As director of thePalmer Research StationRobert Farrell is the mayor of a small remote town of 40 or fewer people, in which everyone depends on everyone. The work dynamics at Palmer are like a well-oiled machinery in which each person has an exact responsibility, which they fulfill to the letter. The social dynamic is like that of a family where the siblings get along very well. Usually when something goes wrong the community itself takes charge of self-regulation, with minimal involvement from Farrell.
“The most repeated theme is thealcohol, which is natural because it’s a way to have fun, “says Farrell in his office, which is like any other office in the world until he raises the blind to reveal the glacier behind us. This is definitely not a workplace. anyone. “99 percent of the people are responsible in that sense, but in large communities people tend to go further; in small places like this, the same companions help a person to recognize that he is looking bad by having a drink. “
Farrell is an Antarctic veteran. He has been coming here for 17 years to work, first at the Amundsen-Scott station at the geographic South Pole, and then at McMurdo. But then he discovered Palmer Station, and it quickly became his favorite. He has been a director for five years, coming to spend a minimum of 6 months. He is then taken over by another co-director, since theNational Science Foundationruled that Palmer, like McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott, must be open year-round.
“Not everyone is cut out for this job“says Farrell.” They are many months away from the family. You have to be adaptable, communicative, flexible, …. You should not be thinking all the time about what you do not have, about the girlfriend, about the lack that you do. You have to learn to enjoy work, the environment, and food. That’s why the food is so good at Palmer – it’s something that’s designed to keep people’s morale in good shape, just like it is on submarines. “So much so that Stacie Murray, head chef (there are two of them), graduated in theCordon Bleu in Paris. Palmer’s dinners range from French onion soup, tortastatinsfrom apples and high-flying meats to nostalgic food for the homelands of Palmer citizens. Learning them is part of the job of the two chefs.
Farrell also has to know how to walk that fine line between his position as a director and his attitude as a comrade of the people. “If you’re always in the office, you tend to miss out on what’s going on and run the risk of being perceived as unapproachable. But if you spend too much time being a buddy and drinking beers at the bar, then you’re not effective. Besides, there are than letting people feel at ease, without having you on top of it all the time. “
His other duties include general maintenance of thefacilities, and budget management, which included the decision to repaint the dining room walls. When asked, I gave my opinion on the color, which was accepted, and now I can say that I left a small contribution to Palmer. “At the station we spend about 2.5 million dollars a year and the total destined for Antarctica is 450 million. That includes everything: staff salaries, insurance, ship logistics, airplanes, helicopters, fuel (here we use 100,000 gallons per year for generators and zodiacs), food, etc. Everything. It’s just a small part of the NSF budget, about 6 billion a year. And in return the Antarctic Program delivers science of the highest quality. “
Aboutwinter at latitude 64 South, Farrell says it’s mind-blowingly beautiful. ? There is only about four hours of light, but what a strange and spectacular light. Everything is a milky blue, and the icebergs glow as if they have interior light bulbs. The problem is that people have much less time to go boating, and if the weather is bad on Sunday, which is the day off, then there is no way to show your noses. But I love that time because one collects, writes, reads and watches good movies.
TheJuly 21 is the winter solstice(the shortest day in the southern regions), and it has always been a designated day in the Antarctic calendar. ? Since the days of Shackleton and Scott, all explorers on this continent have celebrated this day that marks the middle of winter, and that means more to us than Christmas. So we exchange greeting cards and special gifts with the other stations, even the White House sends us messages of good wishes.?
The other part of Farrell’s job is being the Antarctic ambassador to cruise ships visiting the Palmer Archipelago. ? When summer comes around we sometimes have 2-3 cruises a week, and that’s crazy because every time I have to get on board with a small delegation and give them a presentation about Palmer and the science we do here. Then we give tours of the station. The interesting thing is that you never know who is coming on board. A month ago we had Neil Armstrong and in January Buzz Aldrin is coming. Many times they are directors of multinational companies, politicians, people from all over the world.I really like to show you the science we do here?.
Angela Posada-Swafford
