Mayewski, Potocki featured in Yachting World article

Paul Mayewski and Mariusz Potocki are highlighted in Skip Novak’s first-person account of a scientific mission in the Southern Ocean titled “Down For The Count” in the June issue of Yachting World. Mayewski directs the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and advises Potocki, a glaciochemist and doctoral candidate. They ventured to the Sandwich Islands Archipelago aboard Pelagic Australis last winter with a team that also included experts in volcanology, penguin biology, whale identification and acoustics, as well as filmmakers. Novak described experiences during the journey, including on the southernmost island group called the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. On Saunders Island, Novak wrote that Mayewski and Potocki “went in search of ice with their drilling gear, and also water and snow samples to demonstrate levels of pollution. Don’t believe it? In the Antarctic this team has discovered levels of uranium in melt water conclusively linked to an open pit uranium mine in Australia.” After the five-week mission, Novak wrote that Pelagic Australis’ “job was done, but the scientists’ work back in their labs was yet to begin.”