Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek

Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek

NSF Director Subra Suresh in cockpit of LC-130 airplane.

Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek

Scientist Randol Aikin explains the BICEP telescope to Marcia McNutt, Subra Suresh, Carl Wieman and Scott Borg during a visit to the South Pole.

Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek

South Pole Telescope researcher John Ruhl talks with Carl Wieman and Lori Garver.

Subra Suresh , the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) , visited U.S. Antarctic Program stations and field camps during a five-day visit in November, accompanied by the heads of some of the nation’s leading science agencies.

Above, Suresh stops at the geographic South Pole on Nov. 18.

It was Suresh’s first visit to Antarctica since he was sworn in as the 13th NSF director in October 2010. NSF, a $7-billion federal agency, supports basic research and education across all fields of science and engineering. NSF, through its Office of Polar Programs (OPP) , manages the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Suresh was joined on his visit by Marcia McNutt , director of the U.S. Geological Society (USGS) , Lori Garver , deputy administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) , and Carl Wieman , associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy .

Scott Borg, head of OPP’s Antarctic Sciences Division , accompanied the group during its tour of the McMurdo and South Pole research stations and various field camps.

The group met with researchers and support staff throughout the visit, which included a day trip to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a remote but high-tech research outpost focused on astrophysical science.