My last job before heading overseas in mid-2007 (following months of sedimentary grain size analysis on the then recently collected McMurdo Ice Shelf ANDRILL core) was to put together a short film for the Antarctic Research Centre.
As I mentioned in the third episode, the ARC has an annual educational outreach programme aimed at getting local school children enthused about Antarctic science. The project brief was to give an overview of Antarctic field work in a 10-15 minute film aimed at primary to intermediate school-age kids. I decided to structure the narrative around a typical journey to the ice, which, of course, eventually became the film’s title and several years later led to the name of this podcast and blog. In addition to documenting scientific field work on the Victoria Land coastal glaciers and the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the film provides a glimpse of what life at Scott Base is like, and showcases the nearby historic huts and some of the local wildlife.
The film is cobbled together from footage collected by ARC scientists, Warren Dickinson and Nancy Bertler, and from the 2005/2006 season Project K Youth on Ice expedition. Also making an appearance are the guys from Webster Drilling & Exploration Ltd. who have had a long-standing professional relationship with the ARC. I should say a big thank you to Hayden Saunders for composing the soundtrack, which previous listeners of the podcast may recognise.
The vidcast is optimised for playback on iPhone and iPod Touch, but will play on any video-capable iPod. To download the vidcast for your iPod, simply search and subscribe for free through the iTunes Store. For playback on other portable media devices please download from the Journeys to the Ice homepage. Otherwise you can watch it straight away by clicking on the link below (it may take several minutes to load so please be patient!).
Photo (c) Matthew Wood 2003