From University of Rochester Athletics
Avery Palardy, a junior middle distance swimmer/breastroker on the women's swimming and diving team, had her best season this past year. She earned five top-5 finishes at the Liberty League Championships, including first place finishes in the 500 freestyle and the 400 free relay. At the University Athletic Association championships, she swam on the 200 free relay which posted the second fastest time in school history.
Palardy also excelled in the classroom in 2012-13; both the UAA and Liberty League named her to their All-Academic teams.
Her passion for school will likely prevent her from having a chance to improve her numbers in the pool because she'll be returning from another continent days before fall final exams begin.
From Oct. 29th to Dec. 3rd, Palardy will be studying abroad in Antarctica alongside Professor Vasilii Petrenko from the Earth and Environmental Sciences department. Also coming along for the trip are seven scientists and two graduate students.
"We'll be drilling ice samples," said Palardy, an Environmental Science major. "I'll be doing basically 12 hours a day of manual labor six days a week. We'll be analyzing the gas composition and seeing the atmospheric contents and tracking the greenhouse gases over the past 100,000 years."
The group will be stationed at the Taylor Glacier, a 34-mile long glacier know for, among other things, Blood Falls, a bright red waterfall that gets its color from microbe-filled water. The glacier is located nearby McMurdo Station, a U.S.-operated research center that is one of Antarctica's main travel hubs.
"We're flying into New Zealand and then we're getting all the equipment we need in New Zealand," Palardy said. "Then we take a small plane into McMurdo Station. From there we take a 45-minute helicopter ride to Taylor Glacier."
To be selected for the program, Palardy had to go through a competitive interview process. The Smithfield, RI. native said she never expected to be chosen. This was an opportunity she could not turn down, even though she would miss part of the swim season.
The trip will also cause her to miss a large chunk of the first semester. Still, Palardy plans to take classes on campus as if she wasn't studying abroad at all. She is enrolled in four courses, with the Antarctica trip counting as an independent study.
"I've already emailed my professors that I'm going to be gone for five weeks," Palardy said. "I'll be back a week before finals. I have to pray I'll be able to cover the material I miss well enough. My professors have had different responses. One said I'm only going to miss the third midterm. Another one I might be taking as an incomplete and finishing in the spring."
In November, it is springtime in Antarctica The average high temperature at McMurdo Station can reach 14° C/57° F. Palardy will be protected from the cold by warm clothes and a tent, her home for the trip.
She isn't worried about the cold, however. Palardy said Rochester's cold winters have prepared her to face Antarctica's spring climate.
More than anything, she is excited for the trip.
"It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm actually going," Palardy said. "I think the worst part is going to be not showering for three weeks. I'm on a continent that's full of ice. Yeah, there's no showers. Other than that, I can't wait."