A week ago I drove away from Toolik, down the Dalton Highway, back to Fairbanks and eventually traveled back home. My co-pilot slept almost the entire time so I had 8.5 hours to reflect on the…
Just because the pluck is over doesn't mean that there isn't work to do! On Saturday we headed to the Sagwon site 90 miles North of Toolik. Driving on the Dalton Highway is always an experience and…
What an incredible few weeks I have had! The pluck ended earlier this week after eight days of carefully removing plants from earth. Eight days and fourteen people sitting around a table working from…
Plucking is hard work! It requires attention to detail and long hours. Today is day eight of the work. We have worked nonstop since last Monday, somedays even until 10:30-11:00 at night. Plant…
It has been a busy week in the field! We have started the pluck. The pluck. Our team has been preparing for this but I really had no idea the complexity of the actual "pluck." The first step to the…
One of the amazing things (there are many!) about being at Toolik is that there are several projects happening here during the summer. The field site is packed with teams of researchers, their…
Dr. Bret-Harte has two sites at Toolik that were part of her initial 2006 experiment. Yesterday she and I visited the Riparian Snowfence Site. The second site is down the road, about a mile or so,…
July 25, 2018. Today I was able to join Dr. Bret-Harte in the field to mark the specific quadrat locations of the sites that we will be "plucking," or collecting, next week.
The Tussock Snowfence…
5:45 AM. That was the time I checked in to the Dalton Highway Express office. I was exhausted. I had gone to bed the night before at a reasonable hour, but woke at 2:35 to an earthquake. It was minor…
Today was my day to get everything done before leaving for the field tomorrow at the crack of dawn. I ran around, gathering my gear, shipping extra stuff I don't think I will need home, and shopping…
Yesterday I took the train from Denali up to Fairbanks. Typically the trek takes about four hours as the train lumbers through the landscape. I was amazed to see some moose, trumpeter swans, sandhill…
Sitting here in Denali, enjoying hot showers and laundry, I am anxious for my time in the field. I am not anxious for the work, rather I am anxious about the water. Toolik has strict restrictions in…
