Work in Antarctica

After my last post, I got a lot of people asking "What are you doing for work this Winter?" and I realized that I should probably talk about that.  While there's a lot of cool stuff to talk about in Antarctica we are here to work and that's what we spend most of our time doing.  

There are TONS of jobs here in Antarctica.  Last year we spent the summer as Stewards-washing dishes and cleaning toilets (for science!).   It was a great entry position, we met some amazing people and we moved on to other jobs this year.  Jamie continued on with the same company and he moved into a new role in the Galley.  For the summer, his job title was "Food Clerk" and his job was to do the ordering, organizing and supplying of the food for the Galley. His work was based out of our main kitchen but he talked with and supplied food for all the USAP fieldcamps across the continent as well as any work center party/event/needs.  Everyone who needed food talked to him and I would regularly get comments like, "Jamie Lyon is your husband?!   He is wonderful!  He helped me out just yesterday. What a great guy.”    Now that Winter has started his job has shifted a bit to “Galley Administration”.  He’s now responsible for Galley payroll and paperwork. He continues to do the food clerk position but now he also works in the kitchen as a cook.  Every day he’s  in the Salad room processing lettuce and freshies to keep the community from getting scuvy.  He’s been making our prepared salads and learning all the various machines, how to make some delicious salad dressings and how to chop a million veggies without getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, once week he’s the breakfast guy so he gets up to plan the meal and then he works on the egg line making everyones eggs to order.  By the end of the year,    He’s going to be an incredibly well-rounded Galley worker. 

Over the summer, my title was Aviations Operations Coordinator and I worked in the Aviations Operations Department.   That department coordinates any movement to Field Camps via fixed wing planes (Twin Otters, Baslers, and LC-130s) and Helicopters (Astars and Bell 212s).  My job was to help organize any passengers or cargo that was going out on those flights.  During the winter, the helicopters are put away and the planes all leave so I had to find a new job. I am now a  Recycling Technician for winter at McMurdo station.   This is just the end of my first month and I’m still learning about the things that need to get done. There are three of us working in the Waste Department for the winter (we’re called “Wasties” in the McMurdo lingo).   Travis Groh and myself in solid waste (paper/plastic/non-recyclables/etc) and Rob in Haz Waste (fuel/batteries/poisonous materials/etc).    Each day Travis and I take a drive around town changing out full dumpsters and then spend the rest of the morning processing the trash.  While that sounds simple, I’ve been amazed at how much garbage needs to be processed and sorted for a town this size (700-900ish in summer, 168 now). Last week we spent the day up  at the wood chipper trying to make a dent in the mountainous piles old wood, yesterday I was loading barrels of Urine/Grey water into a milvan the day before that I learned how use the the ram with our forklift.    Every day someone comes up to our barn and asks me a new question that I need to ask Travis about and every time I pick up a new waste bin I learn a new technique for handling my loader in a safe and efficient way.   I would say the most exciting part about my job is learning to drive the equipment.   We have two loaders, one skid loader (think Wall-E) and one Pickle (an outdated old military vehicle great for loading Con-X boxes.).    I really enjoy learning new strategies for moving things around and I’m having a lot of fun learning the equipment. In general, it's been nice to switch t a new job for Winter as it allows me to start fresh and be rejuvenated at work. 

If you are interested in what other jobs there are in Antarctica, or maybe you want apply (Applications are now OPEN for the 2015-2016 season (Oct-Feb). The earlier you apply, the better.) 

 Here are the links for the various subcontractors:

• GSC (food, housing, beverage, etc): http://gsc.applicantstack.com/x/openings
• PAE (cargo, supply, mechanics, technicians, etc):https://www.pae.com/career-search2
• Best Recycling (waste): http://bestrecycling.com/employment/employment/
• GHG (IT): https://ghg-online.ghg.com/public/index.jsp

You have to apply separately to all 3 stations (McMurdo, South Pole, Palmer)

Me and a Twin Otter!

The Twin Otter BBV and the pilot Henry at Tucker Glacier.

The view from my window when I was in the Helo Hanger working for Aviation Operations.

My co-worker Meghan and I sitting up in the cockpit of an LC-130.

An LC-130 getting ready to load that cargo and bring it back to McMurdo.

Finished up loading the plane.

All the helicopters tucked in for the long winter.

Travis and I, you know. posing on Sarah Jane-one of our loaders.

The ram I had mentioned earlier.

Ramming the Non-recyclables into a milvan.

Jamie cooking on the eggline.  This was his first morning and it was a bit hectic at the time so it was a bit unfair of me to take the picture right then.   However,  these days he generally has a smile!

The wood chipper!  Travis is in Sarah Jane and dropping the wood into that big drum and it comes off the conveyor belt on the right into a pile of woodchips. It was my job to put the woodchips into a milvan.

This little machine is a Skid Loader. This is what I was using to lad the woodchips but it's clearly also useful for carrying cargo straps around.

This is a typical line of trash containers. Starting from the left is wood, cardboard, fuel containers, glass, papertowels (aka compressible non-recyclables),  aluminium cans, food waste, papertowels, and fabrics.

Me driving around in our other loader, Terminator.  We use these loaders to pick up those full trash containers when they are full, bring them back to the Waste Barn and processing them.

Another part of my job is "spill response."  Spills in Antarctica are a big deal and when one happens we response as soon as we can.   This was my first spill response!  Some glycol has spilled out from a broken pipe and we arrived to scoop it all up and bring it up to burn off the hazardous.

Jamie at another part of his job.  Receiving and organizing all the food for our kitchen!