Local Scout Prepares for a Cool Summer in the Antarctic

Boy Scouts of America
Thursday, 1 November 2001

When 18-year-old Tim Brox leaves for the operational hub of the U.S. Antarctic Program, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on October 18, he will be one of the youngest Boy Scouts to participate in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) 77-year-old program. Brox, of Fresno, California, is the 10th Scout to conduct scientific research in Antarctica. The first accompanied Admiral Richard Byrd—at the explorer's request—on his famous 1928 expedition to the then unexplored continent.

From McMurdo, Brox will join approximately six groups of NSF supported researchers studying aspects of glaciology, geology, astrophysics, climate sciences, and biology. One of these projects will be at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, situated in the vast Antarctic interior at 90°S latitude.

After this tour he will go to Palmer Station, Antarctica, to study ocean sciences, especially marine biology. Palmer Station is reached by ship from the southern tip of South America. When Brox returns in April, he will be the first Scout to have worked with scientists at all three of America's year-round research stations in the Antarctic.

Brox was inspired to pursue the National Science Foundation Scholarship because of stories he read in Boys' Life magazine about other Scouts who had gone to the Antarctic. He is an avid science student, first-place winner of the California State Gold Medal in Environmental Sciences, and third place winner at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He says the many nights spent cold-weather camping and participating in survival training courses as a Scout will also come in handy.

"Tim Brox is a fine young man who has already shown great discipline and talent in the field of environmental science," says Roy Williams, Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. "This trip will only enhance what promises to be a great career in caring for and helping to preserve our natural resources."

Brox, who began Scouting in Canada and continued in the United State when his parents moved to California, is an Eagle Scout and former Venturing crew vice president. He currently serves as assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 140 in the Sequoia Council of Boy Scouts of America. He graduated in May from Clovis West High School in Fresno. He will begin college in the fall and plans to study naval architecture and anthropology.

For more than 90 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. The result is a program that encourages youth to pursue their special interests, make new friends, develop leadership skills, and give back to their community. Scouting annually serves the needs of nearly 5 million youth. Learn more about Scouting at www.scouting.org.

Tim Brox is the 2001-2002 Boy Scout Antarctic participant. Sponsored by NSF Office of Polar Programs and hosted for an introductory internship in September by Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research Program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Tim traveled in October to Antarctica via New Zealand. His time in Antarctica will be spent working with a diverse group of Antarctic science projects both at McMurdo and Palmer Station. You are invited to join Tim on his Antarctic adventure via his journal: http://pal.lternet.edu/scoutonice

The National Science Foundation is a federal agency that funds science and engineering research and education, mainly at university level. The NSF is also responsible for the nation's presence in the Antarctic. You can learn more about the National Science Foundation by visiting www.nsf.org.

For more information, or to contact Boy Scouts of America, see their website at: www.scouting.org