a boondoggle is a trip out of town, sometimes on a helicopter or a snowmobile. they are offered to us as a 'bonus' of sorts, or as a morale booster, by the national science foundation through our supervisors. GAs (general assistants) seem to go on lots of boondoggles, especially the ones that require a lot of snow to be shoveled, because that is what GAs are mostly paid to do. the trip could be to a dive shack on the sea ice to put radio collars on seals, or to 'penguin ranch' to herd penguins into a corral (see photo), or to cape evans for ice fishing. I have yet to go on a boondoggle, but I hope to be selected for one before the end of the season. to this end, I have been e-mailing pictures of myself in various capable poses (with ice drill, outfitted with spurs and lasso, etc.) to the NSF representatives.