am on several boards ( Science Expo and Conoco Citizen Advisory), do a weekly TV Science Guy spot on the local CBS Station, Chair the Senior High Science Department, and co-teach an Inquiry Class at the local University. I also have taken on an addition position in my district with the mission to bring the middle schools up to safety code. With all my activities it is easy to understand why my family thinks I am a type A personality. Speaking of my family, I am very lucky to have a son entering the first grade next fall who, along with his classmates, will be able to come on the adventure of a lifetime to Antarctica thanks to the magic of the Internet and the good folks of the TEA Program.

Longwave Radiations Processes over the Antarctic Plateau
Stephen G. Warren at University of Washington with Von P. Walden at University of Idaho

So what really is Longwave Radiation Processes over the Antarctic Plateau? I am going to try to give a “nutshell" description of what we are going to be doing at the South Pole. For the full meal deal, you can visit the research project website at http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~sgwgroup/

First there are several acronyms that I will try to define since I will be using acronyms for the equipment. The acronym also gives somewhat of a description of what the device is used for or what it measures.

FPH: Frost-point hygrometer, this is a device that can optically measure the frost point and thus the humidity. As frost forms on a reflective surface like a mirror it decreases the intensity of light source reaching a light meter. The device automatically raises and lowers the temperature of the mirror to pin-point the temperature at which the frost forms. This device will be both flown on the blimp and also used for surface measurements.

HYVIS: Hydrometeor Videosonde, this device actually will take video images of ice crystals as they fare captured on 35mm leader film. This device will be flown on the blimp and also used for surface measurements.

PAERI: Polar Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer, this device will be used to measure the spectrum of longewave (infrared) radiation that is downwelling from the atmosphere and upwelling from the surface. These data can be used to determine the spectral longwave climatology and the spectral cloud radiative forcing. The interferometer has the ability to measure the contribution of individual gases (H20, CO2, O3, and CH4/N2O) to the total downward flux.

SPT: South Pole Transmissometer, this device will transmit an infrared beam through a telescope out to an array of retroreflectors (mirrors). It is used to measure atmospheric transmission through a clear horizontal optical paths of up to 1 km; the retroreflector array is placed up to 0.5 km away from the SPT.

Casio has provided a camera for Rick to use while he is in Antarctica!