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Monday, January 30, 2017

Easy-to-read list of 50 SAI-ACE mission scientists not available

I'm having to pluck the names of scientists on the SAI-ACE mission aboard the ATreshnikov out of articles and papers one by one. I haven't found an easy to read list with easy to click links with their current blogs, papers and positions. It's probably more work than I can do to verify their existence-- or if they exist, to confirm they're on board the ship. One I looked at tonight was Steven Chown.


Professor Steven L. Chown

Chown is not listed at this university, Stellenbosch, where he is said to have been. I might not be looking in the right place and I could very well be mistaken with regard to WHEN he was there. I can't find his name here....
http://academic.sun.ac.za/botzoo/staff.htm#aca

NOTICE how the U of Stellenbosch doesn't have its own URL-- that the listing for the personnel is found on a site with a URL titled "academic.sun.ac.za" etc. That doesn't seem right to me. There are  LOT of academics in the departement-- too many actually. A direct link to "acadmic.sun.ac.za" produced a 403-- ACCESS DENIED. Hmmm. Odd indeed.

He is listed at Monash U. but his research papers are not listed. A book and awards are mentioned. I found the book on Amazon.
http://monash.edu/research/explore/en/persons/steven-chown(43875cea-3b71-4db6-9373-6d4f6ad2ae28).html

Here is the Amazon listing
https://www.amazon.com/Insect-Physiological-Ecology.../0198515499
Steven Chown is head of the Spatial, Physiological and Conservation Ecology Group in the Department of Zoology at University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Insect+Physiology+Ecology+chown&btnG=Search&num=1Amazon.com: Insect Physiological Ecology: Mechanisms and Patterns (9780198515494): Steven L. Chown, Sue W. Nicolson: Books00&newwindow=1&safe=off&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0

https://www.amazon.com/Insect-Physiological-Ecology-Mechanisms-Patterns/dp/0198515499


Google searchon Stellenbosch U.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Department+of+Zoology+at+University+of+Stellenbosch&btnG=Search&num=100&newwindow=1&safe=off&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0

Monash listing

https://www.monash.edu/science/schools/biological-sciences/staff2/chown

google search
https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+l+chown&btnG=Search&num=100&newwindow=1&safe=off&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0


https://www.unige.ch/forel/files/5214/6104/9200/ACE_Project_Description.pdf

http://chownlab.com/prof-steven-chown/
At his apparent homepage, Chown lists his publications. For example...

White, C.R., Blackburn, T.M., Terblanche, J.S., Marais, E., Gibernau, M. & Chown, S.L. 2007. Evolutionary responses of discontinuous gas exchange in insects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 104, 8357-8361.
 I would have to go to the PNAS to see if this publication is actually where he says it is, in 2007.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Proceedings+of+the+National+Academy+of+Sciences+of+the+U.S.A.&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

And spot checking for just one paper, here it is. 

Biological Sciences - Ecology
  • Craig R. White, Tim M. Blackburn, John S. Terblanche, Elrike Marais, Marc Gibernau, and Steven L. Chown
Evolutionary responses of discontinuous gas exchange in insects
PNAS 2007 104 (20) 8357-8361; published ahead of print May 7, 2007, doi:10.1073/pnas.0608968104
...¶ , Marc Gibernau , and Steven L. Chown ¶ †Department of Environmental ~~~
http://www.pnas.org/search?fulltext=chown&submit=yes&x=19&y=11
Chown is listed as author of a paper he reports published but I haven't yet confirmed that Chown is on board the ATreshnikov, however... or that the Treshnikov is actually where it is claimed. Anyone could have picked up Chown's bio and cut and pasted it onto a Treshnikov mission review or article. I'd have to write to him and see if he's actually on board. I have not seen a group photo with Chown in it yet-- to my memory. I don't recall a list of pictures of scientists on board this mission. It would seem to me to be an easy thing to do. 












4 comments:

  1. This guy seems a genuine and committed palaeo climate researcher who's on board
    https://twitter.com/bbqpossum
    http://jisao.washington.edu/press/staffspotlights/pedro
    Joel Pedro @BBQPossum
    We plan to drill shallow ice cores on sub-Antarctic Balleny and Peter 1st islands, among the most remote glaciers on Earth. #ACEexpedition


    6:29 PM - 21 Jan 2017 [US Pacific Time]
    And here he is, apparently in business on Balleny with others...
    https://www.facebook.com/ACEexpedition/photos/ms.c.eJw9ztENxDAMAtCNTobYGO~_~;WJVe0t8nBCDsJjhg1VL~;sAGGNshxIBbBUiovUD1cWNowgVnVHpJ9QcwqWwcYgZ2AcDsSbwc~;oP8rPiBkD1l5gFGTZXefY4S5QdkPXWQpKw~-~-.bps.a.1088710224589807.1073741835.941192069341624/1088716147922548/
    Who are 'we'?
    He's the lead author here in 2016
    http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v9/n1/abs/ngeo2580.html
    I get the feeling that they're all youngish scientists but I can't see what they all have in common or why the trip needs to be circular.

    Where are the photos of helicopters flying off the ship and onto the ice sheets?

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are lists of research areas here and there, linked from the SAI ACE site. They're all interested in ecology, I thought. I HAVE indeed seen enough photos of helicopters associated with Treshnikov that I might believe it. The question you raise-- as to why the trip is around the entire world-- might be a fetish of Paulsen, the billionnaire with the pharmaceutical company that sponsored this. He has more money than he knows what to do with so likely conceptualized this as another feather in his cap alongside visiting 8 poles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've now seen the helicopters, as mentioned in a tweet, old ex-UK Air Ambulances which were used a couple of years ago to rid South Georgia of rats - G-BATC, G-TVAM. The Fyodorov is equipped with 4.6 tonne lift Kamov KA-32s. I do get that ISS deja-vu when I read headings such as this
    PHOTO GALLERY: INTENSE SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES TOOK PLACE AT THE MERTZ GLACIER
    http://spi-ace-expedition.ch/photo-gallery-intense-scientific-activities-took-place-at-the-mertz-glacier/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, I hadn't thought about the actual helicopters being used. That data could lead to more clues about travel from station to station in Antarctica by air.

    ReplyDelete

Hi, I'm Captain Rick of the Virtual Circumference Voyage of Antarctica. I intend to prove definitively if Earth is flat or a sphere by paying careful attention to how many miles we cover as we travel "around" Antarctica. Flat earth theory says it's 50-60,000 miles. Spherical Earth theory says it 14,000 miles. Join me and ask any questions that you think would help our mission.