彻底冷却

Geologic field work has taken Asmara Lehrmann from the banks of the Llano River in the Texas Hill Country to the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, but the 2019 圣澳门金沙赌城线上游戏 graduate’s latest adventure has been her biggest—and coldest—yet. From January through the end of March, Lehrmann, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in geology at the University of Alabama, lived and worked aboard the 纳撒尼尔B. 帕尔默, a research ship studying the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica.

Barry Bjork摄

Roughly the size of Florida, the Thwaites Glacier buttresses the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. “It essentially acts as a bottle cap, keeping the ice sheet from flowing out into the ocean,Lehrmann解释道. “If it were to collapse, there would be a significant contribution to sea level rise.” She was part of a team of sedimentologists and geophysicists studying the history of the glacier; their research informs predictions about exactly what effects the glacier’s retreat might have.

The ship sailed through the Gerlache Strait on the way to Chile. 阿斯马拉·莱尔曼(Asmara Lehrmann)摄

Lehrmann worked the night shift, studying the micropaleontology of sediment cores that the team collects. “Each layer of sediment is like a page in a book that tells the story of the past,” she explains. The desire to gain a deeper understanding of history through geology seems to run in the family: Asmara’s father, 丹尼尔Lehrmann, Ph.D., is a professor of geosciences at 澳门金沙线上赌博官网, teaching courses on paleontology and sedimentary geology. “Even though I tried very hard to be in a different sub-field of geology than my dad, I find that we are still quite similar,她说。. “I think we are both pulled to the beauty of another world revealed to us through fossils and the rock and sediment record.”

Asmara and her team study sediment cores. Photos by Rachel Clark (left) and Sarah Slack (right)

Despite the Antarctic’s unpredictable conditions, research happens 24/7 on the 纳撒尼尔B. 帕尔默. “Every day I woke up with a vague idea of what might be happening on board, 但当我到了实验室, usually something different is going on,Lehrmann解释道. ”We had to work with the ocean, weather, and ice to do our science.“在他们长途跋涉的中途, the ship had to make an unexpected detour to rescue a stranded fishing vessel and escort it to safety. Although the effort paused the ship’s primary projects for several days, Lehrman remained optimistic: “Everyone was safe, and each science party got new data from the cruise. 并不是一切都完了!”

Photos by Rachel Clark (left) and Peter Kaple (right)

All those on the ship—from the scientists and students, to the crew and support staff—became part of a tight-knit community, encouraging one another in moments of homesickness or frustration, sharing treats (like Oreos or chocolate bars) and meals, 一起享受时光, 在工作之外, with activities like game and movie nights. “I love the attention that we all paid to physical and mental health while on board,她说。. “I learned a lot about how to be on a healthy team.”

Asmara Lehrmann '19 attributes a lot of her research to teamwork (Photos by Sarah Slack)

Although this voyage was Lehrmann’s first time at sea, she came to feel right at home. “I tried to go outside on deck every time the sun was shining and the waves were low. I never got used to the beauty of the icebergs and the sky.“她上船的第一个星期, she noted a particularly magnificent sunrise, with colors shifting from purple to orange. 我走到桥上, 走到外面的甲板上, and took a moment to reflect about all of the hard work I did at 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 and all of the mentors who helped guide me to this moment,她回忆道。. “I was overwhelmed with the feeling of gratefulness for those four transformative years. They led me to this opportunity to study topics I am so passionate about, in a new environment that I fell in love with more and more each day.”

阿斯马拉·莱尔曼(Asmara Lehrmann)摄