I am a Geologist. I study rocks and soil. In Antarctica, we use huge drills. We drill down deep into the Earth. We bring up rock and soil from long ago. These are called "cores". We study the cores to understand the environment and climate of the past.

Right now, I am studying cores from Southern McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The rock and soil in the cores are between 16 and 18 million years old! Isn't that amazing?

The cores that I am studying now give me clues about what the climate was like during the early to middle Miocene. This is the name of a time in Earth's history when the climate was warm. These cores will help me understand the Antarctic ice sheets, changes in sea level, and ocean environment.