27 March 2013 Science Below Zero

Sixteen new PolarTREC teachers are off to a great start! There are two teachers heading to the Arctic in a few days.

Carbon Measurements on the TundraA treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation such as lichens, mosses, and stunted shrubs.

Tom Lane will be measuring Carbon in the tundra of Healy, Alaska. His blog is at CarbonBalance. His researcher Elizabeth Webb brought some of the instrumentation they will be using to our class today. We measured carbon that was buried beneath the snowpack in the hotel parking lot. It was cold morning at -15°F.

Operation Ice Bridge

Mark Buesing will be flying across the Greenland ice sheet with NASA's Operation IceBridge team. Follow him at IceBridge

Arctic Ground Squirrels

As the teachers are preparing, we are also learning some new science. Tuesday we learned about Arctic Ground Squirrels. Alicia Gillean will be studying arctic ground squirrels in May at Toolik Station in Alaska. Her blog is at Arctic_Ground_Squirrel. Her researcher, Cory Williams, came to Fairbanks to teach us about their work with the ground squirrels. He and a colleague brought a hibernating ground squirrel to share with us. As we passed the squirrel around we noticed how cool it felt. It never woke up despite everyone passing the ground squirrel around.

Dr. Williams and his team will be studying the hibernation cycle of the arctic ground squirrel at 2 different sites near the Toolik station.

Rocking PolarTREC Orientation

As an alumni teacher, I have been working with other alumni teachers to help prepare our new teachers for the field. One of our alumni teachers, Alex Eilers, from Memphis brought us all Elvis glasses so that we could enjoy a little of Memphis in Fairbanks.