Our class mascot, SloMo and I have arrived back home to Texas. The last month has been such an incredible experience. I learned so much about phenology, plants, and ecosystems, but mostly how science…
How do we assess vegetation health in the Tundra?
Using the LI-COR machine to assess photosynthesis
Watch the video below to learn all about NDVI and a LI-COR machine.
Ground Squirrels can be spotted everywhere around Toolik Field Station on a daily basis. They come across our path as we walk to the lab, or the run across the boardwalk as we head out to the plots…
My last week in the Arctic has begun! Although I am sad, the team keeps me busy and I try to help out with whatever I can.
Jeremy May at the Imnavait Tram Site
Over the last few days we have…
Permafrost is permanently frozen soil and you can find it underneath the entire North Slope of Alaska. It can be about 90-600 meters thick here, but near Toolik lake it is 200 meters thick.…
Toolik Lake is a kettle lake, which means it was formed by the melting of large blocks of buried glacier ice. It is 1.5km2 and at its deepest it is 25 meters.
Two Food Webs
Benthic
The benthic…
Most caribou are further north, where they can raise their young away from the constant buzzing and biting of mosquitoes, but if we are lucky, we can spot a few lone caribou near Toolik.
Caribou at…
The weather was beautiful so we did our best to finish field work early and took a trip in the afternoon south on the Dalton Highway. We drove over Anaktuvuk Pass out of the tundra and into the…
Snowy Tundra in Barrow, Alaska
The short answer is... we aren't entirely sure and people are still arguing about it.
What we do know is Alaska's northern tree line follows the 10 degree C limit of…
I had the opportunity to go out into the field with the vole researchers at Toolik Field Station. They go out three times a day to check the status of the traps they have laid out over a grid. One by…
We went looking for muskox and we were not disappointed. These guys were hanging out along the Dalton Highway, eating away at the grass and willows, totally unphased by us taking pictures and video…
