Keeping it 'On the Ice'

Temperatures were warmer at the bottom of the globe than they were in Montana for much of Seth Davidson's more than a month stay on Antarctica. "(The temperature) hovers around freezing most of the summer months down there. I was a heck of a lot warmer than you guys were," Davidson said jokingly once back in Cheyenne, Wyo. He first travelled to the ice-covered continent three years ago during its summer months, which correspond with the United States' winter. It's a long way away from his native Montana and current residence in Wyoming. He grew up in Big Sandy, the son of Noel Q. and Pam Davidson. While studying environmental science at Carroll College in Helena, he took an internship with the U.S. Geological Survey in Glacier National Park doing stream gauging work. "This, this is what I want to do," he remembered thinking. "I get to be outside. I get to do science. "And that's really what got me hooked." Living "On the Ice" After Davidson graduated, he went to work in Billings. Then he moved to Cheyenne, where he got his first chance to travel to Antarctica in 2007. "The thing about Antarctica is that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it's immense," he said. "It's just huge." The landscape is stark with sparse vegetation, he said. No trees on the horizon also means that it's hard to gauge distances and the scale of landmarks. For example, he said, Mount Erebos, an active volcano, is 12,000 feet high and 60 miles away from Taylor Valley, one of the dry valleys that he worked in, and he could see the mountain, even at that distance. "It's a very surreal, just kind of alien, place to live and work," he said. The time spent on the continent is an adventure, he said. He enjoys the outdoor activity aspect of the trip and gets to indulge his inner outdoors enthusiast. The base he worked at wasn't too far inland, so he was wellconnected with the rest of the world and had regular access to a phone and internet. A simple permanent structure served as a rendezvous point for meals and paperwork, but each of the three team members had their own tents. A larger structure exists farther inland, where members from multiple teams would meet, especially during the weekends, he said. "We do have fun; you have to. Otherwise you'd just go crazy." On Christmas, members met at the base to enjoy each other's company, make gingerbread houses, cookies and pies and have a small gift exchange. "I think that's the most challenging thing about working on Antarctica, is being away from family," he said. The atmosphere was spartan, but that's part of its charm and means that the environment is pristine, Davidson said. To limit their impact on that environment, team members walk single file when traversing the terrain to take stream measurements and other work. All supplies were airlifted in and all the waste, including human, had to be lifted back out. Recording the streams The trip wasn't all fun and games, though. From the beginning of November through the end of January, Davidson helped to collect stream flow data from streams in several of the continent's Dry Valleys. In a climate in which the temperature rarely gets much above freezing, it might seem unlikely that anything would flow. But during the summer season, the 24 hours a day worth of sunlight heats the rocks in the valleys, which in turn melt the surrounding snow and ice. "It's pretty amazing how fast things can change just on a dayto- day basis," he said. Last year, the stream flow was high, Davidson said, but this year there were several cloudy days which slowed things down. "What we're trying to do is gather as much data as we can" over a wide range of environments, he said. "And just kind of get a look at climatic data throughout the whole world." Samples are taken as well to measure the streams' overall health, testing things like Ph levels, nutrients within the water, total organic carbon and alkalinity. Not enough data has been collected for long enough to catch any trends, he said, but eventually the data will be useful. "We expect to be able to tell whether or not there is a change, and how great that change is and to be able to give more of a direction on the health of the planet in general and the direction the climate is taking." Often people take the element he spends his time researching for granted, he said. "Obviously water is one of our most precious resources, and people tend to take it for granted because we have an abundance of it, for now." While on Antarctica, he used roughly two gallons of water a day, mainly for drinking. Most people use 10 gallons for a daily shower. "We shower once a week, if we're lucky," he said. His work is important, he said, "because water is such a precious resource, and we need to be taking care of it and conserving it." Davidson said he only has a bachelor's degree, so to be able to work side-by-side with some of the world's best scientists is a great experience. "I feel very honored to get to go down there and get to work with some of the greatest minds in the world," he said. "It's pretty incredible and pretty humbling to be able to work alongside some of these people." Making it back to the ice His plans for the future aren't definite, he said, adding that he might like to teach science one day. He got to try his hand at interacting with students while on the ice when he answered questions from a sixth-grade class in Montana. Education about what he and other scientists do is important, he said. "I honestly believe that, of course, talking to a child about science and asking them questions" is the best way to interest them, he said. "The best thing to do is engage them, and get their minds thinking. I think science is interesting enough that it's going to hook people." In the meantime, he will continue his work stateside as a hydrologic technician, gauging stream flow and health. Another trip to Antarctica isn't out of the question. "If they ask me, I would definitely go back," he said. It's a love-hate relationship while there, but it's all worth it. "As long as they want to keep sending me back, I'm there."