To the ice sheets with a polar scientist
6/11/202614 min
In our previous episode, we spoke with Dr. Sarah Das, a Scientist Emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, about how climate change is affecting the big polar ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. She’s been traveling to the poles for her research since the nineties, and this week, she’s taking us behind the scenes: into the world of glacier science, “boomerang flights,” and ice as far as the eye can see.
A video version of this episode is available on our YouTube channel. For a deeper dive and additional resources, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/bonus-ice-sheets-polar-scientist.
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First 90 secondsMadison Goldberg· Host0:03
[music] Hey, Madison here. In our last episode, we spoke with Sarah Das, a scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, about how climate change is affecting the big polar ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, where she's been traveling for her research since the '90s. We had so many questions for Dr. Das about her work at the poles, and we couldn't resist sharing a little more of our conversation. So on this special episode of Ask MIT Climate, she's back to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the work of a polar glaciologist. And by the way, this whole episode is available on video, so if you'd like to watch along, find us on YouTube at Ask MIT Climate. I'll let Dr. Das take it from here.
Sarah Das· Guest0:44
I grew up as an outdoorsy kid in a family where we were always going out and about. You know, I grew up in Pennsylvania, so far away from any glaciers or really mountains to speak of, but we had snow, which was fun. I always enjoyed snow. I also have always been drawn to the natural world and trying to just ask questions and understand how the world works, how nature works, how things sort of come together, fall apart. And, you know, as I, as I grew up, I definitely developed a, an adventurous streak as well. And so all those things combined really led me to want, um, to be in a field where I could spend a lot of time outside, and the idea that I might be able to do that and combine that with a career was very appealing.