Ted Daeschler, curator of vertebrate zoology at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, caught this image of a colleague along the edge of a glacier as it slowly moves over a cliff near the top of Wright Valley, Southern Victoria Land, in Antarctica. Daeschler traveled there last winter to collect 390-million-year-old fossils for study.
Distance flown, in miles, from Philadelphia to the field site.
Hours of summer daylight in Antarctica. The daylight warmed the interiors of the researchers’ tents to just about freezing.
Gallons of urine collected in the field. Visitors are required to remove urine to reduce environmental impact.
Weight, in pounds, of the fossils shipped home for further study.
Percent of Antarctica covered in ice. The team was in the McMurdo Dry Valleys—part of the 2 percent not under ice.