While in the field in Socorro, Texas, we experienced long days. There were dust storms, dry air, goat heads in our shoes and a scorching sun. Not being from the area, my supervisors were worried about how I’d react. Turns out I did better than a 1.4K camera.

The second the camera came out of a ventilated area, it became glitchy and slow, messing up our data. Since we had to move around the entire site and in near-by crop fields, we didn’t always have direct access to a cold room. It would take a lot of time to get the camera, take the photographs, put it away and repeat for 43 stations. Having started a couple days late due to FedEx issues, every second counted. We had to become inventive. At first, we put the camera in the car, the cool air on full blast, and parked the car nearby. Then we realized we might run out of gas before the day was over, so we got our camera a personal cooler.