QCL Researcher Dr. Peter Flaig is spending Christmas at a base camp on the Beardmore Glacier in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. Peter is working in collaboration with Dr. Steven Hasiotis of the University of Kansas on an NSF-funded study of the Triassic and Jurassic stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. Prior to heading out to base camp, Peter spent time in McMurdo Station preparing the Research Group's gear and supplies, as well as receiving training in Mountaineering, Snow Machine, and Antarctic Survival. This picture was taken on the ridge overlooking McMurdo Station with Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano on the planet, in the background. Peter will return home in February. [click photo for full image]

Bureau alum and former Associate Director Doug Ratcliff was presented the Joseph C. Walter Jr. Excellence Award for his work as Director of JSG’s GeoFORCE earth sciences educational program. Along with program associates Eleanour Snow, Naiva Morales, Edgar Garza, Lindsay Stephens, and nearly 100 counselors, Doug administers the college preparatory summer outreach program for more than 700 Texas 8th- to 12th-grade students. This is the second