A project involving Jill Mikucki, assistant professor of microbiology, was featured in The New York Times. It seeks to find evidence of life in a lake deep under the Antarctic ice as well as understand the role subglacial lakes play in stabilizing or destabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Called Wissard, for Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling, the project is about to start drilling into a lake half a mile below a glacier called the Whillans Ice Stream and will analyze samples on the spot in a field laboratory. The research is aimed at understanding the flow of water beneath glaciers into the Southern Ocean and the rate of melting of Antarctic ice, which could provide important information for climate studies. For more information, read the article.