This is the camp where scientists and students from Northern Illinois University will stay, far above Lake Whillans on the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica.

courtesy of Ross Powell

Northern Illinois University professors Reed Scherer, left, and Ross Powell, both of Elburn, prepare to test a coring device this past summer at Lake Tahoe. The equipment will be used this winter to collect samples at a subglacial lake in West Antarctica.

courtesy of Northern Illinois University

This image, generated by radar used in surveys across the ice surface, maps the bottom of the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica. The numbers represent hydrostatic pressure; where the numbers are low the water will tend to accumulate (blue), and the water will flow away from areas where the numbers are high (red). The dotted white line marks what scientists on the WISSARD project think is the border of subglacial Lake Whillans.

courtesy of Ross Powell

Northern Illinois University geology Professor Reed Scherer, of Elburn, will be traveling this winter to West Antarctica to study what may be living, or did live, in a subglacial lake. If there are organisms, how do they survive without oxygen and light? Do they eat each other?