Birds, Shackleton and (2) Plants

Hi all,

I'm back from vacation and don't have much material right now to blog about, so in case you haven't checked out my plea for votes on the "Blog Your Way to Antarctica" competition, I'm posting it below. Please, please go to the site and enter a vote for John and me.

************************************

I'm Jennifer Horn and I really hope you vote for me to be your blogger. I’m a horticulturist and landscape architect, living in Manhattan and have been writing a blog called New York, Plants and Other Stuff since December, 2006.

Yes: it’s counterintuitive for a horticulturist to blog about Antarctica, where only two vascular plants grow. That’s why I am bringing my good friend John Rowden along for the trip. John and I became friends when we both worked at the Wildlife Conservation Society, headquartered in the Bronx Zoo. John was the curator of the Central Park Zoo and took care of all kinds of animals – from polar bears to tree frogs. But John’s real passion is birds. He’s an ornithologist at the Audubon Society with an encyclopedic knowledge of the seabirds we’d encounter. He also knows a thing or two about penguins.

While John helps me prepare posts about the animal life we encounter, I’ll supply a historical context. To be painfully frank, I have had a crush on Ernest Shackleton ever since I read 'Endurance' – the incredible record of his expedition to Antarctica from 1914-1916. Some blog posts would contrast his experiences with our (more comfortable) expedition.

Of course the blog can’t just be data. We’ll share stories about our days and nights and what’s on our mind during the journey. We’ll tell you about our traveling companions: who they are; why they’re with us and what they hope to find in this amazing place. Besides all the snow and ice.

John and I are both intrepid travelers; between us we have lived in Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, California, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and of course New York. The list of places we've visited is much longer. ...Though incomplete without the addition of Antarctica!