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3/23/2008 *Ok, let’s start with a polar science riddle to solve. * Everyone learns (when they are very young) that you expect to see snow at the tops of mountains and at the far northern and southern ends of the Earth. In my 9th grade class I teach that snowfall generally increases with latitude

3/9/2008 Most of Alaska is still undeveloped, roadless wilderness and the only way to get to many of the villages is by small plane. Since my flight home (on the big commercial jet) was not until 5pm, I asked about chartering a small plane to go on a photo flight in the morning. Two other

Welcome everyone, to round two of my journaling for my Bering Sea research trip. Last year I also had a Polartrec journal, in order to communicate with friends, family and the 6th graders that I worked with at Nooksack Valley Middle School in Everson, WA. You can even read those previous journal

We are on our way into Dutch Harbor. The winds have been blowing consistently out of the north for the duration of our trip. This creates the polynya (area of open water and thin ice) in the leeward sides of the islands and peninsula. The ice is dynamic - it flows with the wind direction much like a

March 23, 2008 – Farewell to Fairbanks I’ve had a little time to recover after the training in Fairbanks and thought I would share a few more sights and sounds from the "Last Frontier”! During a lunch break, the group went to a nearby Dog Mushing club to watch skiers race behind dogs. At the end of

Let me start by apologizing. I really meant to write this journal entry sooner but I have been swamped since I got back to school. I think the best thing for me to do is to pick up where I left off on my last journal entry. In case you have forgotten...I was having a blast in Alaska! We continued to

Reflecting back on the last couple days of my PolarTREC orientation in Alaska brings many smiles. During those final days, we all worked through any remaining technology "glitches" and practiced posting journals, images, and audio clips to the PolarTREC webpage. We also attended a workshop entitled

Wow! Lobsters in the Bering Sea! Who would have known that we would come across a relative to the Maine Lobster on the Healy! And Angus cattle! Actually, it is Easter Sunday, so the Coast Guard opened up the rations and found some steak and lobster for dinner. A great meal was had by all of the

We were within sight of St Matthew Island yesterday. Tony Fishbach, USGS biologist with the Alaska Science Center, wanted one more shot at tagging a walrus in the polynya south of St Matthew. He had a tag that he wanted to place in the southern end of the Bering Sea Ecosystem study area. Lee Cooper

Bingo! Researcher Jim Lovvorn of the University of Wyoming saw two Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fisheri) flying low to the Northeast. I was with Dr. Lovvorn in a Bell Ranger helicopter flying on a Spectacled Eider survey south of St. Lawrence Island in the north Bering Sea on Wednesday, March 19