Another classroom chat

Dan did a live classroom chat session with a class from Presbyterian Ladies College in Sydney last month... here's how it went:

Rowena> Hi dan, we're just logging on

Dan> 'morning! Sorry I missed you earlier.

Gabrielle> Hello

Vivian> hi dan

Rowena> That's okay.

Gabrielle> Hello Dan

Luisa> Hello Dan

Gabrielle> Hello Dan

Dan> Hello. How will we do this? Are you all going to talk at once?

Abby> Hi Dan :)

Gabrielle> no i am going to ask the 1st question and we will all take turns

Gabrielle> So Dan.. What made you decide to travell on all these expeditions

Dan> Good, you're well organised! I hope my typing can keep up.

Abby> :)

Dan> Well, I always wanted to go to Antarctica, since I wasa child.

Dan> And after the first time I found I liked it, so I worked to go again.

Vivian> have you ever been in any dangerous or life threatening situations?

Caitlin> hey

Caitlin> dan

Dan> And after a few more times, I found I was good at it, so people are happy for me to keep going! Lucky!

Dan> I've never been in an accident in Antarctica - we are very careful not do do dangerous things.

Vivian> :)

Dan> But sometimes I have been in situations where an accident would have been very bad indeed... that is scary enough.

Abby> are there any plants in antarctica? if so, how do they photsynthesise?

Abby> in the dark months

Dan> And just daily life can include storms and mountains and other 'dangerous' things - you need to have the skills and confidence to work there.

Dan> There are plants.

Dan> Most are lichens, which are not 'true' plants - they are actually a symbiosis between a fungus and an alga.

Caitlin> what are the most interesting aspects of your job?

Dan> And there are some mosses, which are also not 'true' plants - they don't make flowers and seeds.

Dan> Only in the warmest part of Antarctica there are two plants with flowers... very small ones!

Vivian> so they wither and die in the dark months?

Dan> I like it all, but I am really a scientist at heart - I get excited about learning how the world works, whether it is my work or somebody else's.

Caitlin> cool

Caitlin> thnx

Dan> Well, they stop growing, anyway.

Gabrielle> What science is your favourite

Dan> Some algae grow only in the summer, and die in the winter.

Dan> Things grow very slowly - there are lichens that are thousands of years old!

Luisa> what exactly do you do when you 'work' in antarctica?

Stacey> don't plants need soil to grow? is there soil in antarctica for them to grow?

Dan> Most of the 'work' is not science - it's getting organised, travelling etc.

Dan> When I 'work' it can be several things.

Dan> The last trip, I was installing instruments, which run all by themselves for years down there.

Dan> Sometimes it's collecting rocks, or just walking around looking at rocks and writing down my observations. That's geology!

Tara> What kind of instruments?

Dan> The mosses and flowering plants need soil. The lichens are tougher - the fungus can break down solid rock, and produce nutrients that feed the alga - that's symbiosis - amazing, isn't it!

Abby> yes it sure is amazing!

Vivian> wow ;)

Caitlin> yeah wow

Dan> The instruments are GPS receivers. Like the one you use in you car or for bushwalking, but much more accurate.

Caitlin> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan> We are measuring the movement of the land, which tells us how the glaciers have been changing over thousands of years.

Abby> thats exciting!

Dan> It only moves a few millimetres per year, so the GPS has to be very good.

Gabrielle> that is amazing

Stacey> really amazing!

Jordana> hello Dan! we were wondering what the coldest temperature you have been in was and what you did to keep yourself warm?

Gabrielle> how much have you mesured so far

Dan> Like the plants, our GPS go to sleep in the winter, because they are powered by solar panels. And they wake up in the spring, and send us their data by satellite.

Vivian> cool!

Caitlin> awesome

Abby> they are like bears!

Dan> I think the coldest I've been in was about -30 C. And it was windy, so it felt even colder!

Abby> did you get any frostbite?

Jordana> wow! nothing like Australia!

Dan> You wear lots of clothes, and eat lots of high-energy food.

Tara> What food do you eat and how do you make it?

Dan> I've never got real frostbite. When I had to work in thin gloves in bad weather (to use my fingers) they did get frozen, and took about 30 minutes to warm up again when I got back into the tent. But no permanent damage, luckily.

Abby> ok. awesome.

Dan> Food is pretty simple when you're camping - dried, mostly. A few tins, but they can freeze solid!

Luisa> how do you shower?

Tara> Don't you ever run out of food?

Abby> i have an amazing fact for you Dan. Did you know that today a year ago was the windiest day in Antarctica? 156km/h!

Dan> If you're camping, you might sometimes wash outside, if it's not too cold, with a bucket of warm water. But Often you just wait until you get back to a base, where there is a real shower. That feels so good!

Dan> We carry a lot of extra food - enoug hfor a whole month! Not nice food - survival rations!

Caitlin> which do you prefer more? greenland or antartctic

Elizabeth> Do you have to be careful when you take deep breaths and sneeze that your saliva and breath don't freeze?

Dan> Ah, difficult to say! Greenland was very exciting this year, because I've never been there before.

Caitlin> ok

Sherry> what is your worest experience in Antartctica?

Caitlin> what did you do there

Dan> But Antarctica is more special - because there is almost no life, and no 'civilisation', the land feel so empty, and so big - for me, that clears my head, lets me understand things better; it's very special.

Gabrielle> Thats really Amazing

Abby> thats beautiful.

Vivian> with a capital A

Caitlin> wow i can't wait 2 go there someday

Tara> Don't you ever get homesick?

Dan> In Greenland, I was collecting mud from the bottom of small lakes - we pushed tubes into the mud, and collected several metres. We are using that to study changes in sea-level over thousands of years.

Jordana> what are the sea levels in Antartica? are they increasing as fast as everybody is fearing?

Dan> Homesick? Yes, I miss a lot of 'normal' things. But it's worth it to me! I suppose everyone decides which is more important to them - home, or adventure - and chooses a balance.

Stacey> how did you get to the bottom of lakes filled with mud? could you see anything?

Elizabeth> Do you have to be careful when you take deep breaths and sneeze that your saliva and breath don't freeze?

Dan> Sea-level is rising - people measure it with tide-gauges all over the world, and from satellites. It's not a 'problem' in antarctica, because nobody lives there! It will be a problem in a lot of other places.

Tara> How do you stay healthy just living off tin food?

Dan> We collect the mud cores from a little boat - I'll just find a picture.

Abby> thats really cool.

Gabrielle> thanks that would be great

 

Vivian> Coolalicious

Dan> sorry - too big!

Elizabeth> wow. amazing

Jordana> thats ok!

Abby> amazing!

Dan> A lot of geology is just hard work - wet, muddy, cold... But if you are interested in the science, you don't mind.

Dan> And sometimes, the weather is perfect, and you're just so happy to be out in the wilderness!

Abby> how interesting.

Luisa> how close have you been to a penguin?

Tara> How do you make igloos?

Elizabeth> Do you have to be careful when you take deep breaths and sneeze that your saliva and breath don't freeze?

Abby> nice question lizzie.

Dan> I've made a couple of igloos, just for fun. The snow in Antarctica is very dry, and easy to cut into blocks that you can stack up. But getting the shape right takes some practice.

Jordana> how come igloos don't melt when you light a fire inside them?

Dan> Breath freezing isn't really a problem - it can't freeze inside you! But you can grow an icicle from the end of your nose, or in your beard, or grow big lumps of ice on your eyelashes. It can be uncomfortable.

Elizabeth> ew. and ow.

Elizabeth> wow. i always thought that it was true. thanks for clearing that for me

Luisa> how close have you gotten to a penguin??

Jordana> how come igloos don't melt when you light a fire inside them?

Dan> You are only allowed to approach a penguin to 5 m. But penguins are allowed to approach you! I have had them biting my fingers, nibbling my jacket... it's wonderful. They are so funny.

Abby> goodquestion.

Gabrielle> is it becasue the ice is dry

Luisa> cute and cool

Dan> I haven't lit a fire in an igloo. I have used a camping stove, but still, the temperature inside stays below zero, so the snow doesn't melt.

Vivian> Have any animals ever attacked you before?

Caitlin> what's your favourite animal? why?

Jordana> thank you

Abby> wow!

Dan> Yes, the leopard seal is a big predator, and not afraid of anything except Killer Whales. I had one bite the boat I was in, and puncture the rubber!

Abby> how scary.

Gabrielle> that must have been really scary

Luisa> scary

Jordana> wow! how did you survive!?

Caitlin> very scary

Dan> Well, I didn't think the boat would sink, but I had to go straight back to a nearby ship!

Luisa> were you by yourself in the boat?

Vivian> how many times have you travelled to Antarctica or to the Arctic, whether for work or travel?

Vivian> holiday?

Dan> No, I was working for a small tourist ship, so I had six passengers with me! Pretty exciting for them!

Luisa> wow. memorable.

Abby> so.. you take tourists to Antarctica?

Dan> I've done nine summers in Antarctica as a scientist, and three 'seasons' of tour guiding.

Vivian> ouch, wouldn't been scared

Gabrielle> how many more scientists go on expeditions with you

Elizabeth> do you ever use sled dogs as transportation around antarctica?

Dan> Yes, there are all sorts of tourist trip. My favourite is the sailing ship you can just see in my chat icon picture. I'll sail with them again in January.

Stacey> if so, what are the sled dogs names??

Dan> Australia stopped using dogs in 1992.

Abby> wow. does it cost alot for tourists to go to Antarctica?

Luisa> what qualifications or studies do you have to take to be able to go to antarctica as a scientist?

Elizabeth> why did you stop using dogs?

Jordana> why did you stop using sled dogs/

Abby> why did they stop using dogs?

Dan> They said it was for environmental reasons, but I don't think they had much impact, and everyone loved having them there...

Dan> Yes, I suppose tourist trips are quite expensive... about $400 per day. Not as expensive as a really fancy resort, but still an expensive holiday.

Luisa> what qualifications or studies do you have to take to be able to go to antarctica as a scientist?

Dan> There are all sorts of people working in Antarctica! Geology and biology are always popular.

Caitlin> what's your favourite animal? why?

Dan> Physics, glaciology and engineering, are a bit more advanced - most people have to do a university degree before starting studying those things.

Luisa> wow thankyou

Dan> Because it takes a lot of time to travel to antarctica, and the work can be unconfortable, often there are students working there, not professors. A lot of young people.

Dan> Favourite animal? I'm a geologist! Ask me about my favourite rock!

Dan> Just joking. Probably albatross.

Luisa> whats your favourite rock?

Abby> Dan, thank you so much for talking to our class about your trips to Antarctica, we have loved hearing about your encounters and experiences you have had. Thank you once again.

Elizabeth> thanks dan

Luisa> bye xx

Dan> They're so big, and graceful, and also very solitary.

Caitlin> thanks dan

Vivian> thanks!

Rowena> Dan - the lunch bell has just gone

Caitlin> see you

Dan> Fun talking to you! Time to rest my fingers!

Vivian> bye bye

Abby> thank you bye!

Rowena> Thanks so much for your time, the girls have really enjoyed this

Dan> Good. Time for my lunch too.
Rowena> OK Bye

Dan> bye

Comments

[Kirsty]

I remember being in the zodiac when the Leopard Seal bit into it and punctured it!!A true scary and fascinating moment! Good to hear you loved Greenland, I loved that area when I was there too 2 years ago. Hope the research is going swimmingly. k

[iqraa]

will you plz help me to reserch about antartica you are a jenious. dan