This past couple of days have been full of short presentations, plenary talks, and conversation. The Polaris Project is reuniting at the State of the Arctic Conference right now in Miami, FL and I’m definitely enjoying my time here.

I was able to present at a poster session regarding my research on boreal forest fire detection with radar and optical imagery and was provided some useful feedback. My research questions are very observational and exploratory so it’s nice to hear of some new methodologies and constructive suggestions on how to answer some of my biggest questions.

This is also been a great opportunity for me to meet and network with new students and scientists – the conference has set up a nice mentoring program and I’ve been able to meet several different professors in different fields of study. I’m employed by the USGS to work at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska for the summer of 2010 and it has been great reconnecting with the Polaris team and meeting with some team members on my new project. The Polaris Project was my first research experience in the Arctic and I’m excited to continue research in the Arctic and hope to stay in touch with my team, last year’s time, and future Polaris teams.