Get the cold facts: NSF invites you to take part in first live press conference from south pole

NSF-funded research team has just driven across Antarctica in search of clues to possible human effects on global climate change

The National Science Foundation (NSF), which funds and manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, invites you to interview researchers just completing the first overland trek across Antarctica to the South Pole in 45 years. The press conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. EST on Monday, January 6.

The U.S. scientists are part of the International Trans Antarctic Science Expedition (ITASE). Almost exactly a century after British explorer Robert F. Scott's unsuccessful attempt to reach the South Pole, the ITASE team traveled for roughly a month via sled train across the more than 800 miles from Byrd Surface Camp near the Antarctic coast to NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Their scientific goal is to uncover a history of global climate. By studying the chemical composition of ice layers formed over the past 200 years, the researchers hope to discover clues, literally frozen in time, about human impacts on climate change.

Accredited reporters are invited to be part of this first-ever live press conference from the South Pole. Paul Mayewksi, ITASE principal investigator, along with graduate students and others who accompanied him, will discuss conditions during the traverse, the significance of ITASE research and what we are learning from this and previous ITASE expeditions.

To express interest in participating, either at NSF headquarters or remotely, and to obtain information on how to take part, please notify Peter West at 703-292-7761/pwest@nsf.gov.

What: Press Conference with members of the International Trans Antarctic Science Expedition

Who: Paul Mayweski, ITASE principal investigator

When: 9 a.m. (EST) on Monday, Jan. 6, 2003

Where: National Science Foundation, Room 350*
4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. (Ballston Metro Stop)
(Enter at 9th & Stuart, and check in at security desk)

Broadcasters: B-roll of the expedition is available on Betacam SP. Contact Dena Headlee, dheadlee@nsf.gov, 703-292-8070

For more information, contact:
Peter West, 703-292-8070/cell 703-609-1679
Cliff Braverman 703-292-8070

*For directions to NSF, see: http://www.nsf.gov/home/visit/visitjump.htm

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