Grad Student Studies Abroad in Antarctica with an Assist from the Libraries’ Tech Bar
By Marketing and Communications | 11-22-2023
Texas A&M University graduate student Alyssa Schaechinger is currently taking photos at the most remote place on Earth using camera gear from the Libraries’ Tech Bar, an expanded equipment service offering. She is part of the university’s first-ever study abroad trip to Antarctica.
Schaechinger is pursuing a master’s degree in science, technology and journalism. During the trip, she is writing articles about what she and a group of fellow students experience at the bottom of the Earth.
“Students from oceanography, meteorology, educational psychology, and cruise direction are going,” she said. “They’ll be doing research or other directed studies.”
The course required quality imagery to accompany her stories, but she was initially equipped only with her phone camera.
“I’m a grad student and really didn’t have the funds to go buy my own equipment, so I was able to use the Tech Bar at the library for my trip,” she said.
The Libraries’ Tech Bar, currently housed at Sterling C. Evans Library Annex, has a wide array of equipment available for checkout. There are cameras, zoom lenses, tripods, audio recording equipment, laptops, global positioning system hardware, portable projectors, as well as a variety of “everyday” items like phone and laptop chargers.
Schaechinger checked out a Canon and a GoPro camera, a zoom lens, a tripod, and other gear from the Tech Bar.
“I’m really thankful I was able to borrow this equipment from the Library, because I’m sure the shots I’m going to get, I would not have been able to get with just an iPhone,” she said.
Some of the trip’s students will present their academic and travel experiences in Antarctica at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 11 in Hagler Auditorium in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center.
They’ll highlight the new perspectives and knowledge they gained through their research or the completion of their final semester projects.
Students will present their Antarctica study abroad experiences on Dec. 11.
Written by: Richard Nira, rnira@tamu.edu | Media Contact: Matthew Kennedy, matthew.kennedy@tamu.edu.
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