Field Notes
During, before, and after the field course, Polaris students and faculty share their thoughts through journal entries.
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Fog on the Panteleikha, 2am on July 19
Watching the Panteleikha River fill with fog was one of the finest things I’ve seen.…
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Duvannyi Yar Recap
“I’ve got some good news: we’re going to Duvannyi Yar tomorrow!” That’s how John informed us of our imminent departure for one of the most famous sites we visit on this trip. None of us knew quite what we would find.…
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From 68 31’N and 161 02’E and heading N at 8 km/hr.
We have some time to do limited lab work (and even a semi-mobile internet connection) while we are en route to Cherskiy. Here is our current position. Chris Linder works on photos and Sudeep Chandra does some water quality analysis for lakes sampled at Duvannyi Yar.…
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Still steaming back to Cherski…
Still steaming back to Cherskiy – students are pensive and trying to absorb their experience walking through the Pleistocene. /ab #fb…
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Heading back Cherskiy from Duv…
Heading back Cherskiy from Duvannyi Yar. We did some good science, got loads of data, and found mammoth bones. More to follow. /js #fb…
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We have arrived at Duvannyi Ya…
We have arrived at Duvannyi Yar – a site few scientists have seen. The permafrost exposure with megafaunal remains is spectacular. /ab #fb…
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Onward to Duvannyi Yar
A lot has happened since last time I blogged. As a group we have started to narrow down our research topics and have formed small ‘teams’ of specific topics. Since my research topic is looking at the variation in water chemistry of the whole Kolyma watershed (from the source water
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My Bear Grylls Experience
Hi everyone. A lot of what I’ve been doing related to the permafrost soil has been the same (digging profiles and processing samples), but I’d like to quickly recount how I built my first warming fire in the Siberian Arctic- Bear Grylls style.…
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Snow in July and Pie for Breakfast
I woke up this morning to Erin standing shivering in our room, “It’s so freaking cold.” Five minutes later we stared out the window as snow swirled by (in sizeable chunks). We immediately thought of our other two roommates who had woken up this morning to go out in the
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BGAN from the barge
Some of asked us how our communiques are getting out from our remote position. The answer is that we are using a satellite-based Internet antenna. We point it south and can beam messages off. It’s remarkable really. With that and a spotty connection at the station we are enjoying much
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Rivers and Lakes from Space!
I’m the resident student geographer on the barge, so my background and project are a little different than the majority of the ecologists here at the Northeast Science Station. Water is a huge part of the Arctic and the landscape is covered with streams, rivers, lakes and ponds.…
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From Peat to Pittsburgh
When I started this post it had been a while since anybody wrote. Then I got distracted and things changed. But I guess this is still relevant, so here’s what I have to say. It’s been a very busy few days.…
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Succes in the lab! But…
The plague of the Hebrews has struck the barge. Ok, I may be exaggerating a little bit. Not quite a biblical plague, but a mere cold/flu outbreak has reached the team here. Several PI’s and students have come down with some unpleasant symptoms but luckily for the rest of the
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Optimism…
Most of the Polaris Project participants have probably heard me say how seeing the airplane that we take from Yakutsk to Cherskiy immediately separates the optimists from the pessimists. A pessimist would look at the age and condition of the plane and question whether it could possibly complete another flight. …
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