While in downtown Rovaniemi yesterday, I spent time at the Arktikum, Finnish Lapland's Museum and Arctic Science Center.
The architecture of the exhibit building itself was really unusual. I…
I was able to go on a ramble today to learn a little about Rovaniemi itself. Rovaniemi sits on the southern edge of Lapland about 8 km (5 miles) south of the Arctic Circle. It has a population of…
Today we continued running mixed gas samples through the gas chromatograph (GC). We finished analyzing for carbon dioxide by early afternoon, which meant we could switch the machine over to…
I am continuing the explanation from yesterday's journal post about how a gas chromatograph works to help you determine what specific type of gas molecules (carbon dioxide or methane, for example)…
Yesterday Kim and I drove six hours south to Rovaniemi. This small city is just a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. In fact, Santa Claus Village straddles the Arctic Circle, and all Finns…
I recently had the opportunity to hike in the Kevo Strict Nature Reserve, which is only a few kilometers from the research station.
The sign is in Finnish, Sami, and English.
Strict Nature…
Once a week we are also taking soil samples at the Petsikko wetlands. Kim will later analyze both the DNA and the RNA in each sample. The DNA will provide information about exactly what species of…
Kevo Subarctic Research Station itself is a really nice facility. I feel very fortunate to be staying here. I thought I would take you on a brief photo tour of some of the "highlights" of the…
Kim and I had a good laugh today when talking about "the Pokey Stick." The Pokey Stick is more accurately known as a thaw depth probe. When Kim writes up her work, she will be using "thaw depth…
Today was a no-work day, so because Kim's sister (visiting from Texas) had never seen a fjord, we headed over to the nearest one in Norway. We drove a little bit north and a long way east. The head…
In northern Finland and Norway (Lapland in general), there are sometimes massive outbreaks of autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) infestations. The primary food source of the larval moth is…
Kim invited me to join her in the lab to prepare for the field. She said: "it's pretty boring, but it has to be done!"
Sealing Samples for the Long Term
The gas samples already taken are in sealed…
