July 28, 2023 • 37 mins
Erin Heard is a NSF Station Manager who is currently at McMurdo station in Antarctica. We talk about everything from daily life in Antartica, food, the jail situation and the type of research they are working on at McMurdo. One thing is for sure, the logistics it takes to run in entire city in the most remote location on the planet are absolutely fascinating.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hey, we're gonna have to startthat over. I just got a message
during it that made a bunch ofnoise. All Right, here we go.
We're talking with Aaron Hurd, whois the NSF station manager at McMurdo
in of all places, Antarctica,which is just wild to think about.
I have so many questions for you, but let's start out with some kind
of simple stuff. You're in Antarcticaat McMurdo right this very moment. Everybody
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where I am in Florida, inOrlando more specific, it's complaining about how
hot it is. What is thetemperature in at McMurdo. Great question.
This morning when I walked to workjust a little while ago, it was
minus sixty that's minus six zero windchill. Ambient temperature believe was about minus
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twenty seven, So we are wellover one hundred degrees apart. Is that
pretty normal for this time of yearthere? It's a little a little chilly
for this time of year in McMurdospecifically, normally this time of year,
we're in the maybe minus teams ambienttemperature and then minus thirties minus forties windchill.
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That being said, McMurdo is onthe coast of Antarctica, and it
is much much colder on the interiorof the continent. So our colleagues at
the South Pole Station they will see, you know, minus seventy minus eighty.
Well we'll spend some time at underminus one hundred ambient and then colder
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windschill, so it's it's pretty coldplace. Wow, that's unbelievable. So
I think to start so people understandkind of where this is all coming from.
H Can I ask you where youwhere you live outside of Antarctica.
Yes. Yes, I'm born andraised in Little Rock, Arkansas, so
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I'm used to hot and humid rightnow. Live in see Attle, Seattle,
Washington. I'm a bit of atraveler, so bounced around a bit,
but Arkansas is where I've spent mostof my life outside of Antarctica.
Okay, so you live in sein Washington and you how do you get
out actually physically to Antarctica. What'sthat process? Like? I imagine it's
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not the easiest thing, great question. Yes, it is quite a journey
to get to get to McMurdo orget to Antarctica. Um, so we
we fly commercially generally from from theStates. You know where wherever scientists or
contractors to folks leave from. Sowe fly from the US to New Zealand.
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We ultimately end up in Christchurch,New Zealand. That's where are what
we call our gateway city. It'swe have an Antarctic center there, big
logistical hub for us in the NationalScience My nation has a has a facility
there. So we congregate there andthen we fly from christ Church to McMurdo.
And that is generally um ON Cseventeen via the United States or four
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C seventeens cargo planes or the umInternational Guard one O nine ELC one thirty
planes and a couple other planes,but ultimately from the States to New Zealand
and then fly down to christ Church. How long does it take from christ
Church to Antarctica? How long isthat flight? If we're on a on
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a jet, it's about five fivehours five and a half hours give or
take give depending on the winds.Um on the C one thirties or ELCIE
one thirties it's about eight or eightand a half hours a right, So
it's it's a whole thing just toget out there to begin with, because
of you know, how far awayand just you know how isolated Antarctica is.
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UM when you get out there,Now there's there's these bases like McMurdo
where you were talking, it's fromUM. When you get out there,
you get to the base, orwhat kind of stuff are you doing?
What's your job? What is yourday to day? In two? Absolutely
good, great question. So McMurdois very similar to to a small town.
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So we have have a lot ofthe things that you would have in
a small town. UM our primarymission here is scientific research. So the
National Science Foundation UM supports support scientists. Grantees who are answering all kinds of
questions come down here to do research. So that's our main Our main mission
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down here is to support that scientificresearch. So at times, at certain
times of the year it is twentyfour to seven research so UM To support
that though, it takes an armyof people and logistical logistical support to to
do everything from cook meals to repairvehicles and bulldozers and heavy equipment, to
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you know, moving all the stuffaround, to you know, repairing helicopters,
you know, all kinds of thingsfor you know, make electricity and
the power plant deal with you know, making clean water, everything a small
town would have, so day today is in some ways is very similar
to to life in the States UMas far as just kind of supporting a
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small town or a campus. Butthen we also do things that are that
are different than what you know,typical folks do in the States every day.
So yeah, yeah, so,I mean it's interesting you have to
like create an entire city, likea base of operations because you need all
the things that we need like foodand everything else, and power to keep
you going, and even internet.I mean, I'm connected to you and
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looking at you right now. Idon't imagine they have generally the best internet
and Antarctica, but how do youconnect? How does it work? There
is usually pretty bad. That's uh, it's interesting, it's it's we have
made tremendous strikes forward. The NSFis investing heavily in connecting Antarctica and connecting
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the scientists to the rest of theworld, for primarily to be able to
move scientific data and get that datato to other researchers around the world and
at universities to start analyzing um.Also, you know, a lot of
a lot of outreach opportunities to getthe NSF is very very focused on STEM
education and and you know UM beingable to connect students with with researchers in
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real time and and so you know, we're investing in our our internet connection
to support those things. And ofcourse also for morale morale traffic for folks
that live down here UM or Ishouldn't say lived down here, but spend
a lot of time down here.UM. But our internet connection is UM.
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It's pretty complicated how how it allworks. But but we you know,
obviously all saddllite satellite connection at thispoint, and we have actually just
in the past few months and nextweek in fact, we're going to have
a very sizeable upgrade UM to helpwe hope anyway, if all the testing
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goes well to support a high speedhigher speed it's it's nothing like what you
have have at home or at workin Orlando, UM, but it is
we're getting closer to that. Isit? Uh, what's the main satellite
provider from uh elon Musk and allthat stuff. Is that the one that
you guys use or is it adifferent one? We have started we have
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starlink UM, Yes, starlink.We we we have been experimenting and working
with UM with starlink on connections downhere. That's a very very new thing
as their satellite constellation uh matures.So we have been have been doing some
work with Starlink. We also haveUM I don't recall the specific company,
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but it's it's, you know,a satellite provider that we that we work
through with with other other government agenciesthat are also UM NOAH and and UM
NASA get some get some data downout of here, so they we partner
with them on our on our otherconnection as well. But yes, starlink
is is coming to Antarctica and moreand more bases and research stations down here
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are starting to starting to experiment withthat. So so far it's been very
good. So add McMurdo. Whenyou're there, um, how often would
you say it is that you actuallygo outside? And and if you do,
what's the process to prepare for thatsince it's so unbelievably cold. Oh,
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yes, very good question. Wego outside McMurdo every single day for
the most part. So there area few people that that happen to live
and work in the in in thesame building, but that's that's not very
common. UM. I'd say probablyninety eight ninety nine percent of us go
out side every day to go frombuilding to building, um, just you
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know, for work and and whatnot. So it's interesting getting getting prepared to
go outside. It's although it isvery cold, many of us are just
walking between buildings and so it's uh, we still have to get get our
gear on, put our jackets on, hats, gloves, gogle, goggles
all, you know, all thatkind of stuff. But we're only out
for a minute or two for forfor for several folks that just go go
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between buildings. That being said,we have you know a large group of
folks down here. In fact,a lot of people work outside for some
period of the day, if notall day, and so they they really
get geared up a lot of layers. Um, So it is uh,
It's one thing I think many ofus look forward to is getting you know,
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heading north again to warmer climates andnot having to put all that stuff
on every time we walk outside.So, right, it is a process.
I could imagine that would be thecase. Another thing that I've found
kind of interesting was there's actually andbecause it's really important just for like the
mental health of the people in Antarcticaand on the McMurdo base. There's recreational
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things to do. There's like stuffthat you can do to have fun over
there as well, and it makessense that you would do that, but
it's not something that you think ofwhen you think of antartica. But what
kind of things are there to do? Let's say, I don't know if
if it's something that happens to youeverybody, if you have a day off
or if you have some extra time, what kind of things can you do?
They're often there is too much todo, you know, extracurricular curricular
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activities, particularly in the summer whenright now it's it's winter time in the
Southern Hemisphere, so we're in thewinter. It's a smaller population, but
in the summer in particular, it'sjust it's unbelievable how many things there are
to do outside of work and inthe winter as well. So it ranges
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from you know, people play alot of board games, card games,
video games, so people get togetherdo that as you know, groups UM
we have have lectures, either sciencelectures or people who have been on you
know, amazing trips over the yearstalk about talk about their travels. UM
we watch watch a lot of moviesand TV shows and and that kind of
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thing. We have have a fewgems so folks, folks exercise and work
out. One of those is whatwe call the big gym. It's a
it's a basketball um, a basketballcourt that we play soccer on or volleyball
on. Pickle Ball is very verypopular down here as well, like like
everywhere else. UM. So thewe have you know, kind of arts
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and crafts or you know, groupsthat get together and sew together or or
make things together. UM. Folksteach classes on different things. UM.
There is no shortage of things todo. And then of course you know
special events. In fact, lastnight was a big night for us.
We had a hot wing eating challengeue in the in the dining room last
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night. UM. It's modeled modeled, very similar, modeled off of the
Hot Wings YouTube channel. UM.And so it wasn't a how many can
you eat? It was how hotcan you stand? The kind of thing.
So it was really enjoyable. Sowe do all can watch the hot
ones and stuff on YouTube. Evenin in Antarctica. We we can now
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yes that is that is not thatthat's been a fairly recent you know a
handful of years ago YouTube became possiblewith a lot of buffering, and now
now it is um pretty pretty seamless. And of course I should say we're
very lucky in the winter. Wewe we face a lot of challenges in
the winter that that we don't facein the summer. One one plus to
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the winter is our internet speeds quitea bit faster because fewer people are sharing
the same the same connection. Butyeah, we can. We can watch
YouTube and um can can even nowwatch other streaming services. UM. And
that's very recent, just you know, this past past few months. So
right, what isn't there a bowlingalley there too? Is that true?
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H There there used to be,and that is a much there was a
very lamented loss. So we did. The Navy actually built McMurdo decades ago,
and one of the things they putin for service folks down here for
morale and recreation was a two lanebowling alley. And I was very fortunate
when I started in the program itwas still here and it was one of
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the coolest things ever. It wasjust this you know, funky little two
lane bowling alley kind of in thebasement of this ancient building. And so
we did have we did have abowling alley for a long time, and
unfortunately that that building was built,it was not built to be a permanent
building, and after decades of useand an arctic environment, it just it
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became two ultimately became unstable and itwasn't safe, so we we tore down.
I think it's about fourteen years agoor so, so interestingly that you
brought that up. We still havea lot of the components from the bowling
alley and when we have some bigevents or a holiday party or that kind
of thing, we'll bring out partsof it and set up you know,
kind of makeshift bowling bowling lane.Still fun. We still we still can
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use it. But yeah, Iguess one thing that's really interesting to me
is the logistics of doing everything thatyou do in Antarctica at McMurdo are so
much more difficult than it is anywhereelse on Earth. Because for me,
and this isn't a humble brag,but for me, if I want to
go get a gatorade, I couldgo to the corner store right now and
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I could go get, you know, a gatorade. But for you,
all the things that you need probablyonly come in on you know, select
deliveries at a particular times. Isthere a lot of stuff that's like on
short supply there or stuff that youknow, in if you're in the United
States and you're you know, you'rein Seattle or whatever, no big deal.
But over in Antarctica, they're likereally really valuable to have because there's
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so you know that you don't havethe access to everything. Yes, our
logistics chain is one of the mostcomplex in the world, and I will
include the International Space Station in that. We we our logistics chain is can
be up to two years long.There are a couple of different things here.
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Yes, there's some items particularly youknow, nice chocolate or you know,
things people will treats people want tohave that are very very valuable because
no, you can't run to thestore and buy another one. And that
goes for all of our all ofour food, all of our parts,
all of our fuel supplies. Everythingcomes down. We get one generally get
one cargo ship a year and sowe have you know, once a year
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major delivery, and that takes tremendousplanning and effort to get everything on that
boat to to get it down here. And then we also have have flights
during the summertime, so we canfly some things down not not in the
winter though. It's very challenging inthe winter, and it can be very
serious if if we have a criticalpart break or that kind of thing,
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and we have to sometimes get creativeor mcgivers some things. But fortunately we
keep a lot of spare parts andhave tremendous, tremendous experience and talent down
here um and you know, makeparts in that kind of thing. But
yes, you've hit on a hugechallenge for the for the program um,
just getting getting things here and keepingthings going. How many people are there
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now? About how many people rightright right this minute? We have one
hundred and forty four people in McMurdo, So it's uh, it's it's small
compared to the summer. And inthe summer we could have anywhere from you
know, nine eight, nine hundredis a good base line up to all
the way up to eleven maybe eventwelve one hundred and in a normal season,
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so it's summer and winter populations arevery very different. How many people
would you say are in the likethe whole of Antarctica right now? Oh,
that's a good question. We probablycontinent wide, we've got one hundred
and forty four here, we've gotforty two I believe it's South Pole.
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We've got about twenty give or takeat Palmer Station. Those are the three
permanent US stations, and then severalother about forty other they're about forty other
populated stations right now on the continent. Thirty eight forty I'd probably say,
certainly well under a thousand people onthe entire continent of Antarctica, which by
the way, is much larger thanthe United States. Yeah, yeah,
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I mean that must isn't there likea ever a feeling of isolation that sets
in? Or does that? AndI hit you because you have the people
around you both, that's that's anexcellent question. So, yes, we
are. We are definitely isolated.We last our last plane left in early
May, so we have we havebeen isolated since May um. So there
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is a kind of a grand senseof isolation, like we we definitely know
that we are here and we areneighbors with our New Zealand colleagues over at
what we call what it's called ScottBase, their their research stations. So
they're about a mile away. Sothere's seventeen people over there. So we're
a small group, but we wework very closely together. But aside from
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that, yes, we do havea big sense of you know, we
are alone. It's dark, it'scold, um, you know, might
as well be on the moon onsome days. That being said, our
community is absolutely incredible, So peoplethere's a there's a sense of camaraderie just
by the fact that we are isolatedin Antarctica and the community bonds are very
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very strong. It's a wonderful,wonderful part about the winter. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean it's just amazingto me to think about because there are
very few people. Honestly, ifyou go through, like you know,
all of existence, there are veryfew people, a small number of people
who know what the experience that you'regoing through right now is. Like,
there haven't been that many people onthe continent to begin with, and it's
pretty astonishing. But I also wonderabout things like, um, what's the
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situation with like if somebody got introuble there is there is there law enforcement?
Is there like a jail? Howwould they handle anything like that?
God forbid? Yes, great questions. So part part of there is law
enforcement, and you're looking at himright now. Part of my duty is
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I'm also a special Deputy US Marshals, So okay, I went to special
training for that so um. Andthen I have a counterparties here in the
summer as well, and he servesin the same same role. So there
is law enforcement at McMurdo UM yearround. And our our jurisdiction is actually
the entire continent, So we arethe loan US Marshals for the entire continent,
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um, even though you know wespend the vast majority and I spent
all of my time in McMurdo UM. So yes, there there have been
issues over the years. Fortunately anArctica that the NSF, the usn Arctic
Program attracts just remarkable people and andso fortunately we don't have a lot of
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issues and certainly not the same kindof issues that that we face in other
parts of the world or in theStates. UM. But but yeah,
there there have been issues over theyears, and it can be it can
be complicated. It's difficult on thecommunity because we really are very tight group,
and so when those kinds of thingshappen, it's it's it's it's just
hard on everyone. Um. Butbut yeah, we uh we we can
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manage. So yeah, I mean, I guess what where that brings me
is back to the supply issues andthe gistics of it all. Like if
there was somebody there that really didsomething, it's you can't just you can't
just send them off and send themback on the next flight out. You
know, there's going to be ahard process to if somebody was causing major
issues to even get rid of thatperson. But is there like a physical
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jail there. We don't. Wedo not have a physical jail, and
you do highlight a challenge. Inthe summer, it is possible. We
have planes here that are that aresupporting the science UM and the research out
in the field, and so theycan you know, if we need to
get someone out UM you know fairlyquickly, we can do that in the
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summer UM and that that that isalso true for for metavacts or people who
are injured and need to get tohigher level medical care. So we're very
very fortunate to have that support UMand logistical capability in the winter though we
do not have that as as easilyor readily so UM. Fortunately in McMurdo
we can get a plane and yearin the winter in an emergency. So
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if that was a medical emergency oror you know, a disciplinary problem.
Um, it is possible. Andwe have had metavacts over the years,
you know, folks that needed toget to a hospital. Um. So
so it is, it is,it is certainly possible. It's it's a
little trickier in the in the winter. Um. But fortunately the like I've
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just really hard on how amazing thecommunity is. That's that's definitely a time
that bonds bonds the community when wehave someone who's injured, Like, everyone
steps up, we can, wecan get everything prepared, get the airfield
ready, um, and everyone goesinto into high gear when when we need
to get someone out who needs whoneeds help. Yeah, it's real.
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It's it just makes everything so muchmore difficult because of all the distance and
everything. You got to really pulltogether as a community, which it sounds
like you do. That's awesome tohear. UM. I wanted to ask
you about when we talk about research, right, so the main mission basically
is research. Uh, that's sobroad. Can can you give me like
an example of a thing that isbeing done, that is being researched?
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What what is like one of thethings that they're focused on research wise,
Oh great question, that is um. Yeah, we study a lot of
stuff down here, everything from yeah, specific examples, UM, you know,
penguins. We we do a lotof a lot of over the years,
have done all kinds of studies onpenguins and some of them, some
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of the more interesting ones are areyou know they're diving physiology and how how
deep they can how deep they cango, and they spend a lot of
time out in the ocean, andwe do a lot of a lot of
um yeah, biological studies. Soum, penguins seals all kinds of sea
life, whales, all that kindof thing. So that's I think relatable.
You know a lot of people,a lot of people are familiar with
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penguins and like penguins, so definitelystudy those. Uh, we do a
lot of UM glaciology of course,and Artica's you know, ninety nine percent
covered in glaciers and ice, soUM do a lot of glaciology, geology,
paleontology. So you know, thedinosaurs once once roamed down here,
so we study that. UM ourbig big, some of our big,
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big efforts right now. The NSFis UM of course very supportive of climate
research, climate change, um,just atmospheric research in general. So um
studying, I mean everything from groundlevel atmosphere up to you know tens or
hundreds of miles up up into space, you know, up to the edge
of space. Um. And thenour our South Pole Station, the NSF,
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in collaboration with NASA and other organizations, really does a lot of studying
of astrophysics, astronomy. We've gotsome some telescopes down there. Um.
So we we yeah, everything fromyou know, biological science, ocean life,
all the way up to you know, the beginning of the universe kind
of kind of stuff. So wecover cover the range. I'll say,
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you know, I didn't even thinkabout this until you just we're mentioning the
penguins. There aren't that many typesof animals in Antarctica, are there?
Or what else do you see besidespenguins seals? Said yes, so there
are a very few animals on thesurface in Antarctica. So, uh,
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penguins and seals and some migratory birdsare all that we see as far as
land, you know, the onlyanimals we see on land. Um.
Now the ocean surrounding Antarctica is adifferent story. There is all kinds of
amazing, amazing ocean life. Um. And and some some things that exist
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only down here and behave differently downhere than they might if they exist elsewhere.
Um And then of course I don'twant to ignore the the the microbiology
down here. So there's there's alot of microbes and things that live in
and under the ice that are veryexciting, a lot of research, and
SF supports a lot of research inin studying those things. You know,
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we've got um in some of thenorthern latitudes, but still on some of
the islands north of Antarctica, youknow there's uh, grasses and and and
algae and all that kind of stuff. Um. So, But as far
as animals, megafauna, um,penguin seals, some birds in the summer,
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we do see some whales, youknow, a lot of whales different
parts of the year. So wow. But no, no, yeah,
nothing roaming around really. Yeah.As far as food goes, what what
what's the daily life like you havelike an imagine like a cafeteria kind of
thing going on? What kind offoods do you have? Is a good
food walking me through that world?Yeah? Yeah, that is a that
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is always an topic of interest.Down here, so I mean and especially
for the folks that come and workand do research down here. So UM,
yes, the food is excellent.Uh. We're very fortunate in the
winter where the culinary team, UM, you know that they're only cooking for
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one hundred and forty four people,so they can it's you know, they
can put more more time and effortinto into each meal. But yes,
we we eat. We eat ina cafeteria. UM. We have you
know, a serving room and diningroom very very similar to you know college
campus or or that kind of thing. So um works very well, and
we have a wide variety. UM. We have a you know, rotating
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I believe it's a five week menuplan. Um that that that rotates through.
And have you know some weekly weeklynights. You know, we have
stake night, and we have,um, we have certain certain foods on
certain days. Usually we have pizzain the summer of Lable twenty four seven
and the winter we have it onthree days a week as an as an
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option. But um, but yeah, the food services team and the kitchen
team does just phenomenal work. Theyin the summer, it's amazing that you
know, they're making food for upto twelve hundred people. Um, you
know, three meals a day plusa plus a midnight meal for folks on
night shift, and they crank outa lot of food and in a fairly
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small kitchen, you know, forthat kind of production. So they're miracle
workers. So um. But yeah, in the winter in particular, we
really eat well, with the exceptionof no fresh food. So we don't
have any fresh food. Yeah,what's what's the thing you would say that
you absolutely miss the most when you'reout there that you don't have access to.
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Obviously, now with the internet accessthat you have, your ability to
even do video calls that is sohuge. I mean, to be able
to spell from back home and talkto them and to be able to watch
things that entertain you. Oh my, that's that's probably a game changer there.
But there must still be things whereyou're like, oh, I can't
get this here. Yes, yes, no, uh, you're right.
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I'm glad you recognize how valuable thebandwidth increases, and it is so wonderful
being we'll see friends and family andkeep up with with different things and people.
Um, but yes, I thinkI think everyone might have a different
answer to the question of you know, what what do you miss the most?
Um. I think over the yearsthat I've worked down here, UM,
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particularly through the winter seasons, Ipersonally miss uh, just greenery,
you know, I like trees andgrass and being outside and um. So
I really look forward to getting backto New Zealand and going going for a
walk and seeing trees and and uhand plants. Um. A lot of
people would say dogs or you know, we don't have any of that,
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So I know a lot of folksreally miss animals or their own animals.
Um. And then certainly there areyou know, snacks or or you know,
different kinds of food that we don'thave here that people people miss.
But um. But yeah, it'sa different, different answer for everyone.
But for me personally, it's it'suh, it's greenery and warmer weather.
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Yeah, it's how many years haveyou been going out to um Antarctica to
McMurdo. I started in two thousandand five, so I yeah, it's
been a little while. I hadno I had no aspirations when I came
down in two thousand and five umthat this would become a career. So
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I came down in an entry levelposition as a government contractor working working under
the NSF and UM, I justabsolutely fell in love with it, and
one thing led to another and goodgrief here I am still So is it
kind of a situation where you justwanted because I know you say you like
to travel and you'd like to exploreand stuff. Did you kind of just
want to be able to go andthen you were like I like it here.
I mean I'm enjoying this. Yes, it hit the nail on the
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head. I had done a littlebit of traveling and and i'd heard heard
that people work down here, didn'treally know much about it, and got
involved and then got hooked and reallyfell in love with UM at that time
a seasonal lifestyle, so I andI think many people still still follow this.
You know, they'll come down hereand work hard for four or six
eight months, and then they'll takethe rest of the time and travel,
(31:30):
you know, travel the world ortravel the country or whatever. And you
know, some people will go backto back to other jobs, but a
lot of people do come down herework and then and do some traveling traveling
at after that. So yeah,it's just a rare experience. You know.
It's like I'm sure for some peopleit seems like a nightmare, But
(31:52):
for other people who are of thatadventurous spirit, it's uh, it's an
opportunity to explore a place that sofew people get to explore, which is
really cool to think about. Whatwas the thing or a couple of things
even that you remember from the firsttime you went to McMurdo that was the
most surprising to you about your experiencethere, because you know, obviously you
(32:15):
don't even know what to expect goingto a place like that. It's very
foreign in terms of the weather andthe landscape at all of those things.
What were some things that you foundsurprising on your first visit there? Oh,
my first season was life changing forme, is I think it is
for many people that come down.And I did not have a good you
(32:37):
know, the internet was different backin two thousand and five, and so
I didn't really have a good sensefor what I was getting into. You
know, in some part of mybrain, I thought I was coming down
here and there'd be a handful ofus, you know, just barely cleaning.
The life intense, you know,with constant blowing snow and all this
kind of thing. And so onething I was surprised at was just McMurdo
(32:59):
is a town. I mean itis you know, it's it's a it's
a small town and has everything,or not everything, but has a lot
of things that a small town wouldhave. So I was very impressed with
the infrastructure and our capabilities. Soum that that that was something that stands
out. I think more than that, though, back then we used to
and this is going to sound crazy, but back then, we used to
(33:21):
land these giant planes on the seaice, so on the frozen ocean,
you know, three four five feetthick um, And so we would land,
we would land a plane there.Um. We don't do that now,
um, but but back then wedid. So I can remember stepping
out of the door that the seventeensdon't have very many windows, so you're
(33:42):
in this kind of tube flying throughthe air. So when I stepped out
of the door, Um, wewere very close to McMurdo on the on
the sea ice, and you couldsee Mount Arabis, the southernmost active volcano,
um, kind of silhouetted behind McMurdo. UM. And I just stepped
out that plane. It was superbright, um, and just was I
(34:04):
was just it took my breath away. It was just so incredible and it
was like landing on another planet.So I just remember the scenery, um,
just being very very striking right outof I mean literally stepping out of
the plane. I think one ofthe biggest things I was maybe not expecting
or surprised by was the community thatthe friends that I made, and how
(34:27):
much fun we had that first seasonworking hard together and um just laughing and
and just you know, working hardsupporting the NSS mission and science and just
yeah, working hard and just youknow, just lifelong friends. Um.
I didn't expect that coming down.I kind of thought this would just be
a job and fun and an adventureand um, but really turned out to
(34:50):
be, you know, a familyin a lot of ways. So I
think, yeah, to sum thatup, just kind of the logistical capabilities
and the how how how much workand effort and investment the NSF has put
into supporting world class research down hereand just our logistical capabilities. Then the
scenery is just striking, and thenyou know, the friends and community bonds
(35:13):
that all those things surprised me.Yeah, I mean I was also thinking,
you know, obviously I do aradio show, and that's what we're
chatting now. But in Antarctica,is there any radio? Is their TV?
Is there things like that? Yes? Yeah, so, um,
yes, we do we get weget the so McMurdo has a has a
(35:38):
military background. You know, itwas established by the military in Operation Deep
Freeze, and we we still havea very very close ties with the military.
So we get some Armed Forces Radioand Television Network radio radio channels,
um. And then we also getsome of the a FN uh live TV
(36:01):
channels. So we do have uh, it's you know, through through the
military, so it's it's not thesame thing that um we don't you know,
see NBC or CBS or that kindof thing, but we see portions
of that. Um. But butyeah, we do have we do have
that. It's not quite as popularas it used to be now that we
have internet readily and people can kindof do their own media online. But
(36:25):
um, something you would appreciate iswe do have a broadcast studio down here
and people get get really into puttingon radio shows down here that they're not
broadcast outside of um, you know, beyond here. But um, but
we have some very popular you knowinterview kind of you know, similar to
(36:45):
this. Folks will interview other peopleabout things, and people play play the
music they want to they want tohear. So that's a pretty neat thing.
That's that's kind of a throwback tosome earlier days down here. Oh
that's very cool. Well, youknow what to be What are the key
things that's just so interesting to meis the display of the highest order of
logistics that it takes to do allof this, and then it has gotten
(37:07):
us from all these years and yearsand years of people's very very hard work
to a place where I can talkto you all the way over there and
you can get the internet a littlefaster, you know. So it's been
fantastic to talk to you. AndAaron heard is the NSF station manager and
the police officer of the moment,I guess in Dantarctica. McMurdo, and
(37:31):
thank you so much for taking thetime to talk to me. I appreciate
it. Sean, it's great,great to chat and yeah, you had
some great questions. Appreciate your time. Thank you man, I appreciate it.
You have a great day.
Hey, we're gonna have to startthat over. I just got a message
during it that made a bunch ofnoise. All Right, here we go.
We're talking with Aaron Hurd, whois the NSF station manager at McMurdo
in of all places, Antarctica,which is just wild to think about.
I have so many questions for you, but let's start out with some kind
of simple stuff. You're in Antarcticaat McMurdo right this very moment. Everybody
(00:26):
where I am in Florida, inOrlando more specific, it's complaining about how
hot it is. What is thetemperature in at McMurdo. Great question.
This morning when I walked to workjust a little while ago, it was
minus sixty that's minus six zero windchill. Ambient temperature believe was about minus
(00:50):
twenty seven, So we are wellover one hundred degrees apart. Is that
pretty normal for this time of yearthere? It's a little a little chilly
for this time of year in McMurdospecifically, normally this time of year,
we're in the maybe minus teams ambienttemperature and then minus thirties minus forties windchill.
(01:15):
That being said, McMurdo is onthe coast of Antarctica, and it
is much much colder on the interiorof the continent. So our colleagues at
the South Pole Station they will see, you know, minus seventy minus eighty.
Well we'll spend some time at underminus one hundred ambient and then colder
(01:36):
windschill, so it's it's pretty coldplace. Wow, that's unbelievable. So
I think to start so people understandkind of where this is all coming from.
H Can I ask you where youwhere you live outside of Antarctica.
Yes. Yes, I'm born andraised in Little Rock, Arkansas, so
(01:56):
I'm used to hot and humid rightnow. Live in see Attle, Seattle,
Washington. I'm a bit of atraveler, so bounced around a bit,
but Arkansas is where I've spent mostof my life outside of Antarctica.
Okay, so you live in sein Washington and you how do you get
out actually physically to Antarctica. What'sthat process? Like? I imagine it's
(02:19):
not the easiest thing, great question. Yes, it is quite a journey
to get to get to McMurdo orget to Antarctica. Um, so we
we fly commercially generally from from theStates. You know where wherever scientists or
contractors to folks leave from. Sowe fly from the US to New Zealand.
(02:43):
We ultimately end up in Christchurch,New Zealand. That's where are what
we call our gateway city. It'swe have an Antarctic center there, big
logistical hub for us in the NationalScience My nation has a has a facility
there. So we congregate there andthen we fly from christ Church to McMurdo.
And that is generally um ON Cseventeen via the United States or four
(03:09):
C seventeens cargo planes or the umInternational Guard one O nine ELC one thirty
planes and a couple other planes,but ultimately from the States to New Zealand
and then fly down to christ Church. How long does it take from christ
Church to Antarctica? How long isthat flight? If we're on a on
(03:30):
a jet, it's about five fivehours five and a half hours give or
take give depending on the winds.Um on the C one thirties or ELCIE
one thirties it's about eight or eightand a half hours a right, So
it's it's a whole thing just toget out there to begin with, because
of you know, how far awayand just you know how isolated Antarctica is.
(03:53):
UM when you get out there,Now there's there's these bases like McMurdo
where you were talking, it's fromUM. When you get out there,
you get to the base, orwhat kind of stuff are you doing?
What's your job? What is yourday to day? In two? Absolutely
good, great question. So McMurdois very similar to to a small town.
(04:16):
So we have have a lot ofthe things that you would have in
a small town. UM our primarymission here is scientific research. So the
National Science Foundation UM supports support scientists. Grantees who are answering all kinds of
questions come down here to do research. So that's our main Our main mission
(04:39):
down here is to support that scientificresearch. So at times, at certain
times of the year it is twentyfour to seven research so UM To support
that though, it takes an armyof people and logistical logistical support to to
do everything from cook meals to repairvehicles and bulldozers and heavy equipment, to
(05:03):
you know, moving all the stuffaround, to you know, repairing helicopters,
you know, all kinds of thingsfor you know, make electricity and
the power plant deal with you know, making clean water, everything a small
town would have, so day today is in some ways is very similar
to to life in the States UMas far as just kind of supporting a
(05:25):
small town or a campus. Butthen we also do things that are that
are different than what you know,typical folks do in the States every day.
So yeah, yeah, so,I mean it's interesting you have to
like create an entire city, likea base of operations because you need all
the things that we need like foodand everything else, and power to keep
you going, and even internet.I mean, I'm connected to you and
(05:46):
looking at you right now. Idon't imagine they have generally the best internet
and Antarctica, but how do youconnect? How does it work? There
is usually pretty bad. That's uh, it's interesting, it's it's we have
made tremendous strikes forward. The NSFis investing heavily in connecting Antarctica and connecting
(06:09):
the scientists to the rest of theworld, for primarily to be able to
move scientific data and get that datato to other researchers around the world and
at universities to start analyzing um.Also, you know, a lot of
a lot of outreach opportunities to getthe NSF is very very focused on STEM
education and and you know UM beingable to connect students with with researchers in
(06:33):
real time and and so you know, we're investing in our our internet connection
to support those things. And ofcourse also for morale morale traffic for folks
that live down here UM or Ishouldn't say lived down here, but spend
a lot of time down here.UM. But our internet connection is UM.
(06:54):
It's pretty complicated how how it allworks. But but we you know,
obviously all saddllite satellite connection at thispoint, and we have actually just
in the past few months and nextweek in fact, we're going to have
a very sizeable upgrade UM to helpwe hope anyway, if all the testing
(07:14):
goes well to support a high speedhigher speed it's it's nothing like what you
have have at home or at workin Orlando, UM, but it is
we're getting closer to that. Isit? Uh, what's the main satellite
provider from uh elon Musk and allthat stuff. Is that the one that
you guys use or is it adifferent one? We have started we have
(07:35):
starlink UM, Yes, starlink.We we we have been experimenting and working
with UM with starlink on connections downhere. That's a very very new thing
as their satellite constellation uh matures.So we have been have been doing some
work with Starlink. We also haveUM I don't recall the specific company,
(07:56):
but it's it's, you know,a satellite provider that we that we work
through with with other other government agenciesthat are also UM NOAH and and UM
NASA get some get some data downout of here, so they we partner
with them on our on our otherconnection as well. But yes, starlink
is is coming to Antarctica and moreand more bases and research stations down here
(08:20):
are starting to starting to experiment withthat. So so far it's been very
good. So add McMurdo. Whenyou're there, um, how often would
you say it is that you actuallygo outside? And and if you do,
what's the process to prepare for thatsince it's so unbelievably cold. Oh,
(08:41):
yes, very good question. Wego outside McMurdo every single day for
the most part. So there area few people that that happen to live
and work in the in in thesame building, but that's that's not very
common. UM. I'd say probablyninety eight ninety nine percent of us go
out side every day to go frombuilding to building, um, just you
(09:03):
know, for work and and whatnot. So it's interesting getting getting prepared to
go outside. It's although it isvery cold, many of us are just
walking between buildings and so it's uh, we still have to get get our
gear on, put our jackets on, hats, gloves, gogle, goggles
all, you know, all thatkind of stuff. But we're only out
for a minute or two for forfor for several folks that just go go
(09:26):
between buildings. That being said,we have you know a large group of
folks down here. In fact,a lot of people work outside for some
period of the day, if notall day, and so they they really
get geared up a lot of layers. Um, So it is uh,
It's one thing I think many ofus look forward to is getting you know,
(09:48):
heading north again to warmer climates andnot having to put all that stuff
on every time we walk outside.So, right, it is a process.
I could imagine that would be thecase. Another thing that I've found
kind of interesting was there's actually andbecause it's really important just for like the
mental health of the people in Antarcticaand on the McMurdo base. There's recreational
(10:11):
things to do. There's like stuffthat you can do to have fun over
there as well, and it makessense that you would do that, but
it's not something that you think ofwhen you think of antartica. But what
kind of things are there to do? Let's say, I don't know if
if it's something that happens to youeverybody, if you have a day off
or if you have some extra time, what kind of things can you do?
They're often there is too much todo, you know, extracurricular curricular
(10:35):
activities, particularly in the summer whenright now it's it's winter time in the
Southern Hemisphere, so we're in thewinter. It's a smaller population, but
in the summer in particular, it'sjust it's unbelievable how many things there are
to do outside of work and inthe winter as well. So it ranges
(10:56):
from you know, people play alot of board games, card games,
video games, so people get togetherdo that as you know, groups UM
we have have lectures, either sciencelectures or people who have been on you
know, amazing trips over the yearstalk about talk about their travels. UM
we watch watch a lot of moviesand TV shows and and that kind of
(11:18):
thing. We have have a fewgems so folks, folks exercise and work
out. One of those is whatwe call the big gym. It's a
it's a basketball um, a basketballcourt that we play soccer on or volleyball
on. Pickle Ball is very verypopular down here as well, like like
everywhere else. UM. So thewe have you know, kind of arts
(11:41):
and crafts or you know, groupsthat get together and sew together or or
make things together. UM. Folksteach classes on different things. UM.
There is no shortage of things todo. And then of course you know
special events. In fact, lastnight was a big night for us.
We had a hot wing eating challengeue in the in the dining room last
(12:01):
night. UM. It's modeled modeled, very similar, modeled off of the
Hot Wings YouTube channel. UM.And so it wasn't a how many can
you eat? It was how hotcan you stand? The kind of thing.
So it was really enjoyable. Sowe do all can watch the hot
ones and stuff on YouTube. Evenin in Antarctica. We we can now
(12:24):
yes that is that is not thatthat's been a fairly recent you know a
handful of years ago YouTube became possiblewith a lot of buffering, and now
now it is um pretty pretty seamless. And of course I should say we're
very lucky in the winter. Wewe we face a lot of challenges in
the winter that that we don't facein the summer. One one plus to
(12:46):
the winter is our internet speeds quitea bit faster because fewer people are sharing
the same the same connection. Butyeah, we can. We can watch
YouTube and um can can even nowwatch other streaming services. UM. And
that's very recent, just you know, this past past few months. So
right, what isn't there a bowlingalley there too? Is that true?
(13:07):
H There there used to be,and that is a much there was a
very lamented loss. So we did. The Navy actually built McMurdo decades ago,
and one of the things they putin for service folks down here for
morale and recreation was a two lanebowling alley. And I was very fortunate
when I started in the program itwas still here and it was one of
(13:31):
the coolest things ever. It wasjust this you know, funky little two
lane bowling alley kind of in thebasement of this ancient building. And so
we did have we did have abowling alley for a long time, and
unfortunately that that building was built,it was not built to be a permanent
building, and after decades of useand an arctic environment, it just it
(13:56):
became two ultimately became unstable and itwasn't safe, so we we tore down.
I think it's about fourteen years agoor so, so interestingly that you
brought that up. We still havea lot of the components from the bowling
alley and when we have some bigevents or a holiday party or that kind
of thing, we'll bring out partsof it and set up you know,
kind of makeshift bowling bowling lane.Still fun. We still we still can
(14:20):
use it. But yeah, Iguess one thing that's really interesting to me
is the logistics of doing everything thatyou do in Antarctica at McMurdo are so
much more difficult than it is anywhereelse on Earth. Because for me,
and this isn't a humble brag,but for me, if I want to
go get a gatorade, I couldgo to the corner store right now and
(14:43):
I could go get, you know, a gatorade. But for you,
all the things that you need probablyonly come in on you know, select
deliveries at a particular times. Isthere a lot of stuff that's like on
short supply there or stuff that youknow, in if you're in the United
States and you're you know, you'rein Seattle or whatever, no big deal.
But over in Antarctica, they're likereally really valuable to have because there's
(15:05):
so you know that you don't havethe access to everything. Yes, our
logistics chain is one of the mostcomplex in the world, and I will
include the International Space Station in that. We we our logistics chain is can
be up to two years long.There are a couple of different things here.
(15:28):
Yes, there's some items particularly youknow, nice chocolate or you know,
things people will treats people want tohave that are very very valuable because
no, you can't run to thestore and buy another one. And that
goes for all of our all ofour food, all of our parts,
all of our fuel supplies. Everythingcomes down. We get one generally get
one cargo ship a year and sowe have you know, once a year
(15:54):
major delivery, and that takes tremendousplanning and effort to get everything on that
boat to to get it down here. And then we also have have flights
during the summertime, so we canfly some things down not not in the
winter though. It's very challenging inthe winter, and it can be very
serious if if we have a criticalpart break or that kind of thing,
(16:17):
and we have to sometimes get creativeor mcgivers some things. But fortunately we
keep a lot of spare parts andhave tremendous, tremendous experience and talent down
here um and you know, makeparts in that kind of thing. But
yes, you've hit on a hugechallenge for the for the program um,
just getting getting things here and keepingthings going. How many people are there
(16:38):
now? About how many people rightright right this minute? We have one
hundred and forty four people in McMurdo, So it's uh, it's it's small
compared to the summer. And inthe summer we could have anywhere from you
know, nine eight, nine hundredis a good base line up to all
the way up to eleven maybe eventwelve one hundred and in a normal season,
(17:00):
so it's summer and winter populations arevery very different. How many people
would you say are in the likethe whole of Antarctica right now? Oh,
that's a good question. We probablycontinent wide, we've got one hundred
and forty four here, we've gotforty two I believe it's South Pole.
(17:22):
We've got about twenty give or takeat Palmer Station. Those are the three
permanent US stations, and then severalother about forty other they're about forty other
populated stations right now on the continent. Thirty eight forty I'd probably say,
certainly well under a thousand people onthe entire continent of Antarctica, which by
the way, is much larger thanthe United States. Yeah, yeah,
(17:45):
I mean that must isn't there likea ever a feeling of isolation that sets
in? Or does that? AndI hit you because you have the people
around you both, that's that's anexcellent question. So, yes, we
are. We are definitely isolated.We last our last plane left in early
May, so we have we havebeen isolated since May um. So there
(18:08):
is a kind of a grand senseof isolation, like we we definitely know
that we are here and we areneighbors with our New Zealand colleagues over at
what we call what it's called ScottBase, their their research stations. So
they're about a mile away. Sothere's seventeen people over there. So we're
a small group, but we wework very closely together. But aside from
(18:33):
that, yes, we do havea big sense of you know, we
are alone. It's dark, it'scold, um, you know, might
as well be on the moon onsome days. That being said, our
community is absolutely incredible, So peoplethere's a there's a sense of camaraderie just
by the fact that we are isolatedin Antarctica and the community bonds are very
(18:56):
very strong. It's a wonderful,wonderful part about the winter. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean it's just amazingto me to think about because there are
very few people. Honestly, ifyou go through, like you know,
all of existence, there are veryfew people, a small number of people
who know what the experience that you'regoing through right now is. Like,
there haven't been that many people onthe continent to begin with, and it's
pretty astonishing. But I also wonderabout things like, um, what's the
(19:19):
situation with like if somebody got introuble there is there is there law enforcement?
Is there like a jail? Howwould they handle anything like that?
God forbid? Yes, great questions. So part part of there is law
enforcement, and you're looking at himright now. Part of my duty is
(19:44):
I'm also a special Deputy US Marshals, So okay, I went to special
training for that so um. Andthen I have a counterparties here in the
summer as well, and he servesin the same same role. So there
is law enforcement at McMurdo UM yearround. And our our jurisdiction is actually
the entire continent, So we arethe loan US Marshals for the entire continent,
(20:10):
um, even though you know wespend the vast majority and I spent
all of my time in McMurdo UM. So yes, there there have been
issues over the years. Fortunately anArctica that the NSF, the usn Arctic
Program attracts just remarkable people and andso fortunately we don't have a lot of
(20:30):
issues and certainly not the same kindof issues that that we face in other
parts of the world or in theStates. UM. But but yeah,
there there have been issues over theyears, and it can be it can
be complicated. It's difficult on thecommunity because we really are very tight group,
and so when those kinds of thingshappen, it's it's it's it's just
hard on everyone. Um. Butbut yeah, we uh we we can
(20:52):
manage. So yeah, I mean, I guess what where that brings me
is back to the supply issues andthe gistics of it all. Like if
there was somebody there that really didsomething, it's you can't just you can't
just send them off and send themback on the next flight out. You
know, there's going to be ahard process to if somebody was causing major
issues to even get rid of thatperson. But is there like a physical
(21:15):
jail there. We don't. Wedo not have a physical jail, and
you do highlight a challenge. Inthe summer, it is possible. We
have planes here that are that aresupporting the science UM and the research out
in the field, and so theycan you know, if we need to
get someone out UM you know fairlyquickly, we can do that in the
(21:37):
summer UM and that that that isalso true for for metavacts or people who
are injured and need to get tohigher level medical care. So we're very
very fortunate to have that support UMand logistical capability in the winter though we
do not have that as as easilyor readily so UM. Fortunately in McMurdo
we can get a plane and yearin the winter in an emergency. So
(22:02):
if that was a medical emergency oror you know, a disciplinary problem.
Um, it is possible. Andwe have had metavacts over the years,
you know, folks that needed toget to a hospital. Um. So
so it is, it is,it is certainly possible. It's it's a
little trickier in the in the winter. Um. But fortunately the like I've
(22:23):
just really hard on how amazing thecommunity is. That's that's definitely a time
that bonds bonds the community when wehave someone who's injured, Like, everyone
steps up, we can, wecan get everything prepared, get the airfield
ready, um, and everyone goesinto into high gear when when we need
to get someone out who needs whoneeds help. Yeah, it's real.
(22:47):
It's it just makes everything so muchmore difficult because of all the distance and
everything. You got to really pulltogether as a community, which it sounds
like you do. That's awesome tohear. UM. I wanted to ask
you about when we talk about research, right, so the main mission basically
is research. Uh, that's sobroad. Can can you give me like
an example of a thing that isbeing done, that is being researched?
(23:10):
What what is like one of thethings that they're focused on research wise,
Oh great question, that is um. Yeah, we study a lot of
stuff down here, everything from yeah, specific examples, UM, you know,
penguins. We we do a lotof a lot of over the years,
have done all kinds of studies onpenguins and some of them, some
(23:33):
of the more interesting ones are areyou know they're diving physiology and how how
deep they can how deep they cango, and they spend a lot of
time out in the ocean, andwe do a lot of a lot of
um yeah, biological studies. Soum, penguins seals all kinds of sea
life, whales, all that kindof thing. So that's I think relatable.
You know a lot of people,a lot of people are familiar with
(23:56):
penguins and like penguins, so definitelystudy those. Uh, we do a
lot of UM glaciology of course,and Artica's you know, ninety nine percent
covered in glaciers and ice, soUM do a lot of glaciology, geology,
paleontology. So you know, thedinosaurs once once roamed down here,
so we study that. UM ourbig big, some of our big,
(24:18):
big efforts right now. The NSFis UM of course very supportive of climate
research, climate change, um,just atmospheric research in general. So um
studying, I mean everything from groundlevel atmosphere up to you know tens or
hundreds of miles up up into space, you know, up to the edge
of space. Um. And thenour our South Pole Station, the NSF,
(24:41):
in collaboration with NASA and other organizations, really does a lot of studying
of astrophysics, astronomy. We've gotsome some telescopes down there. Um.
So we we yeah, everything fromyou know, biological science, ocean life,
all the way up to you know, the beginning of the universe kind
of kind of stuff. So wecover cover the range. I'll say,
(25:04):
you know, I didn't even thinkabout this until you just we're mentioning the
penguins. There aren't that many typesof animals in Antarctica, are there?
Or what else do you see besidespenguins seals? Said yes, so there
are a very few animals on thesurface in Antarctica. So, uh,
(25:27):
penguins and seals and some migratory birdsare all that we see as far as
land, you know, the onlyanimals we see on land. Um.
Now the ocean surrounding Antarctica is adifferent story. There is all kinds of
amazing, amazing ocean life. Um. And and some some things that exist
(25:49):
only down here and behave differently downhere than they might if they exist elsewhere.
Um And then of course I don'twant to ignore the the the microbiology
down here. So there's there's alot of microbes and things that live in
and under the ice that are veryexciting, a lot of research, and
SF supports a lot of research inin studying those things. You know,
(26:12):
we've got um in some of thenorthern latitudes, but still on some of
the islands north of Antarctica, youknow there's uh, grasses and and and
algae and all that kind of stuff. Um. So, But as far
as animals, megafauna, um,penguin seals, some birds in the summer,
(26:32):
we do see some whales, youknow, a lot of whales different
parts of the year. So wow. But no, no, yeah,
nothing roaming around really. Yeah.As far as food goes, what what
what's the daily life like you havelike an imagine like a cafeteria kind of
thing going on? What kind offoods do you have? Is a good
food walking me through that world?Yeah? Yeah, that is a that
(26:57):
is always an topic of interest.Down here, so I mean and especially
for the folks that come and workand do research down here. So UM,
yes, the food is excellent.Uh. We're very fortunate in the
winter where the culinary team, UM, you know that they're only cooking for
(27:18):
one hundred and forty four people,so they can it's you know, they
can put more more time and effortinto into each meal. But yes,
we we eat. We eat ina cafeteria. UM. We have you
know, a serving room and diningroom very very similar to you know college
campus or or that kind of thing. So um works very well, and
we have a wide variety. UM. We have a you know, rotating
(27:42):
I believe it's a five week menuplan. Um that that that rotates through.
And have you know some weekly weeklynights. You know, we have
stake night, and we have,um, we have certain certain foods on
certain days. Usually we have pizzain the summer of Lable twenty four seven
and the winter we have it onthree days a week as an as an
(28:03):
option. But um, but yeah, the food services team and the kitchen
team does just phenomenal work. Theyin the summer, it's amazing that you
know, they're making food for upto twelve hundred people. Um, you
know, three meals a day plusa plus a midnight meal for folks on
night shift, and they crank outa lot of food and in a fairly
(28:25):
small kitchen, you know, forthat kind of production. So they're miracle
workers. So um. But yeah, in the winter in particular, we
really eat well, with the exceptionof no fresh food. So we don't
have any fresh food. Yeah,what's what's the thing you would say that
you absolutely miss the most when you'reout there that you don't have access to.
(28:49):
Obviously, now with the internet accessthat you have, your ability to
even do video calls that is sohuge. I mean, to be able
to spell from back home and talkto them and to be able to watch
things that entertain you. Oh my, that's that's probably a game changer there.
But there must still be things whereyou're like, oh, I can't
get this here. Yes, yes, no, uh, you're right.
(29:14):
I'm glad you recognize how valuable thebandwidth increases, and it is so wonderful
being we'll see friends and family andkeep up with with different things and people.
Um, but yes, I thinkI think everyone might have a different
answer to the question of you know, what what do you miss the most?
Um. I think over the yearsthat I've worked down here, UM,
(29:37):
particularly through the winter seasons, Ipersonally miss uh, just greenery,
you know, I like trees andgrass and being outside and um. So
I really look forward to getting backto New Zealand and going going for a
walk and seeing trees and and uhand plants. Um. A lot of
people would say dogs or you know, we don't have any of that,
(30:02):
So I know a lot of folksreally miss animals or their own animals.
Um. And then certainly there areyou know, snacks or or you know,
different kinds of food that we don'thave here that people people miss.
But um. But yeah, it'sa different, different answer for everyone.
But for me personally, it's it'suh, it's greenery and warmer weather.
(30:23):
Yeah, it's how many years haveyou been going out to um Antarctica to
McMurdo. I started in two thousandand five, so I yeah, it's
been a little while. I hadno I had no aspirations when I came
down in two thousand and five umthat this would become a career. So
(30:44):
I came down in an entry levelposition as a government contractor working working under
the NSF and UM, I justabsolutely fell in love with it, and
one thing led to another and goodgrief here I am still So is it
kind of a situation where you justwanted because I know you say you like
to travel and you'd like to exploreand stuff. Did you kind of just
want to be able to go andthen you were like I like it here.
I mean I'm enjoying this. Yes, it hit the nail on the
(31:07):
head. I had done a littlebit of traveling and and i'd heard heard
that people work down here, didn'treally know much about it, and got
involved and then got hooked and reallyfell in love with UM at that time
a seasonal lifestyle, so I andI think many people still still follow this.
You know, they'll come down hereand work hard for four or six
eight months, and then they'll takethe rest of the time and travel,
(31:30):
you know, travel the world ortravel the country or whatever. And you
know, some people will go backto back to other jobs, but a
lot of people do come down herework and then and do some traveling traveling
at after that. So yeah,it's just a rare experience. You know.
It's like I'm sure for some peopleit seems like a nightmare, But
(31:52):
for other people who are of thatadventurous spirit, it's uh, it's an
opportunity to explore a place that sofew people get to explore, which is
really cool to think about. Whatwas the thing or a couple of things
even that you remember from the firsttime you went to McMurdo that was the
most surprising to you about your experiencethere, because you know, obviously you
(32:15):
don't even know what to expect goingto a place like that. It's very
foreign in terms of the weather andthe landscape at all of those things.
What were some things that you foundsurprising on your first visit there? Oh,
my first season was life changing forme, is I think it is
for many people that come down.And I did not have a good you
(32:37):
know, the internet was different backin two thousand and five, and so
I didn't really have a good sensefor what I was getting into. You
know, in some part of mybrain, I thought I was coming down
here and there'd be a handful ofus, you know, just barely cleaning.
The life intense, you know,with constant blowing snow and all this
kind of thing. And so onething I was surprised at was just McMurdo
(32:59):
is a town. I mean itis you know, it's it's a it's
a small town and has everything,or not everything, but has a lot
of things that a small town wouldhave. So I was very impressed with
the infrastructure and our capabilities. Soum that that that was something that stands
out. I think more than that, though, back then we used to
and this is going to sound crazy, but back then, we used to
(33:21):
land these giant planes on the seaice, so on the frozen ocean,
you know, three four five feetthick um, And so we would land,
we would land a plane there.Um. We don't do that now,
um, but but back then wedid. So I can remember stepping
out of the door that the seventeensdon't have very many windows, so you're
(33:42):
in this kind of tube flying throughthe air. So when I stepped out
of the door, Um, wewere very close to McMurdo on the on
the sea ice, and you couldsee Mount Arabis, the southernmost active volcano,
um, kind of silhouetted behind McMurdo. UM. And I just stepped
out that plane. It was superbright, um, and just was I
(34:04):
was just it took my breath away. It was just so incredible and it
was like landing on another planet.So I just remember the scenery, um,
just being very very striking right outof I mean literally stepping out of
the plane. I think one ofthe biggest things I was maybe not expecting
or surprised by was the community thatthe friends that I made, and how
(34:27):
much fun we had that first seasonworking hard together and um just laughing and
and just you know, working hardsupporting the NSS mission and science and just
yeah, working hard and just youknow, just lifelong friends. Um.
I didn't expect that coming down.I kind of thought this would just be
a job and fun and an adventureand um, but really turned out to
(34:50):
be, you know, a familyin a lot of ways. So I
think, yeah, to sum thatup, just kind of the logistical capabilities
and the how how how much workand effort and investment the NSF has put
into supporting world class research down hereand just our logistical capabilities. Then the
scenery is just striking, and thenyou know, the friends and community bonds
(35:13):
that all those things surprised me.Yeah, I mean I was also thinking,
you know, obviously I do aradio show, and that's what we're
chatting now. But in Antarctica,is there any radio? Is their TV?
Is there things like that? Yes? Yeah, so, um,
yes, we do we get weget the so McMurdo has a has a
(35:38):
military background. You know, itwas established by the military in Operation Deep
Freeze, and we we still havea very very close ties with the military.
So we get some Armed Forces Radioand Television Network radio radio channels,
um. And then we also getsome of the a FN uh live TV
(36:01):
channels. So we do have uh, it's you know, through through the
military, so it's it's not thesame thing that um we don't you know,
see NBC or CBS or that kindof thing, but we see portions
of that. Um. But butyeah, we do have we do have
that. It's not quite as popularas it used to be now that we
have internet readily and people can kindof do their own media online. But
(36:25):
um, something you would appreciate iswe do have a broadcast studio down here
and people get get really into puttingon radio shows down here that they're not
broadcast outside of um, you know, beyond here. But um, but
we have some very popular you knowinterview kind of you know, similar to
(36:45):
this. Folks will interview other peopleabout things, and people play play the
music they want to they want tohear. So that's a pretty neat thing.
That's that's kind of a throwback tosome earlier days down here. Oh
that's very cool. Well, youknow what to be What are the key
things that's just so interesting to meis the display of the highest order of
logistics that it takes to do allof this, and then it has gotten
(37:07):
us from all these years and yearsand years of people's very very hard work
to a place where I can talkto you all the way over there and
you can get the internet a littlefaster, you know. So it's been
fantastic to talk to you. AndAaron heard is the NSF station manager and
the police officer of the moment,I guess in Dantarctica. McMurdo, and
(37:31):
thank you so much for taking thetime to talk to me. I appreciate
it. Sean, it's great,great to chat and yeah, you had
some great questions. Appreciate your time. Thank you man, I appreciate it.
You have a great day.
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