Umpqua Community College graduate Daniel Isenberger embarked on a career trek that took him to the bottom of the world, to Antarctica.
Isenberger spent six months braving frigid temperatures and hurricane-force winds to serve as operator of the only wastewater treatment facility at McMurdo Station, an American research center in southern Antarctica. The station was established in 1956 and houses only a couple hundred people during the winter.
Isenberger graduated from UCC’s water quality program, which provided the background and hands-on experience necessary for the job.
Then, just out of college, Isenberger was hired by the National Science Foundation to work at the Antarctic facility. He ended up running it all on his own when his supervisor had to make an abrupt departure just three weeks into his tenure. Fortunately, he was able to find a remote mentor through the Water Environment Foundation mentoring program, who helped walk him through the processes required to keep the facility up and running.
“It was very cold and dark for much of the time I was there,” Isenberger said. “When it gets really windy, your eyeballs will actually freeze, so you have to wear goggles.
“Of the six months I was there, it was only light for one of those months.” He said the facility operations were maintained in line with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards and that with the mentorship and his education and experience from UCC, he was successfully able to keep the facility up and running for the six-month stint.
“I’m really grateful for the hands-on training I received from UCC,” he said. “Being able to work at real facilities, like the one in Sutherlin I worked at while at UCC, was crucial to my understanding of the process.”
He also learned about the job opportunity through another UCC student. “I was on campus and crossed paths with a guy wearing a McMurdo Station shirt,” he recalled. “I turned around and asked if he had been there, and we talked about it for a bit. That conversation encouraged me to pursue the position.”
Isenberger grew up interested in engineering, and his father encouraged him to pursue wastewater treatment operations since there were similarities in the career paths and many job opportunities.
After departing Antarctica, Isenberger spent some time consulting on water treatment in Haiti, where he crossed paths with another UCC water quality graduate in the same line of work.
Next year, he plans to join the Peace Corps in Peru, where he will serve as an advisor on water sanitation and hygiene.
