MSU Scientist Embarks on 20th Season in Antarctica by Evelyn Boswell John Priscu lived in the developed desert called Las Vegas when he was younger, the son of a chemical engineer who was so handy he repaired his shoes with old tires. While tourists basked in the winter or baked in the summer, Priscu played his guitar to earn money for college. Sometimes he'd take his motorcycle and flee the city for Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Now, a couple of decades and countless gigs later, the Montana State University ecologist still plays guitar, this time with the Textbook Blues. The father of a teenage daughter continues to stay up late performing. He still rides a Harley and hangs out around lakes and deserts. But the Priscu of today is a polar biologist of international renown. His findings appear in scientific journals, as well as popular publications like Time magazine. He belongs to a long list of national and international committees, including the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), an international committee that initiates, promotes and coordinates scientific research in Antarctica. He serves on a U.S. National Academy of Science committee to develop a plan to prevent the contamination of Mars. Despite Priscu's Nevada background, the lakes that occupy him these days are covered by glaciers and ice. The desert he researches is thousands of miles south and thousands of feet higher than the one where he spent his youth. In the worst of times, it's a couple hundred degrees colder. "Antarctica is the coldest place on earth," said Priscu who is now in his 20th season in Antarctica. He left Bozeman in mid-October and will return in early December. Priscu endures the cold by wearing expedition-weight underwear topped by a fuzzy polyprophylene suit, a jumpsuit and huge down coat with a tunneled hood lined with coyote fur. He wears three layers of gloves and thick rubber bunny boots. He repairs his brittle equipment with the skills he picked up from his fix-it father. In spite of the conditions, he's attracted to Antarctica because of the life that exists in its ice, Priscu said. It's a life that no one used to believe existed. It requires a microscope and opens the mind to possibilities of life on Mars or even longer life on Earth. "I like to tell my students we are on the cutting edge of this research, but more than that, we developed the field of biology in ice systems," Priscu said. Priscu started his Antarctic career as a scientist for the New Zealand government. After focusing on freshwater, he now concentrates on the deep cold biosphere which includes glacial ice, sea ice and permafrost. He is best known for his findings about the ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the highest-latitude location of the 24 Long-Term Ecological Research sites supported by the National Science Foundation. This year, he hopes to measure the microbial production of methane in lakes of the dry Antarctic valleys, Priscu said. He will continue measuring selected parameters within the lakes to monitor climate change. His many discoveries have led to a multitude of opportunities for Priscu and the more than 100 people who have served on his field teams over the years. Among those field crew members are undergraduate students who took the Biology 102 class Priscu teaches every spring. "John has taken both undergraduate and graduate students to the ice in Antarctica, which is an invaluable opportunity," noted Jeff Jacobsen, former head of the LRES department, now dean of the College of Agriculture at MSU. "John also teaches an introductory biology course, so we have a top tier scientist in the classroom turning young minds onto the mysteries of the world."