Antarctic adventure

Christina Goethel, 15, holds up a photograph of a polar bear Tuesday afternoon in Lodi. Goethel will head to the Antarctic in December. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Antarctic adventure

Galt sophomore gears up for trip of a lifetime to South Pole

By Kendyce Manguchei
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 6:26 AM PST

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A Galt High School sophomore is leaving for Antarctica in December to take part in a two-week research expedition. Christina Goethel will likely track penguins, hike up ice caps, watch stars and study climate change.

The 15-year-old will spend the holidays in the south pole — she'll be gone from Dec. 17 to New Year's Eve.

"It's a great experience; it's about global warming and the environment," she said.

Goethel is making the trip with the Canadian nonprofit group Students on Ice, which operates research tours in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as mid-year landand sea-based trips in other parts of the world.

This is Goethel's second trip with the organization. Last summer she traveled to the Arctic and cemented her lifelong dream to become a veterinarian for marine animals.

Goethel will be one of fewer than 100 teens to have studied at both ends of the earth. She'll be spending the holidays away from her family, too.

"Oh well," joked her dad, Fred Goethel, "that's her Christmas present."

Christina Goethel said she wants to educate others on making small changes that can help decrease global warming. When she returns, she plans to give presentations at Galt High and for community groups like the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs. She's already done so since returning from her trip last year.

"We only have one earth. Why should we harm what we have when it's all that we have? To me, it's common sense," she said.

Christina Goethel will fly from Sacramento to Miami. She'll travel to Chile and then to Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina. Ushuaia is one of the world's southernmost cities. There, travelers will board the Polar Star.

The Norwegian icebreaker ship will be home for Goethel and 70 other students and 26 adults for two weeks.

Since 1999, Students on Ice has taken more than 600 people on research trips. A two-week voyage costs about $10,000.

Fred Goethel holds up a map of the Antarctic, where his daughter, 15-year-old Christina Goethel, will be traveling aboard a research vessel. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

"Its goal is to increase environmental awareness and the impact that the U.S. and Canada has on the rest of the world," Fred Goethel said. He's a semi-retired fire protection engineer who volunteers on Galt High's school site council and the school district's bond oversight committee. Christina Goethel's mother, Connie, works as a safety manager at General Mills.

The founder and director of Students on Ice is Geoff Green, an adventurer who was a school teacher. Green has led 66 Antarctic and 27 Arctic expeditions, in addition to outings in Patagonia, Madagascar, the Northwest Passage and Papua New Guinea.

Green visited Galt in April to propose that three Galt High students and two science teachers be involved next year. It will cost about $50,000, and they're looking for contributions from just about wherever they can get them.

"If we can send cheerleaders to Texas, we can send some scientists to Antarctica," said Galt Joint Union High superintendent Thomas Gemma.

Last summer, Christina Goethel said she was one of the few who didn't get seasick while cruising the Arctic. She said she's actually looking forward to the dreaded "Drake Shake" — the ocean currents and westerly winds that rock ships through the 400-mile-wide Drake Passage. The Drake Passage is part of the Southern Ocean, between the tip of South America at Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands.

Christina Goethel said she is excited and hardly concerned about the trip into a remote harsh environment.

"My mother hates the ocean. She's petrified. But it's something I'm passionate about. I feel bad that she worries, but …," she said.

Her dad finished the thought: "Geoff brings good karma."

Contact reporter Kendyce Manguchei at kendycem@lodinews.com.

Antarctic expedition: Students on Ice

From Dec. 18 to Dec. 31, Galt High sophomore Christina Goethel will join 70 other students and 25 adults from the United States and Canada on an Antarctic expedition to study global warming and ecology in Antarctica. The Canadian group Students on Ice is organizing the research trip.
• Home base: An "icebreaker" ship named the Polar Star. The vessel has a reinforced bottom that can break through ice sheets. Ten 16-person zodiac boats are used for mini trips to ports and old research bases.
• Climate: Temperatures range from minus 10 to zero F, with highs in the 10s. During Antarctica's summer, days will have nearly 24 hours of sunlight.
• Science lessons: Polar researchers will lecture about global warming, humans and the environment, historic Antarctic voyages and tracking wildlife.
• Other activities: Adventurers will observe flora and fauna in Argentina, whale-watch and bird-watch while traversing the Drake Passage, hike ice caps, look for penguins and send postcards and letters from Port Lockroy, an old British base.
Source: Students on Ice, at StudentsOnIce.com.

First published: Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Reader Feedback

Lodian wrote on Nov 28, 2006 9:46 AM:

" Christina Goethel: Good luck young lady. Have a wonderful trip! "

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Ned wrote on Nov 28, 2006 9:28 AM:

" Cool picture! "

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OTH wrote on Nov 28, 2006 8:26 AM:

" What a wonderful opportunity for this young lady and all those involved. If only they had had something like this when I was her age. Good luck Christina and bon voyage. "

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