Graduate student Alex Michaud, 26, has a thing for studying things that live in frigid, dark places — places most of us wouldn't expect life to exist.
Michaud, a 2005 Eagan High School graduate, returned in mid-February after spending three months in Antarctica. He was part of a team of American scientists that successfully drilled into subglacial Lake Whillans, fulfilling one goal of the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling) project: The team found microbes in the water they retrieved, confirming that life exists even half a mile beneath the ice.
Michaud, a Ph.D. student at Montana State University, talked about the trip and his future plans:
Q: The results of your Antarctic trip are a pretty big deal. What was it like when you finally broke through to the lake and were able to retrieve water samples?
A: We had a camera [that] was rated for deep water and there was a light in front of it, so we watched the bore hole as it went down. … The really fun moment was when everybody was huddled into one of the lab container units that had the video screens in it. When we saw it go down and into the lake, that was pretty exciting. … People were cheering.
Q: What was the atmosphere like in Antarctica?
A: Our camp at Lake Whillans was 50 people, but there were still 25 people back at McMurdo [the "home base" station that Michaud describes as being like a college campus]. It's an interesting logistical dance in Antarctica. Everyone worked really well together, and it was a lot of fun. One of the cool parts of McMurdo certainly is that there are a lot of scientists there. We had nightly conversations in the coffee shop ... It's the culture down there to hang around and talk about science.
Q: What were some of the day-to-day challenges?