One of the Ten Worst Jobs in Science – and One of the Best Scientists Chastise Man has Met

Here’s a vacation picture of Chastise Man (heading into the wind. It was a chilly -40 or -45C with the wind chill):

So this is a vacation? What, is Chastise Man not right in the head? No wonder he’s so annoyed all the time, eh?

But wait a minute, he’s just a short-timer here, a one-offer, a… a… a  California Boy!

There are people that make this sort of thing their life's work. And for them there is an award. Namely, the Ten Worst Jobs in Science award, for which Dr. Peter Kershaw has been a five-time winner.

Guys like Kershaw make global warming denialists froth at the mouth. Hello! Does anyone seriously think Kershaw conducts his research in places like this for the grant money? If so, they’ve never gotten their fat ass up to Churchill and taken a ride on a dread sled.

(See? Chastise Man is cranky!)

But there’s another award for guys like Kershaw.

That’s Earthwatch’s Principal Investigator of the Year Award. It ‘s chosen by, among others, people who have actually taken their fat asses up to Churchill and taken a ride – several actually – on a dread sled. Maybe, just for the sake of a good war story for the folks back home, gotten a little frostbite to boot.

Good times.

But it doesn’t surprise Chastise Man a whit. Peter Kershaw is a guy that doesn’t ask anyone to do anything he isn’t willing to do himself (and that he does, in fact, all the time). He’s likeable, friendly, supportive, smart, articulate, and makes a mean igloo.

And he’s got one of the ten worst jobs in science. Go figure.

So, when you hear some idiot going off about the science community scaring us hapless numb-skulls that can’t think for ourselves into believing that global warming is real just to keep the grant money flowing, here’s what you do:

1. Feel sorry for them
2. Ignore them – and, if you can’t do that, then
3. Ask them if they’d like to take a ride on a dread sled

Photo Credit: Liz Headland