....is this your first visit to my journal? Start on Day 1! Don't worry, we'll wait till you get back
The science dorm in Utqiaġvik is full of different science teams from across the country and across the world (China!). As a PolarTREC teacher, this communal style of living has helped me improve my scientific "pick-up" lines since each day I need to find a research team to tag along with. I've found out "could you use an extra set of hands today?" works really well. Often times tasks in the field are long and repetitive – so having one more person can significantly cut down on time out in the cold.
Having 4 (vs. 3) people hiking out cuts down on the number of trips.
Today Team Vole "accepted my rose" @)---'--,--- (a cheesy Bachelor/Bachelorette reference for those of you who don't watch bad reality TV – which chances are pretty high given you read PolarTREC journals – you're too smart for that stuff!). This team is funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) and consists of a collaboration of five different universities – I worked with the trapping team from University of New Hampshire. The team is studying how lemmings will impact tundra vegetation and permafrost thaw – do lemmings speed things up or slow things down? A piece of this also includes changes in impact based on population numbers (lemming populations cycle). The official way to say all of this is "We are studying how lemmings will impact the carbon and nutrient cycle – will they mitigate or exacerbate climate change impacts?" This question emerged because scientists were seeing changes to Arctic vegetation in satellites images – greening and browning – and they were curious as to what was happening on the ground to make this happen. One hypothesis is the changing lemming populations.
Today we worked on the other end of the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO).
Lemming tunnels in the tundra.
Since it is the end of the season, our morning involved taking down all the traps in the "open" grid the team has been studying. Since it does not have a fence (closed grid where you can add lemmings or take them away), lemming populations in this grid are natural. Every couple of feet or so there was a flag marking the grid (ex. E13), two dowels holding down a small piece of roof tar paper, and a small metal trap with peanut butter bait and cotton nests.
The orange flags mark the area of study and where traps are located.
Me cleaning bait out of lemming trap.
When the experiment is up and running, the team will walk the traps at three different sites three times a day – morning, late afternoon, and middle of the night. When a lemming is caught, it is identified through a RFID chip, weighted, and sexted. If it is "new," hair and tissue samples are taken and a chip is inserted.
Team Vole recording data from captured lemmings before they are released.
The work was hard and tiring – but I feel like I made their day a little easier. I loved being out in the tundra.
Final Assessment: lemmings are super adorable – small with big whiskers. With all animals, you have to handle them with care to be respectful – and they do bite. Trying to catch them with your hands is possible, but you have to scurry around and dive (aka the lemming dance). It is a fun but muddy exercise!
Me with a lemming!
Look at those whiskers! (on the lemming, not me – hopefully!)
Further Reading
Want to know more? Check out reporting from the Anchorage Daily News on permafrost and lemmings.
Today's 360 Image.
Check out me with Team Vole collecting data!
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