Hello everyone my name is Claire and this is Boyd. Hi. Claire traveled to Siberia with the research team and Boyd went the summer before and both of us had awesome but unique experiences on the Kolyma. While Boyd looked at thermokarst lake drainage using a dendroclimatological model, Claire has coupled satellite imagery and river measurements of CDOM (Colored Dissolved Organic Matter) to map the distribution of CDOM along the Kolyma and its tributaries over the past 10 years.
Both of us are traveling up to Toolik Field Station in Northern Alaska to continue our Arctic research interests! Claire is beginning a Ph.D program at the University of Texas – Marine Science Institute and will be helping collect DOC measurements in small streams near the Toolik Field Station. Her research team is looking at the seasonality of biogeochemistry in Arctic headwater streams. She’s going to be there from May 25th to June 15th. She wishes she was there longer! (Boyd will be there from May 25th to August 5th).
Boyd is working for the USGS this summer as a Field Assistant and Physical Technician under the Arctic LTER (Long-term Ecological Research) collaborative project. He will be helping collect soil moisture, surface roughness, stable isotope data in freshwater pools, and species distribution in the Anaktuvuk River Fire burn scar, the largest tundra burn in recorded history that took place on the North Slope in 2007. He will also be collecting data for his Master’s Thesis next year. Both Boyd and Claire get to ride up together in the NSF truck on a 10-hour ride on the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Toolik!!!!! Clark unite!
We will keep all of you updated on our travels and the research we are conducting whilst in Alaska. We want to congratulate all of the new students on their admission into the Polaris Project – it is such an AMAZING opportunity and we guarantee you will have a great experience. We wish you the best of luck and if you have any questions please contact us!
Boyd Zapatka – Clark University ’10
Claire Griffin – Clark University ’10
