Field Notes
During, before, and after the field course, Polaris students and faculty share their thoughts through journal entries.
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Introducing the Terrestrial Team
Hello everyone! In the past 48 hours members of the Polaris Project have coalesced into different research teams. Sam and I are the terrestrial team, determined to quantify how different watershed characteristics affect the contribution of nutrients to thermokarst lakes. Watersheds influence the water quality of aquatic ecosystems.…
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the Affiliated 5 hit the top 10
Today the “affiliated five” group (Scott, Michelle, Mike, Heather & Kami) went on a nearly 300km journey by boat with Captain Zimov. We headed south on the Kolyma, and then up the little Anui tributary and back down the big Anui before heading home again to the Science Station.…
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Meet the Stream Team!
Even though we’ve only been here for a few days, our projects are already underway. The Stream Team (Erin, Kate, and Travis) is continuing work from last summer’s progress towards understanding nutrient and carbon processing in small streams in the area.…
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Team 005
Today has been a day of all different types of excitement for Team 005 who’ll be working will Bill Sobczak (Cassandra, Melissa and myself). After some really productive time spent with the PIs yesterday, everyone has begun closing in on their project for the coming weeks.…
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10 reasons you know you are living in an Arctic science station…
10 reasons you know you are living in an Arctic science station 1) Instead of band posters decorating the walls, there is satellite imagery of the area. 2) The fish tank is filled with species caught from the river we’re living on.…
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From the Barge:
Five days of traveling, 27+ hours on five planes, and a night with no nighttime finds us on day two in Cherskii! Going into the project I anticipated the amazing research and field experience that I would gain, and trust me I have in no way been disappointed, but already
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Swimming in the Arctic
Four flights, five days, and sixteen time zones later, we have finally arrived at our barge home. Although it was fun to explore Yakutsk and Moscow, I am relieved that I won’t have to pack again for twenty days. The barge is comfortably compact and provides stunning views of the
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Almost there…
As other people have posted, a defining fact of our lives right now is that my computer clock says 6:45 AM and my wristwatch says 9:47 PM (who even knows where those extra two minutes went). Everything has been sort of surreal due to countless hours of flying and sleep
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First Impressions of Russia
We’ve just landed in Yakutsk and have made it through fourteen of the sixteen time zones that we’ll be crossing. Even with all of the jet lag and time spent waiting in the airport, the trip has already amazed me. I should explain that, in addition to majoring in Biology
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Privyet!
We’ve successfully made it to Yakutsk! Right now, Andrew, Sudeep, John, Kate B, Polaris Alum Anya (2008), and I are sitting in the third floor lobby of our hotel, all on our laptops, trying to determine how long our internet will last (150 Mb limit). …
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Seattle to Moscow
Our first full day in Russia! We arrived last night after 15 hours on planes, first from Seattle to Washington DC, then on to Moscow. The road that led us away from the airport gave us our first taste of the Russian countryside.…
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Greetings from Moscow!
Happy Independence Day from Moscow! We arrived safely; no bags lost, no injuries, and no deportation! A good trip by any standards – so far. In order to stave off jetlag we skipped sleeping and explored Red Square, the of the city of home of world famous landmarks like the
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Glad to be back!
At last, we have returned to the land of mullets, track suits, and buttery food. It is good to be back. Currently, we four returning students are lounging in a room on the third floor of a hotel-like structure on the outskirts of Moscow.…
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More friends! Friends of friends.
The Polaris project is off to Moscow – in the air for a mere 14 hours. Until the next update happens you can amuse yourself by getting us more friends – on facebook. Please become a fan of the Polaris Project on facebook if you aren’t already.…
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On the way…
Seven of us are now sitting in Dulles Airport, having traveled from Boston earlier today. Over the next few hours, our group will grow to 25 people (hopefully!), and at 4:50 pm we’ll depart together for Moscow. We’ll arrive in Moscow at 11 am on Saturday, Aug.…
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