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| 2001 Team |
Markus Frey
Field Assistant
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Originally I am from Freiburg, located at the edge of the Black Forest in Southwestern Germany. After having spent two years as a social volunteer in Tijuana (Mexico) I went back to my hometown and earned a masters degree in hydrology at the Albert-Ludwigs Universitaet Freiburg in 1999. My thesis work at the Institute of Hydrology (IHF) was focused on runoff formation processes in mesoscale catchments using hydrochemical tracers such as stable isotopes, silica and dissolved gases like radon and CFCs.
I have always been attracted by the world of mountains and glaciers and seeking to combine both hobby and science I joined in 1999 the Polar Research group of Prof. Roger Bales at the Department of Hydrology (University of Arizona), in order to pursue a doctoral degree in hydrology. In my research, I am conducting field experiments in Greenland and Antarctica, measuring formaldehyde (HCHO) and peroxides in the snow and the atmosphere. Ice core records of these chemical species require a regional calibration of the atmosphere-to-snow transfer before we can interpret the signal in terms of environmental change. Eventually a history of change in atmospheric chemistry due to natural and anthropogenic causes will be reconstructed contributing to climate prediction and decision making.
This season will be my third time participating in the ITASE traverse: experiments, such as the ozone balloon and the on-site firn core analysis have been added. Also, I got my own atmospheric shelter sledge to house the sensitive instruments we use and to withstand the cold temperatures we expect on the polar plateau. In order to handle the load of exciting experiments, help is underway: Betsy Youngman who has already worked with me in Greenland as a field assistant will be responsible for the ozone measurements. I am very excited since this season we will be traveling to the South Pole over the ice, remembering certainly at every mile we pass the heroic Antarctic pioneers who went the same way under much harsher circumstances almost a century ago.
In order not to get cold this time I have developed my own strategy à la mexicaine: enough chile jalapeno and salsa music in my back pack!!
