Introducing Mystery Class #5 McMurdo Station, Antarctica ( 77.850 S, 166.700 E ) Hello Everyone! Me and Mt.Erebus Did you figure out where I live? If you answered McMurdo Station, Antarctica you were right! Now I'll tell you little bit about myself. My name is Renee Hauser. I am 22 years old. I consider myself one of the lucky few who've had the opportunity to live and work on an island of the coldest, highest, driest continent on Earth. I was born and raised in Michigan. I love my home state. This is my second job after graduating from college. I am the Safety person for McMurdo Station. That means that I try to keep people from hurting themselves at their job. I think it's a fun job. There is always something different to do. When I'm not working I enjoy many things. Here in Antarctica I like to hike to the top of hills and see sunsets when we have them. When it's dark, I like to lay in the snow and look at the stars, always hoping to see auroras. Auroras are green lights in the sky, they are rare to see in the USA. Darkness is upon us now.. I now look forward to the moon rising. It is fabulous. I still watch it rise and am in awe of how large and bright it is. It is as large as the sun rising! I like to sit in our sauna after a cold hike and warm up. I love to read. Since there are no real stores and not many things to do, because we're such a small town, there's plenty of time to read. We do have movies here. I like watching movies too. McMurdo Now I will tell you a few of the things that I find most interesting about McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Our town's entire purpose is to support the research of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF scientists research many different things from here. A few of these include, the ozone layer, volcanic activity, earthquakes, penguins, seals, fish, and icebergs. Antarctica doesnít belong to anyone. There are no countries here. There is a treaty that regulates which countries may come here and it protects the environment. The United States is not the only country that has research facilities located here. England, France, Italy, the USSR and Australia are a few other nations that have stations and personnel here in Antarctica. McMurdo is the United States' and it is the largest. In the summertime over 1,400 people live and work here. In the winter the population drops to about 220 people. I have included a picture of McMurdo Station. In the background of the picture you will see Mt. Discovery and the Royal Society Mountains, these are both on the actual continent of Antarctica. Remember, technically McMurdo is on Ross Island. Our winter season lasts from the middle of February to the end of August. During this time there are no flights unless there is an emergency. This means if I get home sick tomorrow and want to go home, I simply canít do that. Recently, you probably heard about the emergency medical evacuation of a few people from here. That took lots of hard work to pull off. Thankfully, it looks like everyone that left on that flight is doing well. There is an active volcano approximately 22 miles from McMurdo Station. It is often seen with smoke billowing out the top of it. I think this is really neat! The volcano is named Mt. Erebus. In fact we donít have dirt like the United States. It is all sharp, black, volcanic rock. This makes walking difficult sometimes. It is nearly impossible that this volcano would erupt; it isn't something we are concerned about. The photo of me at the beginning of this Introduction is a picture of my in front of Mt. Erebus. You can see some smoke coming from it. There are lots of seals here. I've included a picture of one. I have also included a picture of the majestic emperor penguins that inhabit Antarctica. I hope you enjoy the pictures! Happy Seal Emperor Penquins Inquisitive Youngsters Yes, it is pretty cold here. When I started writing this Introduction in April, it was -2 degrees Fahrenheit. It will get colder. At Sunset in Antarctica the South Pole that day it was ñ50 degrees Fahrenheit! McMurdo is like a tropical resort to the South Pole people. I've included a picture of the South Pole at its last sunset for the season. I haven't been to the South Pole, but hope to go for a short stay. As you know, darkness is upon us now. I now look forward to the moon rising. It is fabulous. I still watch it rise and am in awe of how large and bright it is. It is as large as the sun rising! Still on the look out for auroras though. I have very much enjoyed this project and hope that youíve learned something from my correspondence. If any students would like to write to me that would be great--I'd love to hear from you! My e-mail address is: hauserre@mcmurdo.gov Your Friend, Renee Back to Today's Report Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form