Vol. II - June 2009
In This Issue
About MES
You’ll take courses across the University and collaborate with Penn’s world-class researchers and practitioners in the physical, biological, and social sciences, economics, and other arts and sciences disciplines, as well as professionals in planning, engineering, business, health care, and the law. Gain the breadth needed to address complex issues of the environment while you develop the depth required to provide specific expertise in environmental restoration and protection. More>
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MES Students Go to the Ends of the Earth
"It was like being plopped into another world," MES candidate Greg Kelder recalls of his arrival in Antarctica in January 2009. "We experienced nearly 24 hours of daylight every day. The terrain was unlike most places I've ever been. There were lichens growing along the beach but for the most part not really much plant life or vegetation the way we think of it. It was cold, and amazingly quiet, and there was just the sense of it being incredibly remote."
Greg and Kate Atkins, another MES student, were chosen by the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership to be one of only three non-MBA students to participate in the Wharton Antarctica Leadership Venture. The annual expedition, designed for Wharton students, involves a week-long exploration of King George Island, stressing decision-making, teamwork, and leadership in a challenging environment. "We're entering a new era of corporate responsibility socially and environmentally," Greg notes. The Wharton students on this trip are our future business leaders, and it was a great opportunity to raise their environmental awareness."
As part of the program, students heard lectures from a number of scientists on global warming effects on the Antarctic. Greg and Kate became the on-site experts for environmental issues and were constantly asked questions on environmental impact, policy, and regulation. "I found I was able to serve as a real naturalist resource," says Kate. "Listening to a lecture after you've hiked for seven hours is not effective learning, but if you're talking about what you're seeing along the way and the climate issues that affect what you're seeing, it works very well.
"You have to have a lot of chutzpah to decide to go camping in Antarctica," says Kate. "Anybody who does that is basically self-selecting. Some members of our group hadn't ever been camping before, but they were very spirited about it. It was very physically demanding—exhausting, really. We were constantly at the edge of our comfort zone, living in uncomfortable circumstances."
"It was like being in a National Geographic program, but live," says Greg, "especially the day we went to a rookery and saw 5500 pairs of penguins with their chicks." "I was actively birding the entire time we were there," says Kate. "Chinstrap penguins, Adelie penguins, giant petrels, blue-eyed shags, skuas, Antarctic terns, and Wilson's storm petrels—you name it, it was there. And then there were the seals. One day when we had to walk back to our water source, there was a whole harem of elephant seals in the way."
"Just think about it," says Greg. "How amazing is it to be able to fill your water bottle with melting glacial water?"
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