Will Farris had just earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama (UA) and was working as a lab technician at UA with Dr. Kevin Kocot when he got an offer that was hard to refuse: the chance to board an ocean vessel and go on an Antarctic research expedition. Of course, the answer was an obvious and immediate “Yes.” There was work to be done in preparation for the trip, including medical paperwork and other tasks in order to qualify, but these seemed like small challenges in view of the opportunity ahead. He got busy!