Daniel Frank’s Diary
2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
I just got the notice that I am going to the Czech Republic. I couldn’t possibly be more excited!
I phoned my wife and gave her the news immediately. Two weeks in the Czech Republic studying mountain waters! I need to get a passport, and I need to get in shape. I can’t help but think studying mountain waters will involve a lot of hiking up and down mountains.
I am an electrician in the hot mill here at Warrick Operations in Indiana, USA. This was only the second time I applied for the Earthwatch Fellowship, and I really did not expect to get one.
I have been studying environmental science at the University of Evansville part time for the past five years, and this will blend right in with my studies. I can’t wait to go.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
My passport arrived today. I have been reading up on the project and the scientists involved. I am very fortunate to be working with Dr. Josef Krecek. He is a noted hydrologist who began studying the effects of acid rain before the fall of communism.
His early work in the Jizera Mountains was censored by the government prior to the “velvet revolution,” which ended communist rule in the Czech Republic.
I checked with my professor, and this expedition will count as my required internship for graduation. If all goes well, I will be able to graduate next year thanks to this fellowship and Alcoa’s tuition aid program.
School runs until the second week in May, so I am trying to read up on the expedition while keeping up with my schoolwork and exercising four to six times per week. I leave in less than three months, and I’m getting more excited every week.
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Earthwatch Institute
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Mountain Waters of the Czech Republic
Learn more about the expedition and its scientists.
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