Blizzard!

Today I will start my long journey back home. It has been an amazing trip. I've learned so much, met great people, and had wonderful, new experiences. I finally got to have a conference with my students Monday morning. It was great to hear their voices and show them around the CNSC! Our team was very glad that all of our outside field work was complete on Sunday because before dawn Monday, a blizzard blew in...50mph winds and wind chills more than -50! We did go outside to take our group photo. Most of us were completely covered up, so you can't see everyone's face. But, we all recognize each other by our outdoor gear after 7 days in the field together. One more fun picture before I finish my blog...I tried to show the students this morning on our tour, but they couldn't really see it clearly. There is a hallway that joins the classroom/lab/dining area to the dormitory. This hallway is not heated, and when we first arrived we'd run down it because it was so cold! It is suitably named the Arctic Hallway. These signs are posted at each end of it.

Student Challenge:

I am very excited to be back with you all soon. I've enjoyed reading all your comments and questions that you've posted to the blog. I've been pleased with your responses and look forward to seeing the work you've done in your journals. I want you to begin thinking about climate change and saving energy at home. Think about how the plants and animals in the arctic would be affected by higher temperatures or longer growing seasons. For example, how would polar bears be affected if the sea ice melts too early in the spring? Write your thoughts and questions in your journal so we can talk about them when I get back.

See you soon! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom and CH!

Igloo

On Friday, we had the chance to hear a lecture about snow shelters from the CNSC Director, Mike. Afterward, we all went out to build an igloo. It was one of the coldest days we've experienced since we've been here...-40 wind chill. But, no one was deterred from this once in a lifetime opportunity! Mike found the right kind of snow in a large snow drift and demonstrated how to cut out a brick of snow. We all took turns using a saw to cut bricks from the snow. Once we collected 50 of them, we could start building the igloo. The igloo is big enough for 3-4 people to sleep in, so we've had to take turns. I joined 3 others on Saturday night for our turn to sleep in the igloo. I discovered that I am a bit claustrophobic because I didn't like sleeping beside the igloo wall. I especially did not like the tight, heavy sleeping bag around my legs. It felt like I was tied up. I had trouble falling asleep, I'd already lost an hour of sleep from Daylight Savings Time, and I knew I would have to dig 2 snow pits in the morning, so I opted to go inside to my warm bed around 2 am. I slept through breakfast, but I was glad I was rested for our last day of field work.

Day Off & Dog Sledding

Saturday was a day off for our Earthwatch team. We went into Churchill, ate lunch at a local diner called Gipsy's, and visited the Eskimo Museum. We had the opportunity to go dog sledding at Wapusk Adventures. The owner, Dave Daley, is one of the founders of the Hudson Bay Quest, a dog sledding race that will take place March 21. It was a lot of fun! The dogs were so excited and eager to pull us down the trail. I got to stand in the driver position for half of the ride, then sat in the front seat for the rest.

Polar Bears

Churchill is known as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World". Though the timing is not right for a sighting during my stay here at the Northern Studies Center, I have met some interesting researchers who see polar bears everyday. This is the time of year when moms emerge from their dens with new cubs. These guys fly out in a helicopter each day (weather permitting) to seek out mother bears with their cubs.
They spot them from the air and move in close enough to dart the mother bear. They use a special drug to paralyze the bear just long enough to gather the information they need. Each bear is given a tatoo inside its lip with a number so that they can document which bears have been counted and examined. The cubs get an ear tag with a corresponding number. Some bears are fitted with a GPS collar for tracking purposes. Depending on what type of information the researchers need, they can take a blood or hair sample from the bears. They can even determine how old a polar bear is by pulling and examining one of its teeth.

Every attempt I've made to beg or sneak onto that helicopter has failed. However, I have learned a lot from these guys, and they generously shared this amazing picture they took out in the field yesterday! Don't you want their job? I sure do!Student Challenge:

The man in the picture above is Seth, a PhD student from the University of Alberta. He studies polar bears and tracks certain ones that he has placed GPS collars on. The GPS collars send the bears' locations to a satellite every 4 hours. The signal and information is then received by the satellite company and sent to Seth by email. Three specific bears that he tracks from the Churchill area can be seen on this Polar Bear Tracking Map. Look at the biographies and tracks of Aurora, Solstice, and Hope. Click Here to learn more about polar bears and what you can do to help preserve their arctic climate.

Post a comment to explain how saving energy in your home and community can help to save wildlife.

Catching Up

Have you ever walked on frozen ocean? It was a truly amazing and awe inspiring experience!!It has been a busy few days, so I have some catching up to do on this blog! Since I last posted, I have helped dig 6 snow pits, build an igloo(and had the chance to sleep in it), gone dogsledding, visited the Eskimo Museum, walked on the frozen Hudson Bay(which was awesome as I mentioned!), and counted hundreds of needles from spruce tree branchlets. We have one more day of lab work Monday(glad we are indoors since there is a blizzard coming), then we leave on Tuesday. It has been a wonderful experience!! I've learned a lot about climate change and met some great people here in Churchill. So...read on about the science, the people, and the fun!

Field Work - Arctic Style

Though we have not had the cold temperatures that the last team had (-56degrees), today felt more like the true arctic experience! We went out to dig snow pits from 8:30 - 12:00. The actual temperature was 6 degrees F at first and dropped to 2 degrees F. With 25 mph winds, the wind chill was -15 degrees F falling to -20. That is the coldest it has been for us in the field so far...which is fine with me! You'd think we'd be sipping hot cocoa or something, but I drank a full liter of ice cold water while I was out today. I didn't want a repeat of Tuesday's dehydration!
Each day when we go out to a site, we are divided into 3 groups that dig two pits each in three areas: tundra, forest-tundra, and forest. The tundra area is the open space. It's exposure to the winds keeps the snow from piling up. Tundra snow pits are usually very shallow at around 20 cm or less.

Forest-tundra is the transition area between the forest and tundra. (I'm sure you guessed as much.) That area can have some drifts that get deep, but it can vary widely. Pits in that area have been 2-4 feet on average.

Forest snow pits can get very deep. The snow that blows across the tundra gets trapped by the trees and huge drifts form. It is very pretty to see the rise and fall of the snow drifts among the trees. Today's snow pits in the forest were some of our deepest. I was on the tundra team, but when we finished both of our pits we went to help the forest group finish their work. We measure temperature in the snow every 5 cm. Figure up how many temperatures were taken in this pit that measured 190 cm.

Student Challenge:

Think about the areas around Aberdeen (or Prairie). Can you identify three areas with different types of vegetation? Post a comment to describe the locations and their vegetation.

Definitions

Let's start with those new words I put in the last blog. (Great job by all of you who posted definitions!)

Qamatuk is a box/sled pulled behind a snowmobile. This is how we get out to our test sites where we dig snow pits. I've ridden out in them twice so far. I enjoy the view as we ride. It can be pretty bumpy, but the only bad part is smelling the gas from the snowmobile.



Zastrugi is snow that has been sculpted by wind. We see it everywhere up here, and it's really quite pretty. Many of them look like frozen waves. We were told that these snow sculptures are actually useful for navigation because they face into the wind, which is predominantly from the Northwest.

Pukak is the fine, powdery snow at the bottom of the snowpack, where small animals can burrow and live in the winter. We see it when we dig snow pits, but I don't have a picture of it. Here are some pictures of the two snow pits we did yesterday (before I got sick).

Lessons in Dehydration!

I'm not sure why, but Tuesday I did not hydrate like I'd been doing each day. I knew I should, but for some reason I kept leaving my water bottle in my room. As we finished our second snow pit I wasn't feeling well. I was getting a headache and needed water! By the time we returned to the Center, though, it was too late! I was weak, faint, and my head was pounding! I was promptly sent to bed by all those who were startled by my pale appearance. I napped, later sipped some soup, then napped again. I headed back to the classroom around 4:30 to try to feel useful, but within minutes became sick(literally) and was sent back to bed.
I've got to say that the people on my team are awesome! They took care of me constantly, bringing me toast in bed, filling my water bottle, and checking on me every so often. This morning I woke up feeling better, but very weak since I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I took my time getting up and around, but by 10am I was in full swing again. I have had 3 liters of water so far today, and I will keep them coming! I need a minimum of 5 liters a day!!

Qamatuks, Zastrugi, and Pukak

Today's BUSY Schedule:

6:30 Wake-Up

7:15 Breakfast

7:45-8:15 Team Meeting

8:15-12:00 Weigh tree branchlets

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30 - 1:30 Data Entry

1:30 - 4:30 Field Work - Snow Pits

4:30 - 5:30 Data Entry/Check Blog

5:30 - 6:45 Dinner/Teacher Meeting

7:00 - 8:30 Evening Lecture (Snow Types & Snowpack)

8:30 Write Blog

Our Earthwatch team puts in full days of work here. This morning, Hilary(my new friend from London) and I worked together weighing some of the 500+ tree branches and recording the weights on data sheets.

Today was our first day outside in the field. After lunch, we went out to a test site to dig a total of 6 snow pits. We recorded lots of measurements on data sheets for each pit. All the data had to be entered into a computer spreadsheet as soon as we returned. It was a beautiful day that the locals called "hot", a balmy minus 7 fahrenheit. I was geared up with 6 layers of clothing, covered from head to toe, including hand warmers in my mitts and toe warmers in my boots. (I was able to stay warm...thanks to my friends who loaned me great cold weather gear!) The layers of gear is quite heavy and makes walking through several feet of snow very difficult. There is a marching technique for walking in the bulky boots that will help me keep from sinking in with each step...but I haven't mastered that step yet! I tend to sink in to my knees or deeper with every other step. At least I'm getting a great workout, and you will get to see some fun pictures tomorrow.

Student Challenge:

Today's challenge is to learn some new words: qamatuk, zastrugi, pukak. Post a comment to the blog to define each of these words. (Remember to put your name in the comment box and click on Anonymous before you post it.) Tomorrow I will post pictures of each one!

First Day of Work

Today was our first full day of work here in Churchill. One of the projects we are working on is for a PhD student named Steve from the University of Alberta. He is studying the effects of climate change on the treeline. The last team that was here gathered over 500 samples of white spruce branches from 7 test sites along the treeline. Our job was to cut, sort, label, measure, and weigh each sample. It took our team of 12 people several hours to do it, but we finished.


For the next 5 days, four people will spend the morning weighing each sample again to record the loss of moisture. Everyone else will be out at the seven sampling sites to dig snow pits and record snowpack data.



We went on a walk around the center this afternoon to test out our gear. Here are some pictures around the CNSC.
















Monday is my day to weigh samples in the morning. So, my first experience working outside in the arctic climate won't come until tomorrow afternoon. Luckily, Churchill is experiencing a heat wave...temperatures will be above zero degrees fahrenheit later in the week!

Student Challenge:

1. Weather
Make a line graph in your journal to compare the temperature in Churchill with the temperature in Aberdeen. Look up the weather forecast to see what the highs will be in each location throughout my trip. You should have points on the graph for each day from Feb 28 - Mar 10.

2. Ecosystems
There are several ecosystems I have travelled through as I crossed the entire province of Manitoba from south to north. See how many ecosystems you can identify in Manitoba and information about each one.

In your journal, draw a map of Manitoba. Sketch my train route from Winnipeg to Churchill. Color the map to show each ecosystem. Draw or list characteristics, plants, and animal life that can be found in each one.

3. Blog Post
Post a comment for me to read that explains what causes the Northern Lights. I will choose the best ones to publish on the blog. Make sure that you use correct spelling and grammar.

You can post a second comment with any questions you may have. I will do my best to answer them.

Shameika, I got your message about the snow! I hope you got to play in it a little before it melted!

Northern Lights

I am staying at the Churchill Northern Studies Center, which is a great facility with a wonderful staff. There is another group here that is studying the Auroras with an expert named Roger Woloshyn, a.k.a. Starman. In the evening he tracks the solar activity on spaceweather.com, and when he says, "Showtime!", everyone gears up to head outside. Last night I tagged along hoping to get my first glimpse of the Northern Lights. Boy, did I!

At first it was a faint band of light across the sky above us, but it slowly brightened and turned green. After a little while, there were multiple green bands that brightened and faded, moved and changed. I was quite satisfied when we came back in to warm up. I'd seen the Northern Lights for the first time!!

About 15 minutes later, Roger gave the call and we all went outside again. This time it was a more remarkable display than before!! It was directly overhead, like a light show just for our small parking lot audience. The band of green became very bright, then started streaking and moving with hints of red swirling through. Everyone told me that it was an absolute amazing display and that I was very fortunate to have that as my first Aurora experience! I am sure I will be up late every clear night so that I can see the beautiful sky show as often as possible while I am here!!

(These pictures were taken last night by Roger.)