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Wow! Talk about a busy day. Today began with a lot of interesting information about photography and taking good pictures for journaling. Teacher Bill Schmoker gave us some excellent tips about taking good photos to tell a story. Have you ever thought about being a photographer or using photographs

Today was focused mainly on creating journals for the PolarTREC web site. I am really impressed with the ability of this year's PolarTREC teachers. I strongly encourage you to check out all of this year's participants. In particular, there are two PolarTREC teachers preparing to go out to the field

Quite the mix in the title, but please read on....... PolarTREC researcher Elizabeth Webb spent about an hour today with the PolarTRECers. She explained the importance of the tundra as a planetary carbon sink and that the impact of global warming on the tundra is worth studying, as increased

Fuzzy on the outside cold in the middle...... What is cute furry curled up and can fit into two hands? A hibernating Arctic ground squirrel is the answer! At the University of Alaska Museum of the North they have a hibernation chamber where you can learn about bears to wood frogs hibernating

Operation IceBridge, a six year mission to map the polar ice with unprecedented accuracy, flies missions year round. Coincidentally, they were in Fairbanks flying missions into the Arctic Ocean at the same time I am here training with PolarTREC (the organization that pairs teachers with polar

This week I'm in Fairbanks for my PolarTREC orientation, which has been a great experience so far. I'm meeting other teachers from around the country who are going to the ends of the earth to do cutting-edge science. PolarTREC alumni are here too, to help us get ready for our expeditions. Last night

Change of Perspective I did manage to take my dog out for a short ski behind the house this evening between returning from day 2 of orientation and starting on the evening's work. Although my dog Tarka is too smart to pull me skijoring, I take her harness along in case I needed to secure her to

The Water Cycle on Ice Tonight a small group of us headed out to see the ice sculptures at the Fairbanks Ice Park. As a kid, my only experiences with ice sculptures had been at weddings, hotels, etc. NOTHING like this! Tonight I witnessed a stunning union of creativity and high-precision

Off to a delayed start. Meeting new people. Talking on a microphone. Staying awake after along day of travel. Fairbanks has a downtown that seems like it was forgotten as the city spread out many years ago. Cold and lightly snowing is the norm thus far. If the clouds break tonight we may have a

Orientation Day #2: Meeting My Researcher and Adventures With Ice## As I sat down at a table with a fellow PolarTREC teacher for breakfast this morning, I heard, “Alicia Gillean?” from the table next to me. The scientist I will be working with in Toolik, Dr. Cory Williams, arrived in Fairbanks