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International Polar Day - meet scientist Evgeny Gruzinov1 December 2008
Evgeny Gruzinov is a leading engineer-geophysicist of the Russian Antarctic Expeditions (RAE), who has been working with Dr Gary Burns, of the Australian Antarctic Division, and Drs Oleg Troshichev and Alexandr Frank-Kamenetsky of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), on the Solar Linkages to Atmospheric Processes (SLAP) project. Evgeny is currently based at the Russian Antarctic station, Vostok, where, among other things, he runs and services the equipment used in the project. For International Polar Day - Above the Polar Regions, we asked him a few questions about his life and work in Antarctica and Russia.
Evgeny Gruzinov is a leading engineer-geophysicist of the Russian Antarctic Expeditions (RAE), currently based at Vostok, Antarctica.
| What region of Russia are you from?
I am from Saint-Petersburg, where the headquarters of the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE) are located.
What is your job with RAE?
I work in the 53rd RAE and I carry out several scientific programs at the polar station Vostok, namely the observations of the atmospheric electric field variations, research on geomagnetism, seismic research and seismomonitoring.
What is your role in the SLAP project?
I service the scientific equipment – the Electric Field Mill (EFM). Every day I send EFM via satellite communication to the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Once a month I send EFM calibration data and a report to research managers of the program.
How did you get involved in the SLAP project?
I was trained for it by research managers of the SLAP project – Alexander Frank-Kamenetsky (RAE) and Gary Burns (AAD) - in 2005, and I was invited to carry out this scientific program in the 51st and the 53rd RAE at the polar station Vostok.
Evgeny with the electric field mill at Vostok.
| What studies have you undertaken?
I graduated from the St. Petersburg University of Telecommunications in 1990, majoring in telecommunications engineering. In 2003 I completed a Masters of Business Administration program at the International Banking Institute, specialising in anti-crisis management. In 2005, I completed the management course at the St. Petersburg State University.
How did you travel to Vostok and how do you get home?
To get to Vostok from St. Petersburg I travelled aboard the scientific expedition ship Academic Federov to the polar station, Progress, with intermediate stops in Bremerhaven (Germany) and Cape Town (Republic of South Africa). From Progress I flew to Vostok. My way home will be the same, only from Cape Town I will fly to St. Petersburg.
How long will you spend at Vostok?
I will spend a complete calendar year here - from 25 December 2007 to 25 December 2008.
What is the coldest it has been while you have been at Vostok?
During this winter at Vostok I experienced the coldest temperature in my life: minus 84.1 degrees Celsius on 27 August.
What do you enjoy and what do you miss at Vostok?
I very much enjoy my scientific work and the unique conditions in Antarctica. The physical isolation for a long time from the family and friends afflicts me a little.
How do you relax at Vostok?
During my free time I watch stations films (we have nearly 2000 films available). I read books (there are about 50 000 e-books available at the station). I play pool and computer games. I am also engaged in photo and video-tape editing, I work out in the gym and I do yoga.
What do you hope for your future career?
I hope to become the chief manager of the polar station and to participate actively in the organisation, preparation and carrying out of future Russian Antarctic expeditions.
Related Links
IPY Day live event flyer
'Above the Polar Regions' IPY Day - Australian media release
International Polar Day - Meet the Scientists
Solar Linkages to Atmospheric Processes
Australia in the International Polar Year
International Polar Day - People at the poles15 September 2008
Mawson Station Leader, Narelle Campbell.
| People living and working at the Poles will be the focus of the sixth International Polar Day on 25 September 2008.
The day aims to raise awareness of Arctic communities but will also involve people who work and live (albeit transiently) in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic.
From 1:00-3:00 pm (Sydney time), interviews with past and present Australian expeditioners will be broadcast live via internet radio, through CKLB Radio in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Speakers will include Mawson Station Leader, Narelle Campbell, terrestrial ecologist, Dr Dana Begstrom, and lecturer and Antarctic policy researcher, Dr Julia Jabour. Two other broadcasts for Europe and America will feature Arctic researchers.
Listeners can also post questions to the speakers through the CKLB Blog during or before the live broadcasts (see instructions via the links below).
A second, related broadcast is scheduled for Sunday 28 September from 11.30am-12:30pm through the Canberra Community Radio (98.3 FM) Fuzzy Logic program. Host, Rod Taylor, will broadcast excerpts from the earlier show as well as additional interviews from Australian researchers working in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic.
People at the Poles Day is part of the International Polar Year celebrations and follows on from five previous International Polar Days focusing on, among other things, 'sea ice', 'ice sheets' and 'land and life'.
International Polar Day - Ice sheets13 December 2007
This is the second of the quarterly International Polar Days, this time focusing on ice sheets, traverses, and exploration.
Just one of the glaciers flowing from the Antarctic ice sheet.
Photo: Antarctic Division | According to the International Polar Year web site, '90% of the Earth's freshwater is locked up in the great Ice Sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. Several papers have discussed the potential impact of Ice Sheets melting in a warmer climate, but to understand these processes better, we need the results of critical IPY research.'
Read the full press release for the International Polar Day focussing on Ice Sheets.
Related links:
International Polar Year web site
International Polar Day - Sea ice21 September 2007
During the IPY, tens of thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians from around the world study the Polar Regions. IPY Polar Days provide an interactive, hand-on way to learn and get involved.
Related links:
Calendar of International Polar Year events in AustraliaThe Australian Education, Communication and Outreach Committee of the IPY are maintaining an events calendar.
Browse through the Calendar of IPY current events in Australia to see what's happening in your local area.
This web site gives information on the event, the intended audience, the location and time. Icy Worlds: Cool Words21 September 2007
Canberra Readers and Writers Festival featuring 50 international and Australian authors.
More information on authors, books and sessions at: Canberra Readers and Writers Festival 2007. Australian IPY launch1 March 2007 Launch of Australia's International Polar Year activities.
Australia's International Polar Year activities were launched by the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Malcolm Turnbull MP, and took place at the Headquarters of the Australian Antarctic Division at Kingston, Tasmania.
AAD Director, Tony Press, gives the all clear to the IPY launch
| Launching Australia's involvement in the IPY, Mr Turnbull said scientific research had shown the polar regions are powerful players in the global climate system and are the regions of the Earth most vulnerable to climate change.
View excerpts from the Ministers speech:
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