Final Thoughts

The last few days have been a blur of flights and layovers. Chris, Frida, Dr. Townsend-Small, and I left Barrow around 12:00 on Friday. From Barrow we flew to Anchorage and we all ate at Humpies in the airport. Dr. Townsend-Small left before all of us, to go back to Cincinnati. Frida, Chris, and I all had a few hours before our flight, Frida and I left before Chris around 9:30. We had a long flight to Atlanta and then, finally, to Cincinnati. This past Thursday I helped with the workshop Dr. Eisner and Dr. Cuomo put on. Their presentation was really eye opening, they had interviewed many of the elders in the villages of the North Slope Borough. These have witnessed climate change first-hand on the tundra. Their interviews perfectly showed how the people have seen their home changing, I learned a lot from their presentation and I hope the people who attended did also. The workshop was a great way of showing the public all the work the scientists are doing and how important it is. I hope their work can continue and something is done about the arctic changing before these people lose the life they know now. It was an amazing three weeks, and I think it the work I did was the most valuable learning experience I've had. The professors I worked with and the students taught me so much and it has really shaped my plans for the future. I'll miss Barrow and all the people I met, the area really has opened my eyes.

Day 18 Finishing the Field Work

Today we wrapped things up in Freshwater Lake. I took Frida out and we got her instrument into the boat, then we took our last flux measurements of the trip. After Frida and I got ashore, we said our tearful goodbyes and Frida threw the sampling equipment in the dumpster. After that we came back to the male hut for lunch. It wasn't too long before we had another task, Dr. Eisner and Dr. Cuomo needed a certificate to present to a woman who helped them with their project. The certificate is going to Lollie Hopson who translated and helped their project in many ways. The certificate will be presented at the work shop tonight. Chris made the certificate and it turned out very nice. Then Dr. Townsend-Small, Frida, and I went back to their hut; where I made cupcakes for Dr. Eisner's belated birthday celebration. When the cupcakes were finished, we went over to the theater to unload more of our gear. The gear has been taken care of, for the most part, and now we just have to pack a few more things up. This project is coming to its end this year, and so is the group from University of Texas El Paso. Their project leader, Dr. Tweedie, and Dr, Hinkel planned a get-together to celebrate the end of the projects. That's concluded another great day in Barrow.

Day 17 Polar Plunge

Today we did more of the same. Frida went out to the lake twice, Chris took her out the first time and I took her out the second time. The lake was smooth and the sampling went easily. Dr. Cuomo attended a funeral for one of the men she interviewed for her project. It seemed like the whole town showed up for the processions, that closeness within the whole town is something many places don't have. I'm very envious of that camaraderie, and it is one of the things I love about Barrow. After we had finished the work on Freshwater Lake, we mailed some gear back to Cincinnati. Then, when we had finished the work, it was time to take part in a tradition. The Polar Bear Plunge. The rules are that a person must run out into the Arctic Ocean and completely submerge their body twice. Frida, Chris, and I all did it and we are all now part of the Polar Bear Club. Today was a very fun, but cold, day.

A perfect day for the beach! It was snowing just a little bit earlier.

Day 16 More Work in Barrow

We began the work that we need to do before we leave Barrow. We woke up and had breakfast, someone posted to their blog, and then we headed over to the theater. All of the samples must be wrapped and packed, there are a lot of samples so that will take a while. Then Dr. Townsend-Small, Frida, and I went to the airport to pick up John Lenters. John is doing similar work, but he is doing a more intensive study of some of the lakes. After we picked up John, we all drove to Freshwater Lake. Frida and I went out on the raft to take more samples for her project. The lake was a little more calm today, so things went smoother. We went back to the theater to help pack some more. The cruise ship has left and things have returned to normal in Barrow. We met up with some other scientists in the project, Dr. Eisner, who married to Dr. Hinkel, and Dr. Cuomo. Their part of the project is interviewing elders to get a glimpse into how they've seen their home changing due to climate change. Dr. Eisner and Dr. Cuomo are giving a presentation on Thursday about their findings. It will be interesting to see what the people of this area think about what's happening to their land. I also hope to see people express their opinion on Shell drilling the area. From what I've heard it's evenly split between "Drill, baby, drill!" and "Get the Shell out of here!" It'll will be interesting to see how it plays out.

"Shell no."- Dr.Townsend-Small

Day 15 Back in Barrow

We woke up early yesterday to pack things up and drop them off at the tarmac.  Of course the plane wasn't on time and we had our stuff out there for a while. The plane finally left Atqasuk, two hours late. We arrived in Barrow and dropped all of our gear at our huts. The smell of rotting meat is still here, and our neighbors still want nothing to do with us. Home sweet home. The rest of the day was pretty easy, Frida and I went to Freshwater Lake to take measurements. Frida is taking these measurements as part a project she's started. She's taking gas measurements to observe methane content of the lakes over time. We do this by placing floating chambers on the surface of the water and extracting the air inside to use for the samples. Frida and I got soaked on the choppy lake, the raft isn't the best with dealing with waves. We went back to our huts and got warm again and then went out for dinner. We went to the "Top of the World Hotel" (Barrow isn't the top of the world in any regards.) The food was the cheapest we've had and the Cheeseburgers aren't bad. In other news, a cruise ship was outside of Barrow yesterday. Ships are able to come through this area for the first time, since the sea ice isn't blocking their path. This brings up and interesting debate on whether this type of over-consumption is what broke up the sea ice. Anyway, the tourists are funny to watch.

The cruise ship. They were shuttling tourists ashore, who would then stand around wondering what to do in Barrow. Not much.

Day 14 Wrapping Things up in Atqasuk

We are getting near the end of our stay in Atqasuk. Today was spent wrapping things up, the instruments were pulled in and we took our final samples were taken. We went to another lake and and took samples. We also took samples from the town's freshwater lake, these were the last samples we took. Jim cooked us dinner, which was a pasta dish with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and crab meat. Tomorrow we'll be leaving for Barrow for a few days, and then we'll go home on the 21st.

Day 13 Rainy Day in Atqasuk

The runway was too wet to fly today, so we couldn't do much work. We did go to the freshwater lake to take gas samples, the wind was causing a lot of waves so we couldn't take good samples. Since there was no work to be done, this gave us an excuse to fish. We went to a little stream that was a foot across at parts, to fish for Arctic Grayling. These fish live in small, cold streams and they have very limited food. That means they'll eat anything. We kept eight fish, and cooked them with onions, peppers, and garlic. This was paired with Mac N' Cheese, and it all made for a very good dinner.

A Grayling

The stream we fished

The fish we prepared.