PolarisProject

Chris and I selected 100 of the 21,000 images he took and got some up under the Photos page. We tried to focus on images that captured the feel of the trip and didn’t include many of the specific images that documented the science that went on during the 2009 field course. Those will be included in the science stories that are being produced. In fact, the first science story is up – congrats to Brian Kantor for finishing it up and we are looking forward to seeing the rest of them soon.

One of the objectives of the Polaris Project is to help get the story of the Arctic, climate change, and the Polaris Project to as broad an audience as possible.  The Polaris Project website is one means of doing so, as are public presentations by project faculty and students as well as media interviews.

Sudeep Chandra (professor) and Joanne Heslop (student) from the University of Nevada- Reno have done a fantastic job of “getting the story out” since returning from Siberia at the end of July.  Just this week, they’ve been on TV, radio, and in the newspaper!  Links are pasted below:

1) Report on KNPB PBS TV station

(http://www.knpb.org/programming/local/knpb-reports/studying-arctic-carbon).

2) Front-page article in the Reno Gazette Journal newspaper

(http://www.rgj.com/article/20090818/NEWS/908180333).

3) Interview of KPR NPR radio station – to be archived later at:

(http://www.capradio.org/programs/insight/default.aspx).

It has been a few weeks since the Polaris Project disbanded and I’ve had some time to reflect on my experience. I remember distinctly when Max Holmes invited me into his office to show me pictures of Cherskii and describe the Polaris Project. While the pictures and descriptions provided me with some idea of where I was headed, there was no way I could have anticipated the effect my time in Cherskii would have on me.

The Polaris project begins and ends with science, but the science is just the beginning. In our final reflections in Moscow, I think Max Janicek summed it up perfectly when he said, “it’s the people that make the experience so special.” I couldn’t agree more and I couldn’t have asked for a more fun, smart, or compatible group then we had this summer. I was deeply moved by our group’s final reflections because I think they really brought home why the Polaris Project is so unique. The Polaris Project is scientific collaboration at a level I’ve never experienced, where deep friendship is fostered alongside learning. For this reason, my time in Cherskii was not simply a field trip and some notes. It was a defining and influential experience in my life because of the relationships and connections I made with the other students and professors.

Walking through the moss covered larch forests and next to snow patches in the tundra was unbelievable. The beauty of the landscape never waned over my time there and by the end I felt like I was leaving home. Throughout college, we have many “homes” including where we grew up, apartments over the summer, dorms, off-campus houses etc. I guarantee few people ever call a barge sitting on the Kolyma River in Siberia a home. How incredible is that?

My stream project with Erin and John was very exciting, and like the other students, there is much more work ahead. Looking back, I am very grateful for the encouragement and guidance provided to me by all of the PIs. The students were truly lucky to have each and every professor for their unique expertise and enthusiasm. I was always surprised by the immediacy with which they could satisfy any question that I had. You cannot learn like this from a lecture or a textbook. Many times my conversations with the PI’s pertained to the science we were doing, but they were often about the paths that led them to be arctic scientists. As a result, I’m more interested in arctic science than ever before, I can definitely see myself pursuing this field of science.

The whole time was remarkable, and I am so thankful that I had a chance to meet all the PI’s and students. The trip definitely surpassed my expectations and I just felt like reiterating some of the reasons why it meant so much to me in this reflection.

Thank you to all the friends I made in Cherskii who provided me with such a unique and unforgettable experience.

Travis

PS There was a great 2-part article on Siberia in the last two issues of the New Yorker. You can’t read it unless you subscribe, but here’s a pretty neat slideshow by the photographer.

Check out this article in this week’s issue of The Economist on Arctic permafrost thaw.

http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14119825

Hello everyone. I hadn’t written a blog entry in awhile, so now that I am home and rested I thought I should post an update on where I am and where I’m going with my project.

During our three weeks in Cherskiy, Valentin, Nickolay, and I collected over 130 soil samples from 14 different profile locations. Our profiles were located around four main regions: Shuchi Lake, Duvanni Yar, the Kolyma River floodplain, and the tundra.

Shuchi Lake Profiles

Kolyma River Floodplain Profiles

Duvanni Yar Profiles

Tundra Profiles

At the Northeast Science Station labs, Nickolay and I processed our soil samples for moisture and organic matter content. We also conducted nutrient leaching experiments, in which we added one liter of distilled water to ten grams of soil and let it incubate for twenty-four hours. The water was then filtered and stored for later testing.

Even though all the members of the Polaris Project are back home, work on our projects hasn’t ended. Over the next semester, I’m going to be continuing our project by testing the leachate water for carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous content. By determining the nutrient levels leached from the soil into the distilled water, I hope to be able to determine the nutrient leaching potential for soils at our profiles. I’ll also be measuring the carbon to nitrogen ratio in each of our soil samples.

Overall, being a participant in the Polaris Project has been one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had in my life. It’s reaffirmed my love of field work, and confirmed to me that I want to spend the rest of my professional life pursuing a career in research science.

Until later, Joanne

I am, as Karen can attest to, a fairly indecisive person when it comes to my future. I worry a lot about whether I’m making the right choice, the what-ifs and alternative possibilities always seeming like they might be just as good. The Polaris Project has helped me make some of these decisions that I’ve been facing. I’ve been thinking pretty seriously about graduate school after I graduate this year, but there’s always been a niggling concern that maybe it would be too much, that I wouldn’t enjoy it or wouldn’t be worth it. Polaris Project has expelled this particular doubt.

The field work we’ve done in Siberia was at times intense or frustrating, but the rewards so far outweigh those brief lows that I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else. This was truly a life changing experience, just as advertised. Max did an amazing job organizing a team of great PI’s, who have all helped me to think more scientifically, to communicate better and exposed me to new methods and techniques of going about the science. I’d guess that all of us students, even if we aren’t all planning to go on to do research per se, have come out of this project better scientists and communicators, motivated to find out more about the Arctic and to spread the word about what we’ve learned.

After the Polaris Project folks landed in Chicago we wandered through the airport leaving members off at different gates to make it to their final destinations. The Seattle folks got a little extra time together with a two and a half hour delay on top of a planned four hour layover. (Max and Kayla made good use of the time)

I made it back to my home in Bellingham a mere 32 hours after waking up in Moscow and in time to make breakfast for my kids.

All of the field course participants face the challenge of describing our experiences to our friends and family and adjusting to life back in the USA. Congrats to all on a job well done and thanks to all following our trip. We’ll be tidying up some loose ends over the next few weeks and expect to see some good science and outreach on the blog again soon.

-Andy Bunn