Workin' Hard

I got some good news the other day, I was accepted into the IPY-ROAM project and will be traveling to Argentina and Antarctica over winter break for three weeks. I am so excited, and I have been racking my brain to think of some good projects to research. I think the environments I will be working in, both the Arctic and Antarctic are paramount in global ecology and I can't wait to dive right in. I will need to get a passport and vaccinations. I'm not sure which ones yet, but there is a website that describes all of that (www.ipyroam.org). A few more people in my lab will be going as well, including Santonu, Sandra and Jose (he's working on the Chihuahuan Desert project in EP right now).

I am finally beginning to get into the swing of things here. We have all been working hard in the field for 8-9 hours at a time. I am tired when we return, and usually have just enough energy to chill out an hour, shower and then I'm down for the count. We are building a wiere to measure the amount of runoff in the Tundra, which involves quite a bit of construction and sweat. We have been shoveling and ice picking and hammering and sawing. My hands were swollen and achy the other night, but I like working so hard and getting a little sore, it feels good in the "Tundra Gym." I miss climbing a lot and thought about bouldering frequently on Saturday. Perry and Dave feel the itch too, and I hope we will at least get to hit some plastic at the climbing wall in town some time. The other day Dave was staring out the window longingly and said he wanted to go climb, it was amusing and yet sad at the same time. We all manage to find ways of entertain ourselves through the hard work; Alex made a crazy snowman and I decided to give him a mossy makeover. At least I won't lose my callouses. I don't think I'll lose as much weight as I thought; we eat hearty meals all day between the cafeteria and the infamous Pepe's, and I come very close to cleaning my plate every time.

I finally got an office day and didn't have to go into the field today. Alex, Sandra, Perry, Santonu and Alex still had some work to do, so they were out in the field all day. Some work can't be completed until the snow finishes melting away. Tonight we are going to play soccer in the gym. I haven't so much as touched a soccer ball in 5 or 6 years. I'm sure I have lost all of my ball handling skills, but at least there will be good fun had by all and I can make up for the day spent sitting in the lab. We rumble at 9:00pm sharp.

The snow is melting very very fast. As the snow melts, new features materialize. An entire lake emerged where a huge field of snow lay just days ago. We have had to abandon the snowmachines to the dreary interiors of the warehouse. We will be using ATV's now, but will walk to our field sites in order to prevent chewing up or study area.

With the discrete change in scenery comes a new array of organisms. Grasses are standing tall out of the marshy areas, and I can see a sundry of lichen below the last few centimeters of snow. At the grand opening I got a free copy of a sketchbook of some of the wildflowers in the area I am hoping to utilize in the coming months as they awaken from their chilly slumber.

I got to see an arctic fox yesterday while riding on the snowmobile. It was fluffy white with a brown face, and indication that its summer coat is coming in. It was cuddled up next to a weather station and just sat there as we stared at it for a good 6 or 7 minutes. Craig cautiously drove the snowmobile a little closer to scare it away. The foxes keep chewing up the wires on the instruments, and they urinate on the foundations sometimes. I have also seen some birds, including snow buntings, some kind of sparrow and what I think is a Godwit. I am really hoping to encounter a snowy owl and some lemmings. I don't whether that whole story about lemmings following each other off cliffs is true or not; I have heard several conflicting stories and am determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Darn lemmings and their enigmatic ways!

The weather over the past couple of days has been sunny and warm. I've been slathering myself with sunblock everyday to avoid looking like Rudolph (you know, the reindeer). Speaking of reindeer, there is a variety of beef jerkey available here in Barrow. I have tried reindeer and caribou; they taste pretty good.

I will traveling to Atqasuk for a couple of days later this week, and will get to see an area with greater biodiversity. I am looking forward to it. I will also be traveling to Nome and surrounding areas later in the season; I am so delighted! I can't wait to see all of the different kinds of life and ecosystem that exists in these different areas. Maybe I'll even get to see a tree!