Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 10:04
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High Arctic Change 09

Good Luck, Mike. You will have the time of your life. You probably are doing some of that training with the gun right now with other orientation stuff in Longyearbyn. Have Laura P email me. Have fun. Bob Oddo

Sun, 07/19/2009 - 11:01

Mike Rhinard

Hello Bob!  Thanks for checking in with us.
We're off to a somewhat slow start with our project - and me with my journaling/photo posting - but WOW! are we taking in some very exciting science.
Julie & Ross, our PI's, held a couple of classroom talks with the REU students, and me, both at UNIS while in Longyearbyen, and here at Ny Alesund.  We were lucky to have a colleaugue of theirs from Univ. of Bergen, Yngve Kristoffersen, here for a couple of days.  He came in and gave a short talk and powerpoint to us about his project measuring arctic sea ice and ice floes.  But with a cool twist.  He's got a hovercraft that takes him out there.  He says he doesn't know why anyone uses an ice breaker after using the hovercraft.  Part of the REU students, including Laura P, got to look at the hovercraft and talk with him about it.
OK, that's not the best part.  . . .   He did a program where he took Norwegian HS students out with him.  Imagine being in HS and going out, almost to the north pole, in a hovercraft over the sea ice.
There are more stories.  I'll stop telling individuals and get some of this on the journal page.
I'm actually kind of glad the fjord has been too rough for us to go out.  A great chance for me to get caught up.  At least for a little while.  We've been on stimulus overload since arriving.  It's incredible.
I'll pass on your message to Laura P.  (We have a Laura P and a Laura K in our group.)
Thanks for checking in Bob.  Great to hear from you.