I’m on the final leg of my 25-hour trip home and I’ll be landing in Columbus in less than a few minutes. Coming back to the “real world,” as we jokingly referred to the Lower 48 and home while on the Slope, has been quite an experience so far. We decided to leave the airport in Anchorage and venture downtown since we had an eight-hour layover.
The city itself was just as beautiful as I had remembered it from my brief visit in July, only this time everything seemed so odd and foreign. I felt like an alien from another planet. It felt strange to walk on paved sidewalks and the cars drove so fast! There were no bumps in the road that could send your head crashing against the ceiling of the truck without notice. The noise created by the cacophony of people and traffic was overpowering and...
In a few short hours I will begin the 25-hour journey home. I'm leaving the Slope and I'm sad. I'm nervous about what it will feel like to drive 65 miles per gallon and being overwhelmed by the plethora of shopping when I get home. The 90 degree weather will probably feel like more than 100 degrees since I've been hanging in the frigid tundra (although it has made it into the 50's on rare occasions.) I hope that I can someday return to the Slope and learn more about the science that happens here to share with the world.
The last two and a half months have been harder than I could have ever imagined: physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are no words to explain everything I've seen and done nor to describe every emotion I have felt. All I can say is that I am truly grateful to all...
So I was asked to talk about ITEX in five high school science classes... I was pretty nervous because even though I've been five for five weeks, the longer I'm here, the more I learn that I don't know. But, it went well and I think I learned more than the students.
Barrow High School has over 200 students. They are called "the whalers." BHS is a lot like many other high school across the country. There are many sports including: football, volleyball, cheer-leading, cross country, basketball, and wresting. They have band and drama. There are vocational classes like auto-shop and carpentry. The students study Iñupiac and some take French in their junior or senior year. There are business and personal finance classes as well. Students have access to a lot of technology. Each teacher has...
Today after we got back from the field, I continued the identifaction and pressing process of the plants I plan to take back to school to share with my students. I had started this a few days ago and now I wanted to finish up the process. It seemed simple enough:
1. Lay out plants in plant press
2. Identify plants
3. Create pretty labels
4. Laminate plants
Unfortunately, I mixed up steps one and two...oops. It is much more difficult (if not impossible) to identify a pressed plant. I should have identified the plant first and then pressed it so that I could more acutely tell the plants. My team couldn't even figure out a few so we ditched those and I moved on. Luckily, I had some help from my team. Once they helped me out with the plants I couldn't figure out, I looked up every spelling...
Jeremy and I spent most of the day collecting lichen in the tundra. Lichen is quite possibly my favorite type of organism in the tundra. It is so unique and unlike anything I have ever considered a plant, but it’s only part plant. (We’ll get into that later.) There were brief units in my science classes on them, but I had the opportunity to see, touch, smell, and take them apart...until now.
Lichens come in all shapes and sizes. They are green, beige, black, white, brown, orange, eggshell, and grey. They are short, tall, wide, narrow, circular, stringy, tangled, and straight. They look like concave mushrooms and mini leafless tree. They look like bunched up matted hair and shriveled up disks. They are flat against a surface and they stick out. They have spikes and they are smooth. They...
Rob is doing an experiment on plant Inflorescences, the flowering parts of a plant that contain reproductive organs like the pistil and stamens.
He wants to know if warming affects seed weights. Seed weights may tell you how well a plant is going to reproduce because it may be correlated with germination rate. Germination is the number of seeds that grow into an adult plant.
We collected three catkins from each plot in the Barrow Dry Site, which contains 48 plots that each have an area of one meter squared. There are 24 control plots and 24 experimental plots with open-top chambers (OTC's) that are designed to warm the air temperature one to three degrees Celsius.
Jeremy picks a Salix rotundafolia catkin in an experimental plot on the Barrow Dry Site.
The red spiky object is the Salix...
It's done. It's finished. I can finally breathe...about the webinar, I mean. We did it...the first PolarTREC bilingual webinar in English and Spanish. Although I translate a lot at school, that's news-style translation where I just talk while the other person is speaking. Today, I had to let my research talk about an entire idea and then translate it. The hard part was not the Spanish, but rather remembering what they said a few sentences ago! Then there were two words I forgot and had to quickly look up "coal" and "fog."
Jeremy takes our photo as we talk about our research in the tundra. We were in the small conference room of the lab.
It was more than worth it when a few of my students emailed me afterwords about how their parents enjoyed the webinar and that how it was the first...
Today I did a lot of things...
I went out to the field and took a few hundred pictures. I'm kind of like a photojournalist. My biggest job on the team is to document as much as possible in pictures and video so that they have media aids for when speaking and talking about the project.
I finally got a picture of Kelsey in the field. Okay I got almost 100 of her today. This is the first time I've been in the field with Kelsey because she's generally in Atqasuk while I'm in Barrow ad vise versa.
I also collected a few dozen plant species for pressing and laminating. These will be used in the biology department at Grand Valley State University, where the research team is based. Then I hiked back to the road with two pack racks that are used for carrying supplies out into the field. I...
Alaska is full of surprises and I had absolutely no idea of what today would hold. At my PolarTREC orientation, I was told to have no expectations of how things should be, and now I know why.
Before he let me on the boat, Lewis made sure that I knew that the ocean can be very dangerous and that I had to do whatever he said because my life was in his hands. Sometimes the winds and waves get really bad and when people panic the boat can capsize.
This is the boat we took to Cooper Island about 35 miles from Barrow. Lewis uses this boat for fall whaling.
We hopped on the boat and began our trip to Cooper Island.
Luis Brower is completely at home in the ocean. <img src=
As we neared Cooper Island we passed by a polar bear.
We saw this bear swimming from Cooper Island towards the...
Today I got to know Lewis Brower. Lewis is officially the station manager of the Barrow Arctic Research Center (BASC). His job is to oversee all BASC's operations, make sure that everything runs smoothly, and ensure the safety of all the researchers. Lewis was one of the first people I met when I arrived to Barrow the first time but I had never really gotten to know him. I knew he was in charge and he talked about safety for a few minutes before heading off to something else. He sounded like a flight attendant preparing for take off: Dress for changing weather because it changes instantly here. Do not lock doors because of bears. Do not go to the Point alone because there are bears. Make sure you always have a radio and a bear guard or issues shot gun in the field. Stay with your...
When we left Atqasuk today for Barrow, it was raining and foggy. Only a few seconds after takeoff from the dirt airstrip, the village disappeared into the clouds below. As usual, I got to thinking on the flight...
Atqasuk quickly disappears beneath the fog as our little single-engine eight passenger Cessna Caravan takes off for Barrow. There were only four people on the plane, including the pilot.
I was sad to leave Atqasuk. It had really become like home to me: trekking through the tundra, hanging out at the school, and playing the nightly thumb clicker-counter contests.
When I saw the school for the first time, I felt like I had walked into an educational utopia: small classes, loads of new equipment, latest technology, a personal MacBook for every student in grades 5 through 12, and...
Twelve hours in the field, 35 degrees, windy, site teardown, spectrometry, and the NIMS grid! It all made for an interesting day in Atqasuk...I'll write more tomorrow but right now we're trying to figure out the NIMS grid before Rob and I get on the plane back to Barrow tomorrow morning.
So.......
Rob and Kelsey called from Barrow saying the grid frame arrived in Barrow. They picked it up at the Barrow airport and took it over to the smaller terminal that does the village flights. They said they'd be on the last flight of the day and that they should arrive at 4:15 with the grid frame. Jeremy, Jenny, and I went out to the field. They finished up end-of-season measurements while I pieced together more matted trail (without hitting the trigger while holding the screw today) and I collected mosses and lichens. It was soooooooooo cold today! Our hands and feet went numb because of the wind.
This is the latest and greatest in Tundra Fashion! To think that less than a week ago we were concerned about mosquitoes!
When we got back to the lab we noticed more people had arrived...
Today was a school day. I went to The Meade River School to collaborate with their teachers. I had two goals: to do ITEX outreach and create a partnership between my school and their school.
So, I'm assuming you'd like know about this school on the North Slope...
The school is built on stilts so that it does not thaw the permafrost. It was built in the early 1980s. They have a library, reading center, gymnasium, and small suspended nadatorium all inside the school building. There are 71 students at Meade River in grades Pre-K through 12. They divide their grades into groups: Pre-K and K, 1 and 2, 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7, and 8 through 12. Each grade has from two to nine students so the combine most of the grades. Every student in the school studies Iñupiaq, the native language of the North...
Today I learned three things in the tundra:
1. How to use an electric drill
2. How to piece together matted trail.
3. That oil is slimy.
So, as you know, the NIMS grid frame has not shown up yet and Kelsey and Rob are still in Barrow. Hopefully, the frame will be delivered tomorrow in Barrow so they can come down tomorrow night, with the frame of course. Today, Jeremy and Jenny worked on total season growth measurements on the dry site. They counted the total number of leaves and inflorescences on up to fifteen plants in each control and OTC plot. Today they finished the final measurements on 18 plots in the dry site. While they measured and counted, I worked on matted trail. The matted trail is made of plastic porous pavement system panels. The panels are basically pieces of heavy...
So we’ve been waiting for a grid frame to arrive from Michigan. The grid frame is for the NIMS (Network Info-Mechanical Systems) transect. The NIMS transect is a 50 meter by 2 meter transect that we are using to study plant type and percentage of cover. Sergio has been taking pictures of the NIMS transect using his kite and camera apparatus. However, the ITEX team needs to ground-truth the plant types and percentage of cover so a grid was created to help us with this task. The NIMS grid frame is 2 meters by 1 meter. Laying atop a 3-foot high-ladder bridge that stretches horizontally across the short end of the transect, we will use the frame to estimate the percentage of plant cover and types of plants within the NIMS transect. A fellow researcher from UTEP estimated that it will take 169...
I'm a little too tired to write a lot...feeling kind of sick lately. However, I did manage to pretty much finish the ITEX video today so I’m pretty happy about that...Yippee!!!!! Tomorrow I'll be back in the field and I hope to have another cool story to share.
Shopping on the North Slope is not like home. There is no mall with a few hundred stores. In fact, in Barrow there is only one large store callled the Stuaqpak. It has groceries, electronics, clothing, and automotive supplies. However, everything costs more...a lot more. Rob and Jeremy told me to bring my camera because I would be surprised. And surprised I was! Sometimes pictures say more than words...
Diet Pepsi...You have no choice. This is obligatory. Aren't you glad it's on sale? The bananas are on sale too...$2.49 per lb.Milk...it does a body good.I love potatoes...almost as much as I love tomatoes!Wonder Bread...$5.39 per loaf.If you'd like to add some orange juice to your cart, it's on sale too.Although they're not on sale, these apples look pretty nice. They're only $8.99 for 3...
Today was by far the hardest day physically since arriving to the North Slope. We hiked over ten miles in the tundra and we are ALL exhausted! Jeremy fell asleep on the couch the moment we got home and Jenny took a nap right after she showered. Hiking on the tundra in Atqasuk is SOOOOOOO much harder than hiking in Barrow. Barrow is really a nice pleasant stroll through the park in comparison. In Atqasuk, there are tussocks. Tussocks are mounds created by Eriophrum vaginatum. Its roots clump together in a ball-like shape that can be anywhere from softball to basketball sized and they are unstable sometimes. There is no way of knowing if a tussock will move when you step on it until you step on it. There's also mats of Carix aquatilis that sit in water a few feet above the permafrost and a...
After being cooped and getting a severe case of cabin fever, we ventured out today to assess the wind damage. We checked out our tent, which holds field supplies: hammer, nails, tags, bug dope (lots of bug dope) and Fruit by the Foot (a necessity for any Arctic Tundra Researcher). I've posted a picture below so you, too, can assess the damage.
This is how we found our tent the morning after the wind storm. I doubt we will use this tent next year.
After assessing the tent damage, Jeremy and I went bug collecting. We didn't exactly collect bugs, rather we collected the exoskeletons left behind from insects. Many insects lay eggs in small stationary bodies of water like ice wedge ponds. When the eggs hatch they are called larva. They begin life in the pond. Soon after, they outgrow their...
Today it is so windy that the wind slaps sand against your face so hard you can barely breathe...so today is a day to catch up on projects.
We took Sergio to the airstrip. We have no idea how the plane took off and landed with the exception of that the wind is a steady tailwind and the wind didn't pick up until after he departed for Barrow. Then, it picked up to 50 miles per hour with almost 75 mile wind gusts. The house is shaking because of the wind and it sounds kind of scary. Looking out the window, we see sand flying through the air and the grasses laying almost sideways in the wind.
Jeremy is working on the Atqasuk plant collection. He has been collecting samples of plant species he finds in the tundra. He brings five different species back to the lab each night. He then keys out...
Teachers at The Meade River School have been moving back to Atqasuk this weekend. Two teachers, Terry and Maryellen, wanted to join us so we brought them along into the tundra to show them what we do. Today was a special day, not only because Terry and Maryellen joined us, but also because today we got to see Sergio fly the kite.
Sergio is studying the same NIMS grid that the ITEX team is. NIMS stands for Networked Info Mechanical Systems. The NIMS grid is a 50 meter by 2 meter transect. We are estimating the plant species and percentages of each species within the NIMS grid. Sergio is also estimating the plant cover; however, he is doing it from the sky. He attaches a Panasonic Lumix waterproof camera to a wire apparatus that dangles from the kite and hangs about one hundred meters over...
I'd like to introduce you to the research team in Atqasuk.
Jeremy’s nickname is Papasaurus. He’s the oldest grad student on my research team at the ripe old age of twenty-nine. He’s finishing his master’s degree thesis on how plants respond to experimental warming conditions. After graduating in December, Jeremy plans to pursue his PhD studying plant competition. Jeremy is married to his really cool wife, Jess, and his cat Lottie. Jess is coming up to check out Atqasuk and see Jeremy’s work in a few weeks but Lottie will be staying home. He’s a vegetarian who enjoys catch and release fishing to teach the fish a lesson in how to evade carnivorous humans who practice “catch and eat fishing.”
Sergio is actually from UTEP—The University of Texas at El Paso. He’s a PhD student...
In Barrow, the plants average a couple of inches tall. In Atqasuk, the plants average over foot tall! The shrubs are huge and sprawl out all over the place! They have thick, woody branches. The inflorescences spread out to be almost golfball sized, where as in Barrow the inflorescences appear to be smaller than a pinky finger nail. The mosquitoes are real and they are jurassic and gargantuan. They swarm you constantly. There's millions of them and that is not an exaggeration. I'll write more about the Atqasuk Tundra tomorrow--but I will say that hiking it is a definite experience.
The Eriophorium vaginatum is huge in Atqasuk...and there are mosquitoes aplenty. They're pretty big too. How many Eriophorium vaginatum plants and mosquitoes do you see?
The mosquitoes seem to...
I’ve been travelling for 45 days, stopping home for no longer than three days. It’s just long enough to unpack, do laundry, visit my grandparents and mom to give them a hug and tell them I love them, repack, and head back to the airport. The last few days and weeks I’ve been tired, real tired…and dragging, just going through the motions of putting one foot in front of the other. I miss my family (both my Ohio and New York family). But today…
Today I came to Atqasuk. It’s less than sixty miles south of Barrow; however, you can only reach it by plane. I boarded another dinky Cessna Caravan that seats 10 people, only this time the back half of the cabin was loaded with boxes and freight. People were bringing their groceries to Atqasuk, a village of less than 200 people, with only one school...
