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Patterns of thaw
There is continually frozen ground (permafrost) sitting beneath the Arctic, but each summer, endless sunshine and warming air temperatures heat the soils from above. A fraction of the near…
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Hungry Microbes and Future Carbon
A classic example of science here in Siberia: water bottles improvised to incubate and measure…
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Collaboration and a Cold Cave
Spending hours sitting on a case of water bottles in a cold dark room was not quite what I had pictured when I anticipated my month of research in…
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Finding time to soak it all in
After arriving in Chersky last Friday I have been going practically nonstop. At times it can be difficult to stop and just enjoy the scenery around you. We have…
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Of Mammoths And Men
“Are you fired up?!” Andy yells, his voice cutting through the wind. It’s a clear, breezy morning, and the Core group is gathered on the mucky banks of Duvaniy…
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Back from Duvannyi Yar – All Well
I just got a satellite phone call from Sue Natali to report that the Polaris group had just returned from a successful trip to Duvannyi Yar. The internet at…
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The research begins
Today marks a very important day at the Northeast Science Station. With the help of a whole crew, Ellen and I were able to set up one of the…
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Science Underway
As undergrads in the Polaris Project we have been given the rare and exciting opportunity to perform original scientific research in a very unique setting. I arrived without a…
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I broke an escalator
The permafrost crew is together and up to no good. Less than a minute after meeting each other for the first time, Galina and I (Well, mostly Galina) broke…
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Behold, the Mighty Y4!
Yesterday was our second full day of Arctic exploration. We made the trek to the watershed of interest for Polaris this year which includes characteristic hill slopes, a few…
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Flyin’ Solo
Reading the travel posts of my core group friends, both old and soon to be, I fondly remember the anticipation and excitement that grew within our group as we…
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Cherskiy At Last
Cherskiy. In the months and weeks and days leading up to Polaris, I heard that word thrown around a lot: “make sure to bring those vials to Cherskiy,” “the…
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Uh oh…looks like it’s going to be a hot couple of days
I’m sitting at the table in the common room before breakfast. Usually I’m up before the students but today there were several sitting glumly watching a kettle boil (apparently unaware…
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We made it!
It’s amazing how easily we take simple things for granted—say, for example, a flat surface to sleep on. Last night, after 68 hours of traveling, there was nothing I…
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