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30 July 2021
#AntarcticLog: So Chill
It’s frying hot in these parts, getting to be the Dog Days of Summer. So I thought I’d fill you in on the story behind some of the coolest science — and people — I know, while also filling you in on the sometimes serendipitous way that #AntarcticLog comics come together.
23 July 2021
#AntarcticLog: Talking climate change science & policy
Palmer Station sits right at the ocean’s edge, at the foot of the Marr Ice Piedmont — the foothills of the glacier. In just decades, the ice has receded at least a quarter of a mile, revealing hidden islands. At the same time, conditions have led penguins and other resident fauna and flora to alter their migrations and nesting patterns. It didn’t take me long to realize that everything at Palmer has to do with climate change. The Antarctic Peninsula is warming at a rate five times that of the rest of the world — and demonstrates the future if climate change cannot be stemmed through human action.
16 July 2021
#AntarcticLog: Feeling Dumb and Doodling – My Superpowers
Every #AntarcticLog starts with a doodle: an image that comes to me while I’m reading or listening to or otherwise learning something; an image that leads to a story I’m about to tell in comic form.
9 July 2021
#AntarcticLog: Midwinter Celebrations
This June things seem special, and fragile. Might as well say hooray about what I can say hooray about. Here are a few celebratory #AntarcticLog to mark this June.
6 July 2021
#AntarcticLog: The Value of Light
Summer light: isn’t it glorious? Here in the Connecticut woods, in the northern hemisphere, we’re experiencing the longest days of the year, with dusks speckled by bats and sparkled by fireflies. In Antarctica, the dark days reign. It’s clear enough why: the sun’s angle relative to your spot on Earth makes the light wax and wane around the winter and summer solstice.
25 June 2021
#AntarcticLog: Happy Antarctic Midwinter!
Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!
That’s what we think of when we envision Antarctica. But it hasn’t always been this cold.
Despite its distance from the equator, it was still connected to the world ocean.
18 June 2021
#AntarcticLog: Stopping to Smell the Roses
I adopted a dog a year ago (just celebrated her “Gotcha Day”) and so I’ve been outside walking her every day since then, rain or shine, snow or heat wave. I’ve watched her change every day — and I’ve watched the woods where we live change every day, and I’m here to tell you, every day offers different gifts.
11 June 2021
#AntarcticLog: An Abecedarium of Pleasures and Perils
Now I know that Antarctica is not designed to be hospitable to humans. In fact, from the moment you arrive — and even before (ask me about the Drake Passage sometime) you sense that the place is set up to kill you. It helped that I had created this #AntarcticLog comic, a list of just a few of the ways the place can kill you. (Believe me, I had to leave a lot out!)
4 June 2021
#AntarcticLog: Antarctic Trees (from long ago)
No, there are no longer trees in Antarctica — though there were, many thousands of years ago. (Did you know Antarctica used to be unfrozen? But that’s another story for another post.) But trees — especially the oak trees featured in these three #AntarcticLog comics — have plenty to say about what’s going on in their environment, and around the globe.
28 May 2021
#AntarcticLog: Reeling in Kids
#AntarcticLog is created with a broad audience in mind — from the savviest adults to kids new to the subject of scientific research — and adventure! — in the Antarctic. This week’s examples come from a series created to introduce kids (of any age) to the Antarctic food chain.
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to encourage scientists to reach out to non-scientists and to do so with plainspoken discussion.