Sun's rays hit the Brooks Range early in the morning
Weather and climate are easy terms to get confused. Both describe atmospheric conditions that affect our lives. Climate, however, describes…
Our desitnation. The fossil bed we were looking for is to the left of the river in the distance where the near-black hill obscures the river.
Kelvin and I were cold, but we had a great time! I…
We've had beautiful weather the past few days and the Brooks Range that borders camp can be easily viewed.
We have some mammals in camp that I've finally managed to get some videos and pictures of…
View from my WeatherPort in the morning after a heavy storm the day before.
The most apparent form of life on the North Slope are plants. When I look across the tundra from my WeatherPort, most…
Muskox, like cows, eat plants. They can thank their strong muscles to tiny bacteria and roots in the ground!
In the lab, we've spent the past couple days sorting plant matter from the plots we…
Making headway
Today was lovingly referred to as a "plucking" day. In the previous journal entry I described how we hiked to a research site and removed a square meter of brush and tundra turf…
Alder and other plants are harvested inside the one meter by one meter quadrant.
Today was my first day of harvest at our research site, known as Sag 1. This site is next to the Sagwon River…
Dr. Bret-Harte and Emily Reast measure the size of a research site
Today we drove to a site located about two hours outside of the Toolik field station to establish plots for study. The plots…
Smoky Drive
I finally made it to the Toolik field station. It was a long day of travel with very heavy smoke from nearby fires. No other traveler accompanied me on the trip, so it was only…
I finished the first leg of my journey to Toolik today. I flew from Orange County in Southern California to Seattle, Washington, and then to Fairbanks, Alaska. I was concerned about making it to my…
Apocalypse Packing Completed
I'm done! Well, almost. I still need to pack my carry on. But, with only two large bags and a backpack, I'm feeling pretty good about this. Now, some of you may…
Rooms with a View
"Too-what?" is the usual response I get when I begin explaining where I'll be traveling to for my PolarTREC expedition. My expedition, now only eight days away, will take me to…
