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Archive for July, 2008


And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

NOATAK RIVER, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- Long, hot days on the river. We finished the sampling a couple days ago, and yesterday boated the remainder of the Nimiuktuk River, eventually reaching the confluence with the Noatak River. With our precious science bounty aboard... {Read More »}



Mysterious Ground Ice Feature

TOOLIK FIELD STATION, ALASKA– Earlier this summer, my friends and I encountered a curious ice feature north of Toolik Lake near the Kuparuk River. Since the ice feature occurs at a familiar site, we knew it was newly exposed ice. So, we set out to learn just what this feature is and how it formed... {Read More »}



Snow Oxidants

SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND-- Dave Tanner from Georgia Tech works on a project measuring various chemical species in the snow and in the air at Summit. It is a long way from Georgia up at Summit, but luckily Dave enjoys his work... {Read More »}



Ideas Crystallize

NIMIUKTUK RIVER SANDBAR, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- Another solid day of sampling and mosquitoes. We are sampling areas documented in repeated photographs over time that show both expanding shrub patches and stagnant shrub patches... {Read More »}



Facing the Glacier

ILULISSAT, GREENLAND-- Lisa and I had just flown into the tiny Ilulissat airport and were told we were catching a helicopter ride that afternoon to… {Read More »}



In Pusuit of Sour Dock

QUINHAGAK, ALASKA-- After my final ethnobotany lecture, I offered to help Cecilia, a co-teacher and Yup’ik elder, collect sour dock leaves. Sour dock (Rumex arcticus) is a perennial herb native to Alaska... {Read More »}



Take Me to the River, Drop Me in the Water

NIMIUKTUK RIVER SANDBAR, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- If only it were that easy! Yesterday we made the strenuous portage from the lake where we were dropped to Seagull Creek, where the boating commenced... {Read More »}



Diamond Hunters Stole Our Helicopter!

KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND-- A Canadian resource exploration company, Hudson Resources Inc., has been searching for diamonds in Greenland for years. Unfortunately, they found some not far from Kangerlussuaq. This is a big problem for scientists... {Read More »}



Putting the Green Back in Greenland

KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND-- There are two theories about how Greenland was named, both having to do with the 10th century Vikings who first christened this gigantic Arctic island. One is that Erik the Red, having been banished from Iceland because of his murderous ways... {Read More »}



Science Under the Midnight Sun

UNNAMED LAKE, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- For two consecutive days we have hiked several miles to the sample locations, where we have worked all day before returning at 11:30 PM. The mosquitoes are ferocious, and only the screen tent has spared our sanity... {Read More »}