Field Notes
During, before, and after the field course, Polaris students and faculty share their thoughts through journal entries.
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Homeward Bound
Today is the Fab Four’s final day in Cherskiy – only one more of Valentina’s delicious lunches and we’re on our way to the airport. Leaving is very bittersweet; while we are excited by the thought of seeing friends and family in a few short days, we are very sad
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Did global warming cause the heat wave? Probably.
In the wake of the heat wave here in Russia, as well as the several other bouts of extreme weather around the globe this year (floods in the US and Pakistan, heat waves in Africa, eastern Asia, and eastern US), it is looking more and more like we are seeing
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Bakin’ and Ballin’
Although we are all working very hard to wrap up our summer field projects, we have also managed to make time to appreciate the place and people we have become so close with this summer. Orbita has become nothing short of a home for the four of us, encompassing where
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CO2 degassing from small streams
After collecting some pretty interesting data from the tundra, I decided it was time to share a bit about my project. As part of the stream team, my project is aimed at answering a simple question: are small arctic streams sources of CO2 to the atmosphere?…
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We’re back!
We successfully made the tundra trip in one day and arrived home safe and sound late last night. Now on to a full day of lab work to process our samples!…
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Heading north, for one day this time.
The fantastic four are just about to board Petnubbin’ (aka Speedy) for a day trip to the tundra. We intend to sample streams and rivers for all of our projects. The weather is ideal for a trip north: cold, windy, and rainy.…
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Fab Four Updates
Today is another chilly, blustery day in Cherskiy and as I look wistfully out windows of the lab (the NUT prison) the clouds are scuttling madly across the sky. Luckily though, it is finally sunny after days of cloudy weather which is a significant improvement.…
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Now The Real Work Begins…
For many of us, the field portion of the Polaris Project was just the beginning. While the scientists have haystacks of data to sift through, I have a stack of 20,000 photos waiting to individually perused, ranked, tagged, and grouped – a task for days and days.…
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And meanwhile, just a few hundred miles away in the Chukchi Sea…
Unfortunately not all of the PIs were able to travel to Cherskiy for the Polaris Project 2010, myself included. I greatly missed being at the Northeast Science Station and being in the field with such a fantastic group of scientists and students.…
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Never a moment so bitter sweet.
After a 30+ hour daze of airplanes and airports, then having to turn on the radio to block out the eery silence of sleeping in the desert without 19 other people and the rustling of the Barge, I’m sitting here in my parents house in Reno, Nevada.…
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Random thoughts from the Patio
Back home safe and sound, and sitting on my patio. The garden has grown huge in my absence, the weeds aren’t totally awful, and my French press, coffee grinder and good coffee beans have been waiting patiently for my arrival. Life is pretty good.…
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In the Moscow airport, heading home
We had a very productive morning yesterday listening to student presentations regarding their research projects and their learning experiences from this trip. It has only been 30 days since the group has been together but a lot of individual and self transformation has occurred during this period.…
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20th Birthday in Moscow!
Yesterday I turned twenty while we were staying here in Moscow. I never imagined that I would spend one of my birthdays in Moscow with such a great group of people. We all had presentations yesterday morning but after that it was time for relaxation and celebration.…
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And then there were four…
Most of the students and PIs are in Moscow, preparing to board their flight home today. Blaize, Erin, Travis and I are in Cherskiy, continuing our research and finishing up our projects. During my remaining time here, I’m continuing my soil BOD experiments and conducting nutrient limitation experiments.…
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