My last blog about the WACSWAIN project was in February 2020. We had just started the chemical analysis of our 651-metre-long ice core from Skytrain Ice Rise (Antarctica). The theme of this article is time – the first aspect being that a lot of time has since passed. Soon after I wrote last, our labwork was completely shut down by the pandemic, some of the team went back to their families in other countries, and we all learnt what Zoom meetings were.
Continue reading “WACSWAIN: Time and ice”Meet the PhD student using tree leaves to mitigate air pollution
Hassan Aftab Sheikh is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Earth Sciences, researching air pollution mitigation. Erin caught up with Hassan and heard more about his interest in climate science in the following blog post.
Continue reading “Meet the PhD student using tree leaves to mitigate air pollution”Reflections on becoming a climate scientist
I love reading career path stories; seeing how someone’s personality and life circumstances affects their career journey and decisions. As a research scientist, most of the career stories I come across are about a person’s love for science and how they carry that passion through a changing career, in or out of academia.
Continue reading “Reflections on becoming a climate scientist”WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part Three
In the final instalment of this WACSWAIN fieldwork diary, Isobel Rowell describes the heartbreak of ending her fieldwork earlier than planned, as drilling takes a dramatic turn.
Continue reading “WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part Three”WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part Two
In part two of her three-part series, Isobel Rowell describes her daily routine as part of the WACSWAIN team, drilling into the Antarctic ice sheet and sampling ice chippings from the borehole in search of ice from the last interglacial.
Continue reading “WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part Two”WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part One
In a three-part series of blog posts, Isobel Rowell describes her experiences on the second field campaign of the WACSWAIN project. Part one outlines the motives behind the Sherman Island drilling project, and details the team’s journey to their drill site.
Continue reading “WACSWAIN: Sherman Island Drilling—Part One”WACSWAIN: the hard slog of analysis
The last time I blogged about WACSWAIN was in January 2019, when we were in the euphoria of having drilled to the bedrock at Skytrain Ice Rise, and retrieved 651 metres of ice. So what have we been doing since then?
Continue reading “WACSWAIN: the hard slog of analysis”WACSWAIN Drill Log: ice core complete!
The aim of our fieldwork in Antarctica is to retrieve an ice core reaching through the entire depth of the ice cap on Skytrain Ice Rise, to obtain ice extending at least 130,000 years back in time. Last night, on Tuesday 7 January, we succeeded. The feeling of elation is all around me, with all six members of the party relieved and excited.
Continue reading “WACSWAIN Drill Log: ice core complete!”