April 13, 2008
… hmm that would be quite a job … zoologist on Bird Island next to South Georgia. If anyone needs a reason to get away and wants to handle penguins: Perfect! Bird Island (54° 00′S, 38° 02′W) close to the main island of South Georgia is in the sub-Antarctic and has one of the densest breeding populations of land based marine predators in the world. Important species include Antarctic fur seals, macaroni penguins, and wandering albatrosses. 
More here …
March 8, 2008
We knew already that temperatures in the Arctic have been rising rapidly over the past decades, leading to unprecedented (at least in the past few thousand years) melt in Greenland and with sea ice. Now we have new evidence suggesting the same is happening in Antarctica. After the unexpected collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf it seems the polar regions are rapidly destabilizing. Scientifically, I am unimpressed since the horror has been going on for a while now. Had to be expected. Well I have other things on my mind and to worry about. Highest priority: Have the title of a Doctor of Natural Sciences attached to my name within the next six months. Since it should last for a life-time and only takes a lot of work on my side, it seems a good deal. On the side, I have been keeping an eye out for positions all over the place, in Germany, Australia. Anne is coming to give a talk in Ulm in May/June, and we are preparing the project details for Australia now. I am also continuously looking for advertised post-doc positions in the US. It seems everything is open again, and by now I am really willing to also drop Australia if something better comes along. All that networking and CV building has to have been good for something … and I am soooo ready for something new …. could have all taken a different course but now … trying to cope and to depart to new shores.
