Queens College aims for hot time in Antarctica with journey
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/09/22/2008-09-22_queens_colle...
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Queens College aims for hot time in
Antarctica with journey
BY BRENDAN BROSH
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
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Monday, September 22nd 2008, 6:50 PM
Farriella for News
Queens College Prof. Stephen Pekar (c.) is leading an expedition to Antarctica with students
Andrea Balbas (l.), Howard Koss and 12 others.
An intrepid Queens professor is leading an expedition to Antarctica to study how
sedimentary rock may help us understand climate history.
Stephen Pekar, a geologist from Queens College, is taking two students and a
dozen other enthusiasts to the Ross Ice Shelf next month for a seven-week
adventure.
"If you ever wanted to travel to another planet, visit Antarctica," said Pekar, 49, a
Ph.D. who grew up in Far Rockaway and is taking his third trip to the continent. "As
a geologist, it's the discovery of the unknown that keeps us going."
Pekar and his group will set up camp on the ice shelf - which is 20-feet thick - to
study the rock beneath it.
The scientists will use 60 microphones to map the floor and study carbon levels in a
region that has gone largely undocumented. They will also collect weather data.
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Pekar said the last time the atmosphere has had as much carbon as it does now
was 25 million years ago.
"It's once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Howard Koss, 32, a graduate student at
Queens College who worked for the Port Authority before he returned to school. "I
don't know what to expect, but I get cold easily."
The expedition includes professors, students and a New York City school teacher.
Team members will fly to New Zealand before boarding an enormous cargo plane for
McMurdo Station, a scientific outpost in Antarctica.
The group will spend 40 days on the ice, sleeping in tents and braving the extreme
temperatures.
"The most dangerous thing is the wind chill," said Pekar. "At 40 or 50 miles an hour,
it can become minus 60 or minus 70 degrees."
The group will also use the expedition to reach out to thousands of young students
around the country. Using live video conferencing and blogging, members will teach
schoolchildren about science, climate change and what life is like in Antarctica.
"When children learn science, they become empowered," said Andrea Balbas, 35,
who used to work in advertising sales before she returned to Queens College for her
undergraduate degree.
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9/23/08 11:14 AM
Queens College aims for hot time in Antarctica with journey
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/09/22/2008-09-22_queens_colle...
Balbas said growing up on the San Andreas Fault in California began her lifelong
fascination with science.
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"It's important to get after the big cause behind climate change," she said. "It's one of
the most important science issues right now."
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Pekar said visiting Antarctica is a dream for a many scientists.
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"It's the coldest, windiest, driest place on earth," he said. "We're exploring
undiscovered country. We have our hypotheses, but we don't know for sure."
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To interact with Pekar and the students visit http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu
/offshore_new_harbor/index.htm
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