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Photo: Heidi Geisz, Palmer LTER

OK, it’s about a thousand degrees here today–my dogs are just panting dog-skin rugs, barely able to lift their heads enough to give me the stinkeye, somehow certain that I turned up the heat. To distract from the melting misery, how about dreaming of a volunteer gig in Antarctica? The Palmer Station Antarctica LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) facility accepts volunteers during field season as well as on oceanic research cruises off the Antarctic peninsula, plus a few in their USA laboratories. Volunteer applicants apply to, and are accepted by, different researchers on a case-by-case basis, and while it is a longer commitment than many volunteer placements (most are 6-12 weeks), travel costs might be paid or partially covered by the researcher…so that pesky commute to the frozen continent could be less of an obstacle.

I’m desperate to go to Antarctica–I’ve long wanted to be able to step foot on every continent. Today, I’d want to go and just pack swimming trunks.