UPDATE: I’m home now! Thanks everyone for following along.
Hi! This blog is a place for me to record interesting things about Antarctica.
During 2022-2023, I deployed to Antarctica to work on IT projects. This was my first year on the ice.
Much of the day-to-day operations in Antarctica are run through the Antarctic Support Contract (ASC), on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP), to support science grantees. Collectively, this is all known as the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).
VERY IMPORTANT!
The content on this site is my own. It does not represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of my employer or any related entity. This is not an official source for information about Antarctica, the United States Antarctic Program, the National Science Foundation, or any other entity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are you?
I’m a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and I’ve worked a variety of IT and IT-adjacent jobs in the past. I’ve always been a fan of remote infrastructure, logistics, and energy systems, so Antarctica (or thereabouts) has been on my radar for a while.
Where did you work?
The initial contract I signed was at McMurdo Station, which is the largest of the 3 main US research stations in Antarctica. It’s located 2,415 miles south of Christchurch, NZ. During the summer, the station population reaches over 1,000 people. McMurdo is the main logistics hub for the majority of US science operations in Antarctica.
Midway through the season, I switched to a role at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It’s located an additional ~975 miles south of McMurdo, high up on the polar plateau, right around 90° South latitude. During the Summer, the population can be as high as 200. South Pole Station has a number of large long-running science projects.
What was your actual job in Antarctica?
I worked in IT, doing a variety of jobs as needed to keep the stations and science running smoothly.
How did you get the job?
I’d been applying since 2017! It took 1,792 days since my first application until I heard back. From there, it was a series of interviews and then a gauntlet of onboarding tasks.
How long were you in Antarctica?
Most contracts like this, including mine, are seasonal. The initial contract I signed at McMurdo was from August 2022 through February 2023, which included both Winfly and Summer.
I switched contracts and moved to the South Pole in December 2022, for a new contract which extends through South Pole Winter. I departed Antarctica in late-2023.
August 2022 at McMurdo is Winfly, short for Winter Fly-in, which is a period of logistics activity to prep the station for summer science.
October 2022 is the start of Summer, known as Mainbody, which is the bustling summer science season.
February 2023 is when all the summer folks go home, and the stations transition into winter mode, with reduced staffing and projects.
From mid-February through end of October, South Pole Station is isolated. There are no flights in or out.
How did you get there?
Flights to McMurdo go through Christchurch, NZ. The United States Antarctic Program maintains a considerable logistics presence there. I flew commercial to Christchurch, and then on a USAP-managed C-17 flight to McMurdo.
My flight from McMurdo to the South Pole was on an LC-130.
Is there Internet?
Yes, but it’s slow. Everything is over satellites, with limited bandwidth. I had web access, I could make outgoing phone calls, and of course there’s this silly blog.
Internet access at the South Pole is only available for part of the day, based on satellite visibility.
Can you send me a postcard?
UPDATE: I’m home now!
If I already know you in real life, maybe! Email me. Unfortunately I’m probably not able to send postcards to people I don’t already know.
Can I mail you stuff?
UPDATE: I’m home now!
If I already know you in real life, maybe!
Mail is a bit nuanced (packages vs flats, APO customs declarations, prohibited items, timeline considerations, etc.) so please: no unsolicited mail.
Are there penguins?
Yes, usually not in downtown McMurdo, but definitely nearby.
Can you pet a penguin?
No, the Antarctic Treaty System is very clear on this matter.
I want a steady supply of penguin photos!
Unfortunately you’re more likely to get a steady supply of tedious posts about infrastructure.
Will you promise to at least take one photo of a penguin?
Too late! I left McMurdo without managing to get any penguin photos. There are no penguins, or wildlife of any kind, at the South Pole.
Fine, can you take a photo of a polar bear at the South Pole?
Sigh. No, polar bears live in the Arctic, not the Antarctic. Please stop asking me this.
It’s just gonna be photos of infrastructure from here on out. Sorry to disappoint.
Can you help me get a job in Antarctica?
No, I’m just a regular participant in the program, like anyone else. I have no sway with any hiring manager, and I’m figuring this all out for myself.
Can you do an interview for my TV show / news report / blog / documentary / podcast?
No. For starters, I can’t speak on behalf of the United States Antarctic Program. I’m free to share my personal experiences, but doing interviews would run the risk of implying that the content is endorsed by the program. Your best bet is to reach out to official NSF press contacts.
Second, I’m just a random person with a blog. I am absolutely not an expert on anything written here. I’m sharing my experiences, because they’re neat, and I’m happy that others find them neat as well. I’m not comfortable with media attention that would position me as an authority figure or imply that I hold a consensus opinion on any topic. Antarctica is vast, and the people who work here have a variety of life experiences and opinions.
I am not a wilderness guru. I am not a polar explorer. I have no accolades or awards to my name. I have no special insight into survival, the human condition, US Antarctic policy, or any other topic.
Also let’s be real – I flew to Antarctica. I sat in a heated building most days. I drank tea and tapped away at a computer. Some days I didn’t change out of pajamas. I went to bed early. I promise I am NOT the person you want to interview for your extreme adventure podcast.
Can I use something from your blog (image, text, etc) in my TV show / news report / blog / documentary / podcast?
Sure. This is a personal blog, not a commercial endeavor. You are free to use almost [1] anything from this site under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This means you can share and adapt any content for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you attribute the content to me (brr, with a link to the relevant blog entry), and as long as you don’t try to restrict others from using the content.
[1] If a piece of content is explicitly attributed to someone else, you’ll need to contact them. I can facilitate the connection if needed. To be clear – this means that you cannot assume that someone else’s photo, which I’ve reproduced here with their permission, is available for your use under the same license as my own, original content.
If you do decide to use something, please remember that the content here does not represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of my employer or any related entity. This is not an official source for information about Antarctica, the United States Antarctic Program, the National Science Foundation, or any other entity.
I try to be rigorous regarding the accuracy of what I post, but please, please remember that I am just a normal participant, sharing information and observations from my time in Antarctica. It would be unwise to take anything here as authoritative. Please do not blindly assume that something you read here is a timeless, eternal, unchanging fact, without first doing your own research to ensure you have a full, up-to-date contextualization.
I’ve already seen instances where this blog has been cited in other blogs, commercial PR materials, and academic research. This is cool, but please, just be careful.
Also, it is unlikely that I’ll keep the content up-to-date in future years, once I’ve long since forgotten about all of this. Think of this as a time capsule of my specific experiences at a specific period in time, rather than as an ongoing source of information about Antarctica.
You should write about <x>!
I’ve probably thought about it, and I have a pile of half-finished posts I might get around to finishing someday. I don’t mind if you email me a suggestion, but most likely it’s either already on my list, it’s a topic I’m not interested in writing about, it’s something that is private to station life and would go against a community norm to write about, or it’s something I can’t discuss due to my employment agreement.
Remember that this is a tight-knit community of people living their lives. Not every day-to-day happening is appropriate for public consumption. I’m very conscious of people’s privacy and consent, which is partially why so much of this blog is about infrastructure and systems rather than people.
Also remember that at the end of the day, I’m a government contractor working at a government-owned facility. There are expectations and restrictions that come along with this, and I’ve agreed to honor these as a condition of my employment.
Is management / your employer / the government™️ telling you what to write?
I’m aware of some speculation on message boards about my association with management, USAP, NSF, etc, so just to be clear: I’ve never been contacted, officially or unofficially, by anyone in management or any position of authority regarding the existence of, or content on, this blog.
This means I’ve never been given any official editorial direction or guidance. I’ve never been asked to discuss (or not discuss) any specific topic. I’ve never been asked to take down or edit any content. I’ve never been given special treatment, positive or negative, by anyone in management, as a result of this blog. I’ve never requested (or been told I need to request) any type of official review for anything I’ve posted. I’ve never received any official feedback from management for anything I’ve posted.
I’ve taken great care to write about topics that are interesting to me, and to write about them accurately, while also ensuring that this writing is compliant with the policies related to individual social media use while deployed. These editorial decisions were mine, and mine alone.
You should endorse my product!
No.