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| 2001 Team |
Gordon Hamilton
Science Investigator
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
As a kid, I always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Unfortunately, Scotland, where I grew up, doesn't have a human space program. But as it turns out, my profession as a field glaciologist isn't all that different from being an astronaut. Just like being in space, my frequent journeys to Greenland and Antarctica involve working in cold sterile environments, eating a lot of freeze-dried food, sharing a small living space with a bunch of other people, and wearing a lot of goofy clothing.
This is my fourth field season as a member of the ITASE team and my tenth visit to Antarctica. I am involved in two particular aspects of the scientific program. The first is using satellite imagery to map the safest and most scientifically interesting traverse routes and study features on the ice sheet surface. The second aspect is field studies of the rate of ice sheet thickness change (mass balance) and variations in snow accumulation. You can read about these elsewhere on this site. Both projects make a lot of use of spaceborne instrumentation - satellite imagery for the mapping work and precision GPS techniques for the mass balance studies - so although I never became an astronaut, I am involved with modern space programs on a day-to-day basis.
In between field seasons you will find me at the Institute for Quaternary and Climate Studies on the campus of the University of Maine, where I am a Research Assistant Professor of Climate Studies. I began my career as glaciologist in Cambridge, England where I studied for my Ph.D. Since graduating in 1992, I have worked at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Oslo, Norway and at The Ohio State University in Columbus. I joined the faculty at UMaine in 2000.
Enjoy the ride.
