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.