Author Archives: Jeff
Frost flowers in the news, continued…
Many thanks to Robert Krulwich, co host of NPR’s RadioLab, for a great article on frost flowers. Reading through the comments I can see that there is a lot of public interest in this phenomenon. I want to take the … Continue reading
A work around for expensive stir plates
I have an experiment that I want to do that involves growing bacteria in relatively large volumes (around 10 L) in a cold room for several weeks. Typically in this sort of experiment you stir the cultures with a magnetic … Continue reading
Frost flowers in the news
Well, at least on another blog. Thanks to Dr. Kim Martini, a physical oceanographer at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, for including linked photos from this blog in an article on frost flowers for Deep Sea News. Dr. Martini’s … Continue reading
Posted in Research
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An Arctic MOSAIC
Back in June I had the opportunity to attend two workshops hosted by NOAA in Boulder, CO. The first workshop focused on bio-chemical-physical processes that affect the Arctic marine boundary layer (the lowest layer of the atmosphere). The boundary layer … Continue reading
Posted in MOSAiC, Research
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Merging a phylogenetic tree with a heatmap in R
***UPDATE*** I was recently introduced to a great tool for working with phylogenetic trees that can do something similar to what I describe below (and a whole lot more). Check it out at http://itol.embl.de/. ****** It seemed like a simple … Continue reading
Posted in Research
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New blog purpose
This blog was originally intended to share the experiences of our group while we conducted field work in Antarctica during the Austral winter/spring of 2011. The further I get into analysis however, the more I find myself needing a place … Continue reading
Posted in Research
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And that’s it!
In thirty minutes we will catch a ride to the airfield for our flight back to McMurdo. It’s a good day to fly home, warm with a clear sunny sky. It’s hard to believe how nice it is after yesterday, … Continue reading
Posted in McMurdo 2011 field season
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Fourth time’s the charm
Made it! We had great weather Friday and no trouble reaching Taylor Glacier. The whole Taylor Valley is a remarkable place, but it was really something to stand on top of the glacier itself and take it all in. The … Continue reading
Posted in McMurdo 2011 field season
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Smelling sulfur
Shelly and I completed our last round of sampling at Tent Island yesterday. Normally we get a bit of wind protection from the island but not this time, it was possibly the coldest we’ve been in the field on this … Continue reading
Posted in McMurdo 2011 field season
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Win some lose some
The last few days have been fast and furious as we try to wrap up our sampling program. We fly back to New Zealand in exactly one week which means that time is quickly running out! Fortunately we’re getting close … Continue reading
Posted in McMurdo 2011 field season
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