CRED Co-Director Ben Orlove’s Voyage to Antarctica

February 15-28, 2012
CRED Co-Director Hosts CAA Travel Study Trip
Antarctica

CRED Co-Director Ben Orlove traveled to Antarctica on February 15-28, as part of the Columbia Alumni Association Travel Study Program. Serving as faculty host on the trip, he gave two talks, one on non-native organisms that people have brought to Antarctica (sled dogs, microbes associated with drilling programs, and human infants, born to wives of military officials at Argentine and Chilean bases in the 1970s and 1980s), and another on the history of penguins, tracing the shift from early exploitation for human food and for commercial oil rendering to their emergence as iconic features of zoos and movies. He also visited two bases (one British, one Argentine), interviewed marine mammal ecologists and photographers, and had a great time strolling on beaches and climbing hills.

Photo by Mike Chin