- Love of the outdoors drew me into the geosciences, I work outside to collect geologic samples and to learn about ecosystems.
Western USA (2005 – 2009): I collected water samples and surface sediments from a hundred remote mountain lakes located near SNOTEL stations. I have spent many summers collecting sediment cores in Colorado and Wyoming as well as surveying plant vegetation communities and collecting GPR profiles of lake sediment stratigraphy.
Minnesota lakes (2005-2009): The best time to core in Minnesota is winter…it is flat enough to not have to worry about avalanches and cold enough that lakes are frozen! We sometimes even drive a truck onto the ice. This work involves very warm cloths, an ice auger to make a hole in the ice, an ice screw to tie off the cable, and then we work just like normal coring. The advantage is not needing to anchor a boat or to have a boat with a hole in the middle.
Lake Bosumptwi, Ghana (2004): I was a sediment scientist, helping collect 1.8 km of lake sediment from this impact crater lake.
Research at sea – the Bermuda Triangle (2003): In 2003 and 2004 I worked for the US science support office for the Ocean Drilling Program (DSDP, ODP, IODP) and to start I went on a research cruise with Dr. Carolyn Ruppel.
Juneau Ice Field, Alaska (2002): I went to field camp and lived on the ice field for two months. We hiked up from Juneau and skied across to Atlin, B.C., along the way we dug mass balance pits, surveyed ice caves, and conducted other field studies to contribute to the long dataset that the program has been working on since the late 1940s.
New England marsh community ecology work (2001): In college I worked with Dr. Mark Bertness’ lab to survey coastal wetlands and conduct experiments in Maine, Rhode Island, and Georgia.
In college (1999-2003): aside from lab work, I worked in the campus greenhouse starting with a horticulture research project and then just enjoying the general upkeep of what I thought of as a living plant library. This was my home away from home.
Anna Henderson 