McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (IMAGE) DOE/Joint Genome Institute Caption The McMurdo Dry Valleys harbor a cold desert ecosystem. Understanding how microbial communities can thrive in the frozen soil is a project proposed by Craig Cary from the University of Delaware and Charles K. Lee of the University of Waikato, New Zealand for the DOE JGI 2012 Community Sequencing Program. Credit Image by Robert Simmon, based on data provided by the NASA GSFC Oceans and Ice Branch and the Landsat 7 Science Team Usage Restrictions Appropriate caption and credit required License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.