Today I got to know Lewis Brower. Lewis is officially the station manager of the Barrow Arctic Research Center (BASC). His job is to oversee all BASC's operations, make sure that everything runs smoothly, and ensure the safety of all the researchers. Lewis was one of the first people I met when I arrived to Barrow the first time but I had never really gotten to know him. I knew he was in charge and he talked about safety for a few minutes before heading off to something else. He sounded like a flight attendant preparing for take off: Dress for changing weather because it changes instantly here. Do not lock doors because of bears. Do not go to the Point alone because there are bears. Make sure you always have a radio and a bear guard or issues shot gun in the field. Stay with your research team. Let me know if you need anything...of course I hadn't seen any bears on the North Slope since getting here so
Today he came into the lab and we talked for a bit. I learned that Lewis is so cool! He's a very important person in town. Beside managing BASC, he's a whaling caption and works with the volunteer search and rescue team. Lewis can tell a story too and make you want to hear more.
He told me about growing up on the North Slope and how both Barrow and the Slope have changed over the last fifty years. Barrow had trucks and electricity before plumbing. Electric lighting came about fifty years ago and plumbing came in 1987! Plumbing here is quite an engineering feat because the pipes have to be heated so they do not freeze and then they have to be insulated so they do not cause the surrounding permafrost to thaw. The amount of energy and money required to flush a toilet astounding. Until plumbing, people used honey buckets that were emptied daily. It's amazing to think that the conversion to indoor plumbing occurred in my lifetime!
When Lewis was a kid he loved to play in the snow with his friends. They'd get a piece of wood and attach a sheet to it like a sail and then sail down the snow-covered road in blizzardy white-outs! He's been hunting and whaling his whole life. Now here's a whaling captain and whaling is one of his favorite things in the world...
Lewis asked me if I wanted to go to Cooper Island to meet a researcher who's studying birds. He has to drop off some supplies. Obviously, I jumped at the chance. So tomorrow I'm going to go into the Arctic Ocean!
Oh, and about all those polar bears Lewis spoke off on my first day here...we saw one tonight out on the BEO (Barrow Environmental ObservatoryA location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events.)!
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