Archive for the ‘Journals’ Category

  • Ludda

    Sarah Ludda Ludwig wins a Goldwater

    Many congratulations to 2011 student Sarah Ludda Ludwig. Ludda won one of this year’s prestigious Goldwater scholarships.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • April 26, 2012
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    Congratulations to Claire Griffin!

    Claire Griffin (Polaris 2009) has just been awarded a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support her PhD research on organic matter in large arctic rivers.

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 30, 2012
  • Jorien and Juan Carlos pour over data in the main room of Orbita. As everyone wrapped up their lab work, more people gathered in Orbita, laptops open, to analyze data. © Becky Tachihara

    A lot of 2012 applications

    The 2012 deadline has passed and we received applications for this year’s field course from dozens of different universities. The folks that are going to review these have their work cut out for them – there are some very highly qualified students with compelling stories. Selecting the team for 2012 will be exceptionally difficult. Stay [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • January 16, 2012
  • Samples awaiting dissolved organic carbon analysis

    Equipment at the Northeast Science Station

    Though the Northeast Science Station was founded over 2 decades ago, in recent years the laboratory facilities at the Station have been greatly upgraded.

    • By Max Holmes
    • January 05, 2012
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    Student Impact video

    This multimedia video shows just how life-changing the Polaris Project can be.

    • By Chris Linder
    • December 19, 2011
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    Science on Ice

    After five hard years of work, Science on Ice: Four Polar Expeditions, is now in print. Before I began documenting the Polaris Project, I was the principal investigator of my own National Science Foundation grant called Live from the Poles. Our mission was to educate the public about how polar science is actually done.

    • By Chris Linder
    • November 17, 2011
  • Polaris display at the SACNAS conference.

    Polaris Project at SACNAS

    The Polaris Project had an information and recruitment booth at the recent SACNAS conference in San Jose, California. We are eager to see the applications for Polaris 2012 that are generated from this exposure.

    • By Max Holmes
    • November 09, 2011
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    Dallas and Kate in the Denmark Strait

    I just got a nice note from 2010 Polaris student Kate Lewis who was writing from Reykjavik harbor. Kate graduated from WWU and has been working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute as a Summer Student Fellow. Kate wrote that she had just finished one trip to Iceland with Chris Linder and was waiting for [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • August 22, 2011
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    Claire Griffin Publishes Her Polaris Project Research

    In January 2008, Claire Griffin (a sophomore at Clark University) applied for the inaugural Polaris Project expedition.  She was accepted.  Unfortunately, one month before leaving, Claire fell off a horse and broke her arm, ending her chance to be part of the 2008 field course.  But Claire persevered.  She reapplied in 2009 and was again [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • August 12, 2011
  • An intriguing cloud formation hangs over the taiga, dyed shades of pink and orange by the sunset. © Becky Tachihara

    Time Passing

    We’ve come as strangers from all points of the compass to live in very close quarters, on a barge in this case.  We’ve grown not merely to accommodate each other’s foibles and eccentricities, but to enjoy them as an aspect of our common purpose and shared experience.  We’ve become friends. And then, abruptly, we part.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 29, 2011
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    Eight more time zones to go

    We wait in Domodedovo, one of Moscow’s many airports, after traveling 8 time zones in three days.

    • By Matt Moroney
    • July 29, 2011
  • Nikita speeds past us in “The Forty.” His passengers are hunkered down for the long trip, but are also positively beaming with excitement. © Becky Tachihara

    To the North

    The tundra is beautiful in its sheer strangeness, an exotic environment, and vaguely haunting for that. Here summer seems not a season, but an exception.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 25, 2011
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    Twelve Signs

    You see tree rings through a microscope (complete with cross hairs for measuring) whenever you go to sleep.

    • By Dylan Broderick
    • July 25, 2011
  • Decked out in her bug shirt, lifejacket, waterproof pants and rubber boots, Jorien sits with her gear in the inflatable boat she and Eirik will take out on Airport Lake to collect data and samples. © Becky Tachihara

    What Scientists Do

    When you get right down to it, scientists, no matter their particular professional concentration, seek to understand how the natural world works.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 22, 2011
  • Laurel uses a funnel and glass vials to collect samples of methane bubbling up from the bottom of a stream. Tracking the methane coming out of lakes and streams is a key part of accounting for Arctic carbon stocks. © Becky Tachihara

    Is that a fish rising? No…

    In the bowl of this Siberian thermokarst lake, surrounded by rich green of moss shrubs and boreal forest, methane rises far more often than fish.

    • By Matt Moroney
    • July 21, 2011
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    Arctic inspiration

    Between stints of tromping through the undergrowth trailing one end of a 30 meter tape measure to help Ludda measure the slope of her hill, I was able to just sit down and marvel at the larch forest, the mountains in the distance and the tiny gurgling stream.

    • By Becky Tachihara
    • July 21, 2011
  • Emily uses syringes to extract gas from a water sample in order to measure carbon dioxide concentrations. © Becky Tachihara

    Unnamed Territory

    The syringes of water I collect end up in a living room converted to lab, complete with giant batteries resting on an upright piano and portraits watching over the Victorianesque-furniture and gas chromatograph.

    • By Emily Sturdivant
    • July 21, 2011
  • Ludda pours a solution of soil and water into a clean filter. The samples need to run clear after filtering so the analysis will be accurate, so she is meticulous. © Becky Tachihara

    Just a Matter of Time

    “Four times more carbon is contained in permafrost,” Max said this morning, “than in the entire biomass in the rest of the world.”

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 20, 2011
  • Rain shrouds the barge and obscures the usually clear view over the floodplains on one of the first rainy nights since our arrival. © Becky Tachihara

    Summers can also be cold

    It was a normal day, but as soon as breakfast was finished, the first raindrops started to fall.

    • By Juan Carlos Ortega
    • July 20, 2011
  • Dylan picks through a handful of moss gathered at one of the terrestrial survey’s plots. The moss will later be weighed, dried and combusted as part of calculating aboveground biomass. © Becky Tachihara

    Collect, Process, Analyze, Repeat

    We are analyzing data and religiously gluing, sanding, counting, and measuring tree rings to be assessed for relationships between tree growth rates over time as well as productivity.

    • By Dylan Broderick
    • July 18, 2011
  • Allison looks at a tree core under a microscope in Orbita to see if it is sanded smoothly enough to being counting the rings. © Becky Tachihara

    Counting Carbon

    Our goal is to figure out how much carbon is stored above and below ground in this area.

    • By Allison Stringer
    • July 17, 2011
  • Sam tosses a handful of dust from Duvannyi Yar into the air. When the yedoma soil dries out, it becomes a very fine dust that can be carried by the wind…or by anyone who walks through it, since it gets into absolutely everything. © Becky Tachihara

    Duvannyi Yar, Part Two

    Dissolved organic carbon samples collected last year by Polaris Project scientists from here at the bottom of the cliff were radiocarbon dated at 30,000 years old. We immediately began finding the bones of big animals that died sometime around then.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 15, 2011
  • An abandoned truck littered with containers and other assorted pieces of metal and wire sits in the grass toward the back of Laeonid’s camp. © Becky Tachihara

    Duvannyi Yar, Part One

    “Don’t go wandering off by yourself,” Max warned. “Stay with your group.” There are a lot of ways to get hurt at Duvannyi Yar.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 15, 2011
  • As they float, Jorien and Eirik check the read outs from one of the instruments they use to gather data from the lake. © Becky Tachihara

    A Norwegian in Siberia

    The water was full of organic material and I couldn’t see my own hand when I held it approximately 0.5 meters below the surface.

    • By Eirik Henriksen
    • July 15, 2011
  • The first Puerto Ricans in Cherskiy. © Becky Tachihara

    A Life Changing Experience

    Everything started in a study session of my friend’s apartment in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

    • By Juan Carlos Ortega
    • July 12, 2011
  • This was the first whole group photo of the Polaris Project 2011 participants – Puerto Rican flag and all.

    The First Puerto Ricans in Cherskiy

    Have you ever felt that you are probably the first from your country to reach a place?

    • By Michael Gomez
    • July 12, 2011
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    Cherskiy through the lens

    Cherskiy, the Northeast Science Station, and the barge through the lens of Becky Tachihara.

    • By Becky Tachihara
    • July 10, 2011
  • Students and PIs talk about their plans for the day before heading out to collect data and samples in the field or do analysis work in the labs. © Becky Tachihara

    Science and swimming and bugs, oh my!

    Every day after breakfast, group disperses to various field locations and labs where they will work on their projects. We have people studying lakes, streams, trees, soil and everything in between, and I have been trying to follow a different group to a different place every day so I can get a good feel for what everyone has going on.

    • By Becky Tachihara
    • July 10, 2011
  • Our home here in Siberia is a barge on the Panteleikha River. This is where we will eat, sleep and relax after long days in the field or lab doing science. © Becky Tachihara

    Science playground

    This place, with its foundation of Pleistocene (the time period before the last ice age, around 40,000 years ago) permafrost, is a science playground.

    • By Matt Moroney
    • July 10, 2011
  • Eli grins as he stands up after falling in a hole on our hike up Y4. We had to push our way through fairly dense undergrowth, which obscured the uneven ground and made tripping highly likely. © Becky Tachihara

    Bushwhacking for science

    Stumbling my way through waist high thickets that give in to pits carved out by the stream, this is by far the most difficult hiking that I have ever done…

    • By Eli Rhoades
    • July 10, 2011
  • Donning his protective bug shirt, Sam waits to record field data from the terrestrial survey. © Becky Tachihara

    Bugs, Aii-ee!

    Slapping, clapping, waving, scratching—these are common, if not constant signals of life in Siberia.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 10, 2011
  • As part of the terrestrial survey, students measure the diameter of trees at “breast height” (1.4 meters high) using a special measuring tape called a DBH (diameter breast height) tape. © Becky Tachihara

    First Impression

    I spent the last two days in the field with Allison, Sam, Andy, Becky, and Eli collecting samples and measurements for the terrestrial survey.

    • By Dylan Broderick
    • July 08, 2011
  • View from Rodinka. © Becky Tachihara

    The Carbon Bomb

    Just a couple of meters beneath this visible surface the ground is frozen solid down some 1,400 meters. This is permafrost.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 08, 2011
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    We Arrive, Finally

    We’ve traveled better than halfway around the globe, through fifteen time zones, twenty hours in the air, nearly as many waiting in airports, and now we’re here, delighted, if disoriented.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • July 06, 2011
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    The “Aquatics International”

    While we were processing a water sample that was taken earlier this morning from the Kolyma River, we talked an interesting mix of broken English, Russian and Swedish/Norwegian.

    • By Jorien Vonk
    • July 06, 2011
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    Converged in Cherskiy

    We celebrated the fourth of July with a toast to our Russian hosts and all have a solid night of sleep on the barge.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 04, 2011
  • Allison chilling in Vnukovo airport

    Missoula to Moscow

    Privyet friends of the Polaris Project! I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to hear we’re alive and well and only moderately exhausted.

    • By Allison Stringer
    • July 03, 2011
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    Waiting on a plane

    Eastward ho!

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 03, 2011
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    What will 2011 bring?

    What will this year be like? If I had to believe the weatheronline prediction it will be 15 degrees (Celsius!) and rain for the first few days we’re there.

    • By Jorien Vonk
    • June 30, 2011
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    22 Converging Dots

    In less than 2 days 19 of us will converge on Dulles Airport in DC, and then fly together to Moscow where will link up with the other three participants (two from Russia and one from Switzerland).

    • By Max Holmes
    • June 30, 2011
  • After a feed

    The worst ever?

    Nikita casually mentioned that the mosquitoes this year are “as severe as they can be.”

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 28, 2011
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    Wherein I learn about Pleistocene Park on the radio

    I got into the car, turned the key, and the first words that came out of the radio speaker were “Pleistocene Park.”

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 27, 2011
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    Welcome to the Polaris Project

    “I didn’t think anyone went to Siberia willingly,” a friend replied when I told him I was going there with the Polaris Project.

    • By Dallas Murphy
    • June 27, 2011
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    Max Wilbert Wins Journalism Award

    Max Wilbert, a recent graduate from Western Washington University and a participant in the 2010 Polaris Project field course, has just won a national competition for his article “Siberian Summer” about his Polaris Project experience.

    • By Max Holmes
    • May 04, 2011
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    Erin Seybold Awarded Fulbright

    Erin Seybold, a senior at St. Olaf College and a participant in the 2009 and 2010 Polaris Project field courses, has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Tromso, Norway over the coming year.

    • By Max Holmes
    • May 04, 2011
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    Heather Alexander Awarded NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship

    Heather Alexander, one of the five 2010 Polaris Project “Affiliates” (see Team page), has been awarded a prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her work on the boreal forest in the Kolyma River watershed.

    • By Max Holmes
    • May 04, 2011

  • Polaris 2011 Students Selected

    Fourteen undergraduate students have been selected to participate in the summer 2011 Polaris Project field course / research experience in the Siberian Arctic.  Though we had to decline many outstanding applicants, we are thrilled that all of the students we extended offers to have accepted our invitations.  They are: Mantsa Andzhushey – Moscow State University [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 16, 2011

  • It may be Snowmageddon in the Lower 48, but what about the Arctic?

    While the US has seen an unusually cold winter so far (with several large snowstorms battering New England as well as sweeping across the nation), you may wonder whether the Arctic is also experiencing anomalously cold temperatures. Here in Worcester, Massachusetts, we happen to be digging out of 48.4 inches of snow received in January [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • February 04, 2011

  • Apply Now for Summer 2011

    Undergraduate students interested in participating in the Polaris Project Siberian field course should complete their application by February 20, 2011. To be eligible to apply, you must be an undergraduate student, currently in your junior or sophomore year (in exceptional cases a senior may be accepted).  Students from any four-year accredited college or university are [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • January 28, 2011

  • 2010 Photos

    After pointless and senseless delay we have updated the photos page with a subset of the 2010 photos by Max and Chris.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • January 27, 2011

  • Polaris Project on NPR

    Max Holmes was recently interviewed about the Polaris Project for the 30-minute NPR radio show “The Point”.  The interview was broadcast on Tuesday, September 14, on WCAI.  It has now been archived online and can be heard by clicking here.

    • By Max Holmes
    • September 13, 2010

  • 17 AGU Abstracts

    Each December in San Francisco, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) holds the world’s largest scientific conference that focuses on Earth sciences.  This year, Polaris Project participants submitted 17 abstracts for presentations at AGU based on their research as part of the Polaris Project.  Even more remarkable, ten of the abstracts have undergraduate students as lead [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • September 12, 2010

  • Photo Essay: Ambarchik

    Ambarchik was a Soviet prison camp (gulag) beginning in the 1930′s. This place has a sad feeling to it, perched on the edge of the world, the Arctic Ocean to one side and the treeless tundra to the other. It is now the site of a new tragedy: as the climate warms, storms strengthen, ecosystems [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • August 31, 2010

  • Safe in Moscow! Out enjoying the city for the day!

    • By Erin Seybold
    • August 18, 2010

  • Homeward Bound

    Today is the Fab Four’s final day in Cherskiy – only one more of Valentina’s delicious lunches and we’re on our way to the airport.  Leaving is very bittersweet; while we are excited by the thought of seeing friends and family in a few short days, we are very sad to be leaving this place [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • August 16, 2010

  • Did global warming cause the heat wave? Probably.

    In the wake of the heat wave here in Russia, as well as the several other bouts of extreme weather around the globe this year (floods in the US and Pakistan, heat waves in Africa, eastern Asia, and eastern US), it is looking more and more like we are seeing the effects of anthropogenic (man-made) [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • August 14, 2010

  • Bakin’ and Ballin’

    Although we are all working very hard to wrap up our summer field projects, we have also managed to make time to appreciate the place and people we have become so close with this summer. Orbita has become nothing short of a home for the four of us, encompassing where we do lab work and [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • August 12, 2010

  • CO2 degassing from small streams

    After collecting some pretty interesting data from the tundra, I decided it was time to share a bit about my project. As part of the stream team, my project is aimed at answering a simple question: are small arctic streams sources of CO2 to the atmosphere? To address this question, I needed to measure the [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • August 09, 2010

  • We’re back!

    We successfully made the tundra trip in one day and arrived home safe and sound late last night. Now on to a full day of lab work to process our samples!

    • By Erin Seybold
    • August 09, 2010

  • Heading north, for one day this time.

    The fantastic four are just about to board Petnubbin’ (aka Speedy) for a day trip to the tundra. We intend to sample streams and rivers for all of our projects. The weather is ideal for a trip north: cold, windy, and rainy. But don’t worry, we have so many layers on that we can’t walk [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • August 08, 2010

  • Fab Four Updates

    Today is another chilly, blustery day in Cherskiy and as I look wistfully out windows of the lab (the NUT prison) the clouds are scuttling madly across the sky. Luckily though, it is finally sunny after days of cloudy weather which is a significant improvement. Between the previous bout of chilly weather and the wild [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • August 06, 2010

  • Now The Real Work Begins…

    For many of us, the field portion of the Polaris Project was just the beginning. While the scientists have haystacks of data to sift through, I have a stack of 20,000 photos waiting to individually perused, ranked, tagged, and grouped – a task for days and days. Why do we do it? Because, rather quietly, [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • August 06, 2010

  • And meanwhile, just a few hundred miles away in the Chukchi Sea…

    Unfortunately not all of the PIs were able to travel to Cherskiy for the Polaris Project 2010, myself included. I greatly missed being at the Northeast Science Station and being in the field with such a fantastic group of scientists and students. As you may have read from others already, the Polaris Project experience has [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • August 04, 2010

  • Never a moment so bitter sweet.

    After a 30+ hour daze of airplanes and airports, then having to turn on the radio to block out the eery silence of sleeping in the desert without 19 other people and the rustling of the Barge, I’m sitting here in my parents house in Reno, Nevada. With my puppy at my side, my parents [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • August 03, 2010

  • Random thoughts from the Patio

    Back home safe and sound, and sitting on my patio. The garden has grown huge in my absence, the weeds aren’t totally awful, and my French press, coffee grinder and good coffee beans have been waiting patiently for my arrival. Life is pretty good. Now, after a good night sleep I am sitting on my [...]

    • By John Schade
    • August 03, 2010

  • In the Moscow airport, heading home

    We had a very productive morning yesterday listening to student presentations regarding their research projects and their learning experiences from this trip. It has only been 30 days since the group has been together but a lot of individual and self transformation has occurred during this period. We are all proud of the students and [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • August 01, 2010

  • 20th Birthday in Moscow!

    Yesterday I turned twenty while we were staying here in Moscow. I never imagined that I would spend one of my birthdays in Moscow with such a great group of people. We all had presentations yesterday morning but after that it was time for relaxation and celebration. I was happy to spend some of the [...]

    • By Emily Ulrich
    • August 01, 2010

  • And then there were four…

    Most of the students and PIs are in Moscow, preparing to board their flight home today. Blaize, Erin, Travis and I are in Cherskiy, continuing our research and finishing up our projects. During my remaining time here, I’m continuing my soil BOD experiments and conducting nutrient limitation experiments. In lakes, rivers and streams, rates of [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • August 01, 2010

  • Fire Haze

    The vivacious vestige of the Polaris Project (Blaize, Erin, JoAnn, and Travis), through which the remainder of the group must live vicariously, woke up to a vicious odor of smoke and an eerie unplaceable source of sickly yellow light yesterday morning. This summer in Cherskii, as the returning students and PIs can attest, has been [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • July 31, 2010

  • On the Road Again

    Today was a long, sad day. We spent the morning packing, cleaning and swimming in the Panteleikha one last time. Right after lunch we loaded up the bus and said good-bye to the Station. It was hard leaving behind the four returning students and all the people at the Northeast Science Station that made our [...]

    • By Lydia Russell-Roy
    • July 30, 2010

  • Yummy Yummy Yedoma

    Hi everyone! As of late, those of us working with soil have been busy with making soil extracts. Sam’s earlier post gives an indication as to our all-hours filtering schedule, so I’ll write more on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Soil contains lots of “stuff”- plant material, leaf litter, roots, minerals, and [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 28, 2010

  • An Upside to Global Warming?

    Well, maybe not, but it was remarkable nevertheless to see many of the Polaris Project students swimming in the Arctic Ocean a few days ago. For most of the year this part of the ocean is covered in sea ice. The image below, courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 26, 2010

  • Late nights in the lab

    Good evening/morning!  While the rest of the group is sleeping, Elliott, Emily and myself are on a vacuum-filtering marathon in the soils lab.  It’s about 1:30, morale is high, and we hope to be done by breakfast later this morning.  Late nights in the lab are special time for all those involved and gives us [...]

    • By Sam Dunn
    • July 26, 2010

  • Seven Lessons from a Northern Adventure

    We left Saturday morning on what we imagined would be a long, hard day trip to the Arctic Ocean and tundra. We ended up weathering a storm in a fishing shack, relying on Nikita and Sergei’s resourcefulness and our positive attitudes. 

    • By Max Wilbert
    • July 25, 2010

  • Siberian cooking

    The Northeast Science station in Cherskiy is one of the most remote places I have ever been, yet we have internet, showers, washing machines, a sauna and …. good food! All the credits for this last, most crucial survival need should be given to Valentina, our charming cook that creates lovely meals, salads and impressive [...]

    • By Jorien Vonk
    • July 25, 2010

  • We’re Back!

    The Team made it back to Cherskiy late last night after a magnificent 36 hour trip to the Arctic Ocean and tundra.  Weather extended the trip beyond our planned ~16 hours, which only added to the spectacular nature of the expedition.  I’ll let others tell the whole story.  For now, we’re all safe and well [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 25, 2010

  • Holed up and held up by bad weather

    Hey all, Andy here – stateside. Max Holmes made a sat phone call back to the states. The group is delayed north of Cherskiy by bad weather. They have to wait out the bad weather before making the return trip back from the estuary. It might be a day or two until the weather clears. [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 24, 2010

  • A bug’s life

    If you have been a regular reader of the blog, you last heard from the bug team as we were setting out our not-so-high-tech bug trap made out of birch branches and twine in an attempt to catch amphipods. Unfortunately, that venture did not prove to be as successful as we hoped and netted only [...]

    • By Elliot Vaughan
    • July 23, 2010

  • project development

    Not until now, slouched on the bench of the barge trying to keep my eyes open and fingers typing, did I fully appreciate the work that goes into getting good data. The brief account in paper’s methods sections don’t do it justice. This is my first attempt at developing my own scientific experiment –taking an [...]

    • By Kate Lewis
    • July 23, 2010

  • Heading to the Tundra and Arctic Ocean

    Tomorrow morning we pile into three small boats and head north to the tundra and hopefully the coastal Arctic Ocean.  The trip north has been one of the highlights of each of the first two years of the Polaris Project.  We expect that the same will be true this year.  We’ll post a trip summary [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 23, 2010

  • To Duvannyi Yar and Back Again…

    Hello everyone! Its our first update in a while, as the internet has been intermittent and the team has just returned from a two day trip upriver. We went to a place called Duvannyi Yar, where Pleistocene-era soils are eroding at a massive rate as the underlying permafrost thaws and massive wedges of ice melt. [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • July 21, 2010

  • Sharing Data…

    The three overarching objectives of the Polaris Project are to 1) train the next generation of arctic researchers, 2) advance scientific understanding of the Arctic, and 3) expand public awareness of the feedbacks between the Arctic and the global climate system.  The collection and dissemination of important, high quality data is important for all of [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 21, 2010

  • Making Sandwiches

    It has been nearly one week since our PI’s Scott Goetz and Michelle Mack left Cherskiy, relegating the ‘Affiliated Five’ to ‘The Gang of Three’. Since then Heather, Kami, and I have been working hard to accomplish all the things we need to before leaving in another week. Initially we spent several days collecting as [...]

    • By Mike Loranty
    • July 17, 2010

  • Step One: Gather water, Step Two: ???

    As Max Holmes says, the atmosphere here at the station is a balance between student independence in projects and guidance by the PIs. He was telling me that as a group they want to give us as much guidance and advice as they can but at the same time it’s a necessary part of the [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • July 17, 2010

  • Near real time modifications of our work

    This has been an event filled week. If you have been keeping up with the blog you might have realized a few things regarding the scientific aspects of the project: a) this part of the world has a lot of frozen carbon from the Pleistocene era stored underground called Yedoma that has the potential to [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 17, 2010

  • Steaming Ahead

    Already half way into our trip and we have sampled last summer’s locations (in yellow) and 6 new locations (in red)! The new samples include 3 flood plain streams and 3 samples up north. The stream team has been spending long hours conducting nutrient additions on the flood plain streams. The northern samples include the [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • July 16, 2010

  • We’re Alive!

    Below is a series of snapshots of all Polaris students taken over the past few days.  Maybe a bit rough around the edges after almost 2 weeks in Siberia, but all are well and thoroughly engaged in their projects.

    • By Max Wilbert
    • July 16, 2010

  • Outside the Bubble

    Living and working on a science station can be a bit like living and working in a bubble. Sure, each time you look out the window you’re reminded of the incredible beauty of Siberia but it’s easy to forget that Russia is more than just amazing views. Yesterday we had an opportunity to change this [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • July 16, 2010

  • The funny gas…N2O

    Yesterday, Nikita, Blaize and I journeyed to the Omalon in support of two projects here in Siberia (See Max’s blog below).  The river survey group have already introduced themselves, but Nikita and my project is a more recent development and has not yet been described here. I am still working on terrestrial systems as was [...]

    • By Sam Dunn
    • July 14, 2010

  • Mammoth Tusks and 10,000 year old Bison Skulls

    Everyone has days where one amazing thing after another occurs. But when you’re conducting research in the Siberian Arctic, amazing events take on a whole new meaning. Take, for example, my past 24 hours. It began after last night’s dinner, when Sergi Zimov hauled a giant mammoth tusk into the barge, let it crash onto [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 14, 2010

  • Polaris Project Seminar Series – July 2010

    Though we often refer to this Siberian adventure as a field course, it really is more of a hands-on research experience.  Nevertheless, we have taken advantage of brief breaks in the action to present a series of research seminars and discussions.  The list below shows the seminars that have been given during our first week [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 13, 2010

  • Remarkable Sampling Transect

    Nikita Zimov and Max Holmes – sampling the Arctic Ocean off the mouth of the Kolyma River. The Polaris Project is interested in the transport and transformation of carbon and nutrients as they flow with water from uplands to the Arctic Ocean.  As the satellite image below shows, there are a remarkable diversity of ecosystems [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 12, 2010

  • Riding in the Argo

    Recently we went on a field trip to Rodinka the large hill/small mountain that dominates our eastern view. Wearing our bug shirts, and covered in DEET, we rode on a bus blasting Russian techno hits. It could have been a party bus, if it hadn’t been full of mosquitoes and gnats. As we drove through [...]

    • By Lydia Russell-Roy
    • July 12, 2010

  • “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

    When you’re a kid, that question is an exciting and fun question to answer; the possibilities are endless. As we age, this inquiry seems to get more difficult to answer; until you’re a college student and the question, “What are you doing after college?” prompts some serious anxiety. In addition to being an incredible research [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 12, 2010

  • A lot of progress in a short time

    It is very nice to be back at the North East Science Station. After almost a week it is amazing how much our team of students and mentors from the US, Russia, Netherlands, and Britain have accomplished in this short of time. Laboratories have been set up with projects established or in the process of [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 11, 2010

  • BOATS

    After days of contemplating the meaning and the best aspect of our project we have come to name our team BOATS (Binding ocean atmosphere terrestrial systems). We are focusing on surveying the larger bodies of water to understand the carbon flux in the Kolyma watershed, which carries terrestrial carbon from land to marine stores, altering [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • July 10, 2010

  • 9 Days And Counting…

    When the sun does not set, keeping track of the days becomes problematic. They blend together – yesterday’s sun and sweat fading into today’s rain and thick clouds. Sweet smells are in the air, fresh and crisp after the rain. Flowers are blooming across the landscape. The local botanist, Davidov, says that all the blooming [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • July 10, 2010

  • Now Team BARGE

    Well, team BA has officially converted to team BARGE (Bacteria Analysis Research Group Extraordinaire)! Yesterday was an exciting day for us as we got a mini experiment started with some sample water off of the barge. Right now we’re mainly testing the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) probe and making sure we know how to use [...]

    • By Cassandra Volatile-Wood
    • July 10, 2010

  • Improvisation In The Field

    This is Elliot and Emily checking in. We are part of the “bug team” studying the diversity of benthic invertebrates (bugs that live of the bottom of lakes and streams) and their role in carbon and nutrient processing. Our project has two main parts. One is an attempt to collect invertebrates from a variety of [...]

    • By Elliot Vaughan
    • July 09, 2010

  • An Oasis in the Siberian Arctic

    Research in the Arctic is tough – more often accomplished with duct tape than high tech instruments, which are typically sequestered in laboratories far removed from the Arctic. One of the challenges for foreign researchers working in Russia is that sample export is very difficult and expensive.  At the same time, analytical facilities at remote [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 09, 2010

  • Introducing the Terrestrial Team

    Hello everyone! In the past 48 hours members of the Polaris Project have coalesced into different research teams. Sam and I are the terrestrial team, determined to quantify how different watershed characteristics affect the contribution of nutrients to thermokarst lakes. Watersheds influence the water quality of aquatic ecosystems. We hope to answer three questions concerning [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 09, 2010

  • the Affiliated 5 hit the top 10

    Today the “affiliated five” group (Scott, Michelle, Mike, Heather & Kami) went on a nearly 300km journey by boat with Captain Zimov. We headed south on the Kolyma, and then up the little Anui tributary and back down the big Anui before heading home again to the Science Station. It was a bumpy ride up [...]

    • By Scott Goetz
    • July 09, 2010

  • Meet the Stream Team!

    Even though we’ve only been here for a few days, our projects are already underway. The Stream Team (Erin, Kate, and Travis) is continuing work from last summer’s progress towards understanding nutrient and carbon processing in small streams in the area. Last year, we focused on trying to understand what nutrients (nitrogen or phosphorous) were [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 08, 2010

  • Team 005

    Today has been a day of all different types of excitement for Team 005 who’ll be working will Bill Sobczak (Cassandra, Melissa and myself). After some really productive time spent with the PIs yesterday, everyone has begun closing in on their project for the coming weeks. We’ll be sharing them with the group tonight and [...]

    • By Andrew Crowley
    • July 08, 2010

  • 10 reasons you know you are living in an Arctic science station…

    10 reasons you know you are living in an Arctic science station 1)      Instead of band posters decorating the walls, there is satellite imagery of the area. 2)      The fish tank is filled with species caught from the river we’re living on. 3)      Our windows overlook our various study sites. 4)      The roof is ornamented [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 07, 2010

  • From the Barge:

    Five days of traveling, 27+ hours on five planes, and a night with no nighttime finds us on day two in Cherskii! Going into the project I anticipated the amazing research and field experience that I would gain, and trust me I have in no way been disappointed, but already its turned out to be [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • July 06, 2010

  • Swimming in the Arctic

    Four flights, five days, and sixteen time zones later, we have finally arrived at our barge home. Although it was fun to explore Yakutsk and Moscow, I am relieved that I won’t have to pack again for twenty days. The barge is comfortably compact and provides stunning views of the Panteleikha and the mountain beyond. [...]

    • By Lydia Russell-Roy
    • July 06, 2010

  • Almost there…

    As other people have posted, a defining fact of our lives right now is that my computer clock says 6:45 AM and my wristwatch says 9:47 PM (who even knows where those extra two minutes went). Everything has been sort of surreal due to countless hours of flying and sleep deprivation sandwiched around brief moments [...]

    • By Elliot Vaughan
    • July 05, 2010

  • First Impressions of Russia

    We’ve just landed in Yakutsk and have made it through fourteen of the sixteen time zones that we’ll be crossing. Even with all of the jet lag and time spent waiting in the airport, the trip has already amazed me. I should explain that, in addition to majoring in Biology at Holy Cross, I’ve also [...]

    • By Andrew Crowley
    • July 04, 2010

  • Privyet!

    We’ve successfully made it to Yakutsk!    Right now, Andrew, Sudeep, John, Kate B, Polaris Alum Anya (2008), and I are sitting in the third floor lobby of our hotel, all on our laptops, trying to determine how long our internet will last (150 Mb limit).  We’ve now flown 2 redeyes and have covered (from [...]

    • By Sam Dunn
    • July 04, 2010

  • Seattle to Moscow

    Our first full day in Russia! We arrived last night after 15 hours on planes, first from Seattle to Washington DC, then on to Moscow. The road that led us away from the airport gave us our first taste of the Russian countryside. Trees lined the highway, and billboards flashed ads from either side. Twenty [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • July 04, 2010

  • Greetings from Moscow!

    Happy Independence Day from Moscow! We arrived safely; no bags lost, no injuries, and no deportation! A good trip by any standards – so far. In order to stave off jetlag we skipped sleeping and explored Red Square, the of the city of home of world famous landmarks like the Kremlin. We got a tour [...]

    • By Emily Ulrich
    • July 04, 2010

  • Glad to be back!

    At last, we have returned to the land of mullets, track suits, and buttery food. It is good to be back. Currently, we four returning students are lounging in a room on the third floor of a hotel-like structure on the outskirts of Moscow. It has been fabulous to meet and converse with the new [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 04, 2010

  • Look right for tweets…

    …while the Polaris Project is traveling they will issue updates via twitter. See the list of tweets on the right side of the main blog page or follow us on twitter @PolarisTweet

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 03, 2010

  • More friends! Friends of friends.

    The Polaris project is off to Moscow – in the air for a mere 14 hours. Until the next update happens you can amuse yourself by getting us more friends – on facebook. Please become a fan of the Polaris Project on facebook if you aren’t already. If you are, then suggest your friends become [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 02, 2010

  • On the way…

    Seven of us are now sitting in Dulles Airport, having traveled from Boston earlier today. Over the next few hours, our group will grow to 25 people (hopefully!), and at 4:50 pm we’ll depart together for Moscow.  We’ll arrive in Moscow at 11 am on Saturday, Aug. 3, spend the night there, and then depart [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 02, 2010

  • Last Minute Preparations

    Well there are only three days left before we leave on our trip. As you can see from Melissa and Joanne’s blogs the three of us just returned from Castle Lake a few days ago. Thanks to the crew at Castle Lake, Melissa and I feel more prepared to handle our individual projects. I was [...]

    • By Emily Ulrich
    • June 29, 2010

  • Bummin’ a ride

    Hi, this is Mike Loranty. Several colleagues and I are heading to Siberia too.  I’m a postdoctoral fellow at the Woods Hole Research Center working with Dr. Scott Goetz. Although not officially affiliated with the Polaris Project, we have become quite familiar with it through Max Holmes. In addition to Scott and myself, our contingent [...]

    • By Mike Loranty
    • June 28, 2010

  • Winter in June

    Hi everyone! Only six more days until our departure! As Melissa mentioned in her post, this past week the UNR Polaris crew was up at Castle Lake, Northern California training for our Siberian field work. Surprisingly, even though it’s late June the lake was still frozen and we pitched our tents on the snow! We [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • June 26, 2010

  • Preparations

    Despite the excitement of commencement and reunion, the Carleton College website found room to publish a story I wrote about the Polaris Project. You can check it out here: http://apps.carleton.edu/news/features/?story_id=644697 Thanks to Chris Linder for the photo selection! In other news, after the whirlwind of ending my time at Carleton and working as a class host for [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • June 24, 2010

  • Ready…Set…

    ACID WASH!  Hello from Northfield, MN, where Erin and I are washing scint vials like mad people.  We’ve been here since classes let out doing some wetland/prairie research and preparing for our trip to Russia.  Our research has been winding down as our preparations have wound up and we are very excited to be leaving soon   <– [...]

    • By Sam Dunn
    • June 21, 2010

  • Counting Down the Days

    As I count down the days until we leave for the trip (as of today twelve), I am occupied with packing, reading and preparing. Last week I had the chance to meet with Principle Investigators Bill Sobczak and Karen Frey to discuss general plans for sampling this summer. From last summer’s experience I learned that [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • June 20, 2010

  • A Taste of the Field

    Well, just finished packing all of my field gear and soon Emily and I will be on our way to Castle Lake, near Shasta CA, to do preparatory training for the field work we’ll be doing in Siberia. While up at Castle, we not only get to test out all our new gear and perfect the [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • June 20, 2010

  • greetings from kate in washington state

    hello! my name is kate. and im a new member to the polaris team this year! im a senior at western washington university majoring in environmental science with a minor in chemistry. i work at the institute for watershed studies at wwu– working a lot in the lab and field doing water quality analyses for [...]

    • By Kate Lewis
    • June 18, 2010

  • From Sweden to Siberia!

    Hej! My name is Jorien Vonk, born & raised in Holland, but I just finished my PhD at Stockholm University a few weeks ago. I have been looking at terrestrial carbon (from thawing permafrost) from a marine point of view; what happens to this material once it arrives in the coastal ocean? We found out [...]

    • By Jorien Vonk
    • June 18, 2010

  • We like you. You like us.

    Hey Facebookers. Take a second to nip over to Facebook and tell the world that you like the Polaris Project. We’ll be doing more with our Facebook page this year and trying to get the word out there and on this blog. So go and like us. Then suggest that your friends would like us [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 17, 2010

  • Only two more weeks until we leave for Russia!

    As you may be able to tell from the year-round addition of blog entries, participation in the Polaris Project stretches far beyond our month-long stay in Siberia. Right now, many of the Polaris participants are finishing up their preparations for the trip. Today, for me, this meant building piezometers. Piezometers are essentially specialized observation wells [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • June 15, 2010

  • Polaris II Proposal Submitted

    The Polaris Project got its start with a proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in March 2007.  We learned six months later that the proposal was funded, and on Jan. 1, 2008, the Polaris Project was officially underway.  Remarkably, we are now 2.5 years into the project, which was originally funded for three [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • June 12, 2010

  • Less than two months until departure!

    As the school year is winding down, I am getting increasingly excited about spending the summer in Siberia. My name is Lydia Russell-Roy and I am a senior at Carleton College majoring in Biology with a French and Francophone Studies concentration. My interest in limnology and fieldwork began when I first put on waders and [...]

    • By Lydia Russell-Roy
    • May 10, 2010

  • We’re not going to Siberia, but we’re going to Alaska!

    Hello everyone my name is Claire and this is Boyd. Hi. Claire traveled to Siberia with the research team and Boyd went the summer before and both of us had awesome but unique experiences on the Kolyma. While Boyd looked at thermokarst lake drainage using a dendroclimatological model, Claire has coupled satellite imagery and river [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • May 03, 2010

  • Hello From Clark University

    Hi everyone! It is Cassandra and Blaize, we are writing to you from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Cassandra and I got together to start to plan, prepare and talk about the trip. We thought we would share a little about ourselves: I’m Cassandra, this is my first post for the Polaris Project, but I’m [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • April 22, 2010

  • Hi everyone!

    Hi everyone! My name is Melissa Robbins and I’m a junior at the University of Nevada-Reno where I major in Environmental Science with minors in ecohydrology and wildlife. Most of my studies and the work I do focuses on freshwater management, ecology, and conservation. However, I wish there where more marine science classes as that’s [...]

    • By Melissa Robbins
    • April 19, 2010

  • Prepare for your cunning adversary

    By now, I’m sure all the new students have heard rumors of the cunning behemoths otherwise known as Siberian mosquitoes. The rumors, I am sorry to confirm, are true. The moment it becomes warm, the Siberian mosquitoes and horseflies will emerge from hiding to feast on fresh, unsuspecting Polaris students. Regular defenses, such as head [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • April 04, 2010

  • Hello!

    Hi everyone! My name is Elliot Vaughan and I am a junior at Carleton College in Minnesota.  I am majoring in biology and also take a lot of Spanish classes (which will probably not be all that useful this summer).  The majority of my ecological field research has involved waking up very early to map [...]

    • By Elliot Vaughan
    • April 02, 2010

  • Howdy!

    Hello everyone. My name is Max Wilbert, and I am the Western Washington student who will be working with Chris Linder on multimedia production this summer. I’m quite looking forward to the trip – the Arctic is the front lines of the climate catastrophe, and I want to learn as much as I can while [...]

    • By Max Wilbert
    • April 02, 2010

  • Hello Everyone!

    My name is Andrew Crowley and I’m in my junior year at Holy Cross where I study Biology and Russian.  I have some experience working in the field thanks to a Freshwater Ecology course I took last fall.  Most of the work I did dealt with biological oxygen demand and primary production in rivers. In [...]

    • By Andrew Crowley
    • April 01, 2010

  • Hello from Nevada!

    My name is Emily Ulrich and I’m a sophomore majoring in Environmental Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m very interested in limnology and hope to explore this during the project. So far, I don’t have a specific project to discuss, but it is currently in progress. I do have some field work experience [...]

    • By Emily Ulrich
    • March 31, 2010

  • Hello!

    I guess I’ll get the ball rolling for the new students. My name is Sam Dunn, I am Junior at St. Olaf College majoring in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies.  I’ve previously done work in streams and wetlands with methane and nitrous oxide flux, but for my time in Siberia I am thinking [...]

    • By Sam Dunn
    • March 29, 2010

  • SoA and Introductions

    Hi everyone! Like the previous posts have said, we had a mini 2009 Polaris Project reunion at the State of the Arctic Conference in Miami last week. It was great to see everyone again, and attending this conference made me really excited to go back to Cherskiy this summer. Boyd, Blaize, Moira, Claire, Erin, and [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • March 23, 2010

  • Arctic Science in Miami

    After a busy 4 days at the State of the Arctic (SoA) in Miami, I have found some time to distill the whirlwind of information and advice. SoA was my first science conference and I didn’t exactly know what to expect. Initially, I was somewhat nervous to present my poster, seeing as my audience was [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • March 21, 2010

  • Yay! New Polaris Students!

    Hello from…snowy Minnesota? Leaving Miami only to get delayed by snowstorms in Chicago was a bit of a depressing feeling. Clearly I am going to school in the half of the country. The past week was GREAT. Attending the State of the Arctic conference was a perfect way to start off this field season. Presenting [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • March 21, 2010

  • State of the Arctic Conference and beyond!

    It was really great going to the State of the Arctic conference this past week, re-connecting with all the Polaris folks, presenting our research, and meeting some of the leaders in arctic climate change research.  We each had posters discussing our projects and got some great feedback from the other attendees.  My research project stemming [...]

    • By Claire Griffin
    • March 20, 2010

  • Sunny Arctic Knowledge

    Hi from the State of the Arctic Conference! We’re here schmoozing with the stars of arctic science and finding happiness in the world of science. A typical day at the conference begins bleary-eyed at 8:30 with a breakfast of tropical fruit, croissants, and COFFEE while listening to presentations introducing the themes of the day: Day [...]

    • By Moira Hough
    • March 18, 2010

  • State of the Arctic Conference

    This past couple of days have been full of short presentations, plenary talks, and conversation. The Polaris Project is reuniting at the State of the Arctic Conference right now in Miami, FL and I’m definitely enjoying my time here. I was able to present at a poster session regarding my research on boreal forest fire [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • March 17, 2010

  • 2010 Polaris Project Students Selected

    Though the 2010 Polaris Project field course in Siberia doesn’t begin for over 3 months, preparations are ramping up quickly.  We have just finished selecting the 2010 undergraduate participants and are thrilled about the group, our largest yet.  Fourteen undergraduate students have been selected, 10 new and 4 returning students.  Things happen quickly now that [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 12, 2010

  • 4 Polaris Students Earn Scholarships to Arctic Conference in Miami

    The State of the Arctic Conference (http://soa.arcus.org) will be held next week in Miami (March 16-19, 2010).  This large conference is drawing Arctic scientists from around the world.  Twenty-five scholarships were awarded to outstanding students to support their travel to the conference.  Four of the scholarship winners are Polaris Project students, a remarkable accomplishment.  Congratulations [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 11, 2010

  • New applications

    New applications are rolling in for the summer 2010 field course. I have nothing in particular to add other than that we continue to draw some of the brightest and most interesting students from a great range of academic institutions. It’s an honor to see the applications arrive.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • February 14, 2010

  • Streams and permafrost

    Yet more new science stories. We are rolling them out as they are finished. Look at the stream story and the permafrost story. (Oh and the science page has had a small makeover too)

    • By Andy Bunn
    • November 02, 2009

  • Bugs and Rivers…New Science Stories

    Check out the new Science Stories on the bug project and the survey project. Both are fanstistic ways of learning about the science done on the field course told in the student’s own words.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • November 01, 2009

  • Artists in the Arctic

    Andy Revkin continues his interesting coverage of the Arctic. Look at this postcard – similar in some ways to the coverage he gave the Polaris Project during last summer’s field course. The descriptions of the art and the artists in this post are inspiring. Make sure to listen to the sound sample.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • October 29, 2009

  • Polaris Project Video

    After countless hours of work, Chris Linder has completed a 10-minute video that follows the Polaris Project during the 2009 field course.  The video can be accessed from the “Stories” page of this website.  Chris did a fantastic job – I really think that the video will help others get a better understanding of the [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • September 30, 2009

  • Missing the Arctic

    Yesterday the Clarkie students traveled in to Boston from Worcester to attend fellow Polaris Member Chris Linder’s art exhibition. The exhibit, Exploring the Arctic Seafloor, displayed photos from an expedition to map what lies under the sea ice. Chris went with a team from WHOI to document the science and the landscape aboard the Swedish [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • September 11, 2009

  • 2009 pictures and a proto science story

    Chris and I selected 100 of the 21,000 images he took and got some up under the Photos page. We tried to focus on images that captured the feel of the trip and didn’t include many of the specific images that documented the science that went on during the 2009 field course. Those will be [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • August 25, 2009

  • University of Nevada Reno Tells the Story!

    One of the objectives of the Polaris Project is to help get the story of the Arctic, climate change, and the Polaris Project to as broad an audience as possible.  The Polaris Project website is one means of doing so, as are public presentations by project faculty and students as well as media interviews. Sudeep [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • August 21, 2009

  • Some reflections…

    It has been a few weeks since the Polaris Project disbanded and I’ve had some time to reflect on my experience. I remember distinctly when Max Holmes invited me into his office to show me pictures of Cherskii and describe the Polaris Project. While the pictures and descriptions provided me with some idea of where [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • August 14, 2009

  • Article on Permafrost Thaw in The Economist

    Check out this article in this week’s issue of The Economist on Arctic permafrost thaw. http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14119825

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • August 06, 2009

  • Moving on to Phase Two

    Hello everyone. I hadn’t written a blog entry in awhile, so now that I am home and rested I thought I should post an update on where I am and where I’m going with my project. During our three weeks in Cherskiy, Valentin, Nickolay, and I collected over 130 soil samples from 14 different profile [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • August 02, 2009

  • Final Reflections

    I am, as Karen can attest to, a fairly indecisive person when it comes to my future. I worry a lot about whether I’m making the right choice, the what-ifs and alternative possibilities always seeming like they might be just as good. The Polaris Project has helped me make some of these decisions that I’ve [...]

    • By Claire Griffin
    • August 02, 2009

  • Back from Moscow in 32 hours

    After the Polaris Project folks landed in Chicago we wandered through the airport leaving members off at different gates to make it to their final destinations. The Seattle folks got a little extra time together with a two and a half hour delay on top of a planned four hour layover. (Max and Kayla made good [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • August 01, 2009

  • Polaris Project: Back in the U…

    Polaris Project: Back in the USA!

    • By Tweet
    • July 31, 2009

  • Boarding the plane to Chicago….

    Boarding the plane to Chicago. 11 hours to go… /ab #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 31, 2009

  • Russian security

    “Guff Guff”

    • By Travis Drake
    • July 31, 2009

  • Off to the Moscow airport and …

    Off to the Moscow airport and on our final legs of our trip home to the US. We all leave a piece of our heart behind in Russia. /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 30, 2009

  • We have arrived in Moscow! The…

    We have arrived in Moscow! The neverending day as we travel westward. 3 breakfasts before noon already! http://twitpic.com/c04ez /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 29, 2009

  • 2 time zones down, 17 to go! W…

    2 time zones down, 17 to go! We’re in and out of Yakutsk in a flash, already waiting for our flight to Moscow. /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 28, 2009

  • The Polaris Project will leave…

    The Polaris Project will leave Cherskiy in a few hours. We are packing and cleaning the barge. Lots of mixed feelings. /ab #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 27, 2009

  • Sights, smells and feel…ings

    Our time on the barge is getting closer to an end and I thought I would try to express some of the little things that characterize our home.  The first thing is the breeze.  The breeze on your face feels great on a warm day clears the air of any pesky mosquitoes.  Taking a boat [...]

    • By Kayla Henson
    • July 25, 2009

  • The Buzz on the Barge

    Today there is excitement among our group for many reasons. We are still riding the high from our unbelievable day trip to the tundra. Yesterday morning, after a brief breakfast, we strapped on the life vests and headed north along the Kolyma River. Along the way, we stopped at a few points to refuel and [...]

    • By Travis Drake
    • July 24, 2009

  • The New York Times…

    A story about the Polaris Project has just been posted to Andy Revkin’s Dot Earth blog at the New York Times.  I think it is safe to say that Revkin is generally considered to be the top science journalist in the US, and of course the New York Times has a vast readership, so we’re [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 24, 2009

  • Polaris Project in the News…

    An article about the Polaris Project was just published in Field Notes, the National Science Foundation’s Arctic logistics contractor Polar Field Services.  To view the article, click here.

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 24, 2009

  • To the Tundra!

    Today, we finally headed off to further north then even Cherskiy. We’ve been trying to get out there for a few days, but the weather had been bad. Today dawned bright and beautiful, so after a quick breakfast we packed into four small boats and headed off to the Kolyma estuary. This was by far [...]

    • By Claire Griffin
    • July 24, 2009

  • Student projects and an expanded science section of the website

    The Northeast Science Station is bustling with science as the student projects are well under way. We are using this to introduce a new section of the website focusing on the science done on the Polaris Project.  The students are now into daily routines of sampling trips to locations near and far.  Our multiple science [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • July 23, 2009

  • Look Mom! I can time travel!

    Today the group finally got to adventure into the past – the Pleistocene to be specific! After a hearty lunch of moose stew, we embarked in an armada of boats and traveled by river to Pleistocene Park. After hearing and reading so much about this incredible experiment, this was a much anticipated trip for everyone. [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 22, 2009

  • Probe Deep in a Thermokarst Lake

    To appease all the fast-paced, twitter-minded, brevity-seeking, economical folks out there, this blog post will be an exercise in the ultimate 21st century succinctness. The last week will be summarized in the following bullet points: . Sudeep’s barrel project allowed us to get intimate with a thermokarst lake… …and eaten alive by mosquitoes …the lake [...]

    • By Max Janicek
    • July 22, 2009

  • Polaris State-side

    Due to an unfortunate turn of events, I was unable to return to Siberia this year but have been an avid follower of the blog and am happy to see this year’s group is having an amazing time! It seems many projects have taken off and it’s exciting to read new hypotheses and use my [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 21, 2009

  • recent doings

    Embarking on this trip, all of us students knew we were soon to design some kind of research project.  Most of us were thinking about projects aimed at terrestrial, lake or stream systems.  I wanted to try something different, though. I wanted to find some way to talk locals.  Early on in the trip I [...]

    • By Brian Kantor
    • July 21, 2009

  • Fog on the Panteleikha, 2am on July 19

    Watching the Panteleikha River fill with fog was one of the finest things I’ve seen.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 19, 2009

  • Duvannyi Yar Recap

    “I’ve got some good news: we’re going to Duvannyi Yar tomorrow!” That’s how John informed us of our imminent departure for one of the most famous sites we visit on this trip. None of us knew quite what we would find. We’d all heard stories aplenty about the mammoth bones sticking out of the ground [...]

    • By Moira Hough
    • July 18, 2009

  • From 68 31′N and 161 02′E and heading N at 8 km/hr.

    We have some time to do limited lab work (and even a semi-mobile internet connection) while we are en route to Cherskiy. Here is our current position. Chris Linder works on photos and Sudeep Chandra does some water quality analysis for lakes sampled at Duvannyi Yar.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 17, 2009

  • Still steaming back to Cherski…

    Still steaming back to Cherskiy – students are pensive and trying to absorb their experience walking through the Pleistocene. /ab #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 17, 2009

  • Heading back Cherskiy from Duv…

    Heading back Cherskiy from Duvannyi Yar. We did some good science, got loads of data, and found mammoth bones. More to follow. /js #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 16, 2009

  • We have arrived at Duvannyi Ya…

    We have arrived at Duvannyi Yar – a site few scientists have seen. The permafrost exposure with megafaunal remains is spectacular. /ab #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 15, 2009

  • Onward to Duvannyi Yar

    A lot has happened since last time I blogged. As a group we have started to narrow down our research topics and have formed small ‘teams’ of specific topics. Since my research topic is looking at the variation in water chemistry of the whole Kolyma watershed (from the source water all the way to the [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • July 15, 2009

  • My Bear Grylls Experience

    Hi everyone. A lot of what I’ve been doing related to the permafrost soil has been the same (digging profiles and processing samples), but I’d like to quickly recount how I built my first warming fire in the Siberian Arctic- Bear Grylls style. As some of the other blog entries have mentioned, it’s been cold [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 15, 2009

  • Updated pictures, comments, and getting ready to ship out

    Three things: 1. We’ve added some pictures to the student blog posts again. Here, here, and here for example. 2. Max Holmes, the director of the project who is sadly stayed behind in the USA this year, is diligently moderating comments that folks send in about the blog posts. Please read and comment. 3. If [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 14, 2009

  • Snow in July and Pie for Breakfast

    I woke up this morning to Erin standing shivering in our room, “It’s so freaking cold.”  Five minutes later we stared out the window as snow swirled by (in sizeable chunks).  We immediately thought of our other two roommates who had woken up this morning to go out in the field to do field work.  [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 14, 2009

  • It’s snowing in Cherskiy! /kf …

    It’s snowing in Cherskiy! /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 14, 2009

  • BGAN from the barge

    Some of asked us how our communiques are getting out from our remote position. The answer is that we are using a satellite-based Internet antenna. We point it south and can beam messages off. It’s remarkable really. With that and a spotty connection at the station we are enjoying much better communication this year. We [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 13, 2009

  • Rivers and Lakes from Space!

    I’m the resident student geographer on the barge, so my background and project are a little different than the majority of the ecologists here at the Northeast Science Station. Water is a huge part of the Arctic and the landscape is covered with streams, rivers, lakes and ponds. There’s no way to be able to [...]

    • By Claire Griffin
    • July 13, 2009

  • From Peat to Pittsburgh

    When I started this post it had been a while since anybody wrote. Then I got distracted and things changed. But I guess this is still relevant, so here’s what I have to say. It’s been a very busy few days. Everybody’s been running around trying to get our data collection started. It’s hard, and [...]

    • By Moira Hough
    • July 13, 2009

  • Succes in the lab! But…

    The plague of the Hebrews has struck the barge. Ok, I may be exaggerating a little bit. Not quite a biblical plague, but a mere cold/flu outbreak has reached the team here. Several PI’s and students have come down with some unpleasant symptoms but luckily for the rest of the group (and unluckily for us) [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 13, 2009

  • Optimism…

    Most of the Polaris Project participants have probably heard me say how seeing the airplane that we take from Yakutsk to Cherskiy immediately separates the optimists from the pessimists.  A pessimist would look at the age and condition of the plane and question whether it could possibly complete another flight.  An optimist takes comfort in [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 13, 2009

  • Healthy&Wealthy

    Hi, all! While sitting in one of the buildings upstairs waiting for Chris to take an interview (I’m not sure about grammar here and further) from me, I’ve decided to blog a little. So, since we’ve arrived to Cherskiy almost a week passed. We knew a lot, got some experience of working in lab, taking water [...]

    • By Kirill Tretvakov
    • July 13, 2009

  • We have (some) results!

    Hello everyone. Over the last few days all of the students have selected and initiated our projects examining different aspects of the ecosystem around Cherskiy. Nickolay and I are working with Valentine and Sudeep to profile the soil in the Shuchi Lake watershed and examine how the soil’s composition affects the quality of the water [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 12, 2009

  • Of labs, lakes, and permafrost

    Hello everyone. The past few days have been really busy here at the Northeast Science Station. The past couple days have been spent moving into and preparing the new lab. The lab is absolutely gorgeous. When you walk into the door, there is a cozy round center room with a wood stove, reminiscent of a [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 11, 2009

  • Bugs

    Yesterday, Blaize, Max and Kayla sampled for macroinvertebrates at Shuchi or Pike Lake.  Max got an immediate boot full of water as soon as we got down to the lake and was a little bit grumpy the rest of the time.  The substrate is like quick sand, and we had to constantly wiggle ourselves free.  [...]

    • By Kayla Henson
    • July 10, 2009

  • An Apple, an Orange, and a Dead Duck

    Today was a good day. A day of feasting, you might say. A day of surprises for sure. After many fiber-free days the Gods have smiled upon us and sent an unexpected gift: apples and oranges. They must have heard Erin’s offer of $10 for an apple and mercifully granted her one for free! They [...]

    • By Moira Hough
    • July 10, 2009

  • From the new lab facilities

    Yesterday we were given a tour of the new laboratory facilities here at the station (and I am in fact blogging from there right now). This is a significant event for the Zimov’s and for us and for the scientific community in general. The Northeast Science Station has already been the backdrop for some significant [...]

    • By John Schade
    • July 10, 2009

  • Updated student info, blog pictures

    We have made some changes to the site (amazing given our remote location – the BGAN satellite internet is working well). First see information on the 2009 students if you want to place a face with a name. Also, the team page is new to better accomodate our growing Polaris family. Finally, we’ve updated some of the [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 09, 2009

  • The Prowess of Siberian Mosquitoes

      Once upon a time in Cherskii, Siberia, a group of ambitious ecology students attempted to better understand the remote and beautiful landscape they had the privilege to visit. Little did they know, there was a predator here long before they arrived. A predator more formidable than a grizzly and more bloodthirsty than a vampire. [...]

    • By Max Janicek
    • July 09, 2009

  • a room and a tree

    Last time I wrote, I was preparing to depart.  Now, more than a week later, we’ve not only arrived at our destination, but have also spent two full days becoming acquainted with the station.  Because others have written in the meantime, I shall focus on the latter—on the most recent activities here in Cherskiy, both [...]

    • By Brian Kantor
    • July 09, 2009

  • Updating the blog with pictures

    We are updating the student and faculty blog posts with new pitcures after many email pleas (read ‘demands’) from some of our readers.  Chris Linder is supplying some pictures on the fly even as he works on developing science stories and doing interviews all the members of the Polaris Project. We are using our omnipotence [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 08, 2009

  • Home Sweet Barge

    After 5 days of traveling we’ve finally reached our home. We took a small propeller plane to Cherskiy, which was a new sort of traveling experience for us – we piled our luggage in the front and secured it with nets. We flew low enough that we could watch the landscape change from marshy wetlands [...]

    • By Moira Hough
    • July 07, 2009

  • Just arrived

    We’ve finally made it to the Northeast Science Station in Cherskiy. It’s 12:30 in the morning and the sun is still up. The landscape here is more amazing than I could have imagined. During the plane ride, I was able to look out my window onto a landscape unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Rivers [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 07, 2009

  • We made it! We made it! We mad…

    We made it! We made it! We made it! The Polaris Project has finally arrived in Cherskiy and we’re on the barge! /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 06, 2009

  • Sarah are you there?

    Yesterday, we attended the Siberian Children’s Art Exhibit in Yakutsk. We were lucky enough to see cultural dances performed be Yakutian children. They were adorable and eager to interact and pose for pictures. The artwork was amazing coming from art students as young as 8. The bus rides around town are adventurous, always packed with [...]

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 06, 2009

  • Goodbye Meat Donuts

    Hello Moose (donuts?)! And we’re off to Cherskii. So far we’ve been exposed to quite a variety of food. Yesterday, in downtown Yakutsk, we solicited a delicious cafeteria that gave us a chance to try liver with mayo, spiced carrots with mushrooms, fried bread-pocketed meatballs, flaccid french-fries, chicken kabobs, raw salmon, and of course, meat [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 06, 2009

  • Airport security and baggage check in Yakutsk! We are off to the NE Science Station

    The funny part about traveling as large group is that we are one dominating force in the airport. Overall things are going quite smoothly and we made it through the double security points (one for the small airport and one before check in), have checked in for our flight and are all excited to go [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 06, 2009

  • Yakutsk art museum

    July 5th was a very unique and interesting day in Yakutsk. We attended the opening of a new exhibit at the Yakutsk Art Museum, an exhibit of the art of Siberian schoolchildren, mostly from Zhigansk, that Max Holmes and Kate Bulygina have put together. Max and Kate both warned me that I would be giving [...]

    • By John Schade
    • July 06, 2009

  • Great article in today’s Reno …

    Great article in today’s Reno Gazette-Journal featuring our very own Sudeep Chandra & Joanne Heslop! http://tiny.cc/uST3h

    • By Tweet
    • July 06, 2009

  • In the Yakutsk airport, waitin…

    In the Yakutsk airport, waiting to board our turboprop to Cherskiy!

    • By Tweet
    • July 06, 2009

  • Waiting for our flight to Cher…

    Waiting for our flight to Cherskiy, amazed at the volume of our luggage! Happy, healthy & excited! /kf http://twitpic.com/9j0c2 #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 06, 2009

  • From a coffee shop in the city…

    From a coffee shop in the city center of Yakutsk. Students looking at furs and maps with Wild Bill Sobczak. Last moment of peace. /js

    • By Tweet
    • July 05, 2009

  • Yakutsk!

    Hello Everyone! We’re well on our way to Cherskiy, although not quite there yet. We’re in Yakutsk now, finally somewhat rested and ready for the day. We haven’t had the chance to really do any science yet and only briefly discussed what sort of work we’ll be doing in Cherskiy, but one thing that I’ve [...]

    • By Claire Griffin
    • July 05, 2009

  • Cherskiy in Sight

    After a long few days of flying, sleeping, eating and getting to know the interesting people that encompass the Polaris group, I have found a few moments to reflect on my trip so far. My travels started in Boston, in which we experienced a delay in our flight due to a thunder storm. We were [...]

    • By Blaize Denfeld
    • July 05, 2009

  • Hello from Yakutsk

    Greetings from Yakutsk! We arrived here around 5:00 AM local time and are staying in a hotel next to the airport. During the past two days, those of us from the West Coast have flown on four planes across seventeen time zones. All the travel and time changes have left us feeling a bit jetlagged, [...]

    • By Joanne Heslop
    • July 05, 2009

  • We’re here! Yakutsk is our new…

    We’re here! Yakutsk is our new home for the next 48 hrs (largest city in the world on continuous permafrost). Wx report: 71F & rain. /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 04, 2009

  • On our next two flights, we wi…

    On our next two flights, we will hopefully see 4 of the 6 largest arctic rivers: Ob’, Yenisey, Lena & Kolyma. Science begins! /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 04, 2009

  • We’re on the ground in Novosib…

    We’re on the ground in Novosibirsk and have already set our watches ahead 12 hours since Chicago. /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 04, 2009

  • Where is “the Arctic”?

    In the previous post, Sudeep Chandra says that he hopes they’ll be able to post additional updates from Yakutsk before leaving for “the Arctic”.  This raises the question:  Where is the Arctic?  What do you think?

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 04, 2009

  • arrived safely yesterday, now leaving Moscow!

    We arrived safely in Moscow yesterday.  The students and faculty look like they have rested well from the journey here and out trip to Red Square.  It is exciting to see this place through the eyes of our students.  The food at our hotel was well… Russian fare but made by an Uzbek chef that [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 04, 2009

  • Good night in Moscow and a del…

    Good night in Moscow and a delicious breakfast of porridge. We’re packing back up for our flight to Yakutsk! /kf #fb

    • By Tweet
    • July 03, 2009

  • Asleep (hopefully) in Moscow…

    As I write this while sitting in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at 8:20 pm Eastern time, I’m hoping that all members of the expedition team are now sleeping soundly in the hotel in Moscow.  However, given the 11 hour flight they have just endured, the 8 hour time change, and the associated jet-lag, I suspect that [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 03, 2009

  • D-Day! (Departure Day)

    After a gripping round of icebreakers, the students–and professors– from St Olaf, Carleton, UNR, and Western Washington are anxiously awaiting their departure.  Bitting our nails, missing our parental figures, and frantically trying to complete required readings, we are ready to get on the plane! We hope to see the Clarkies soon and can’t wait to get started!

    • By Erin Seybold
    • July 02, 2009

  • Clarkies at Logan

    Hello, friends. Clarkies here just waiting for our delayed flight. See everyone in Chicago!

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 02, 2009

  • Polaris Project in the News

    As Andy Bunn mentioned, on June 30 an article about the Polaris Project was published in EOS, the weekly publication of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). You can view the article here. AGU is one of the world’s largest scientific societies, and all 50,000+ members receive EOS each week.  Membership to AGU is also one [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 02, 2009

  • Onward!

    Well, after months of planning and anticipation, the Polaris Project expedition to Siberia begins today. Congratulations to everyone for all of the work that has gotten us confidently to this point.  I greatly regret that I won’t be traveling with the group this year, though my regret is tempered by the fact that I’ll instead [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 02, 2009

  • Polaris in Eos

    Eos (subscription required) is a weekly publication of the American Geophysical Union. There is a nice article in yesterday’s issue describing the Polaris Project trip from last year and what we are up to this year. Eos reaches more than 50,000 scientists every week and will raise the profile of the project considerably. Max Holmes [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 01, 2009

  • hello there, my dear fellow bloggers.

    Before I begin my blog, I’d like to warn you all that I have no prior experience with blogs whatsoever.  What does that mean, you may ask?  Well, that means that I may end up writing about very non-bloggish things.  For example, in a hypothetical blog reading context, I would assume readers would like some [...]

    • By Brian Kantor
    • June 29, 2009

  • 2009 sea ice bets

    Some of the folks here at Polaris headquarters are betting on the minimum extent of arctic sea ice in 2009. We did this last year and then wrote about it again this year. We are not alone. Look here, here, and here. All Polaris folks are welcome to compete for the grand prize – being [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 25, 2009

  • Documenting science in action

    Thanks Andy for that great introduction. I’m very excited to join the team. I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce myself and talk about my role on the expedition. I am a science/nature photographer and researcher. I work part-time for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the Department of Physical Oceanography and the [...]

    • By Chris Linder
    • June 23, 2009

  • Woo hoo we’re going to the Arctic!

    All 4 of us here at Clark are getting very excited to get to Cherskiy! We recently made a trip down to visit Max Holmes and Kate Bulygina in Woods Hole, Massachusetts where we got a tour of the research center and got to ask questions about the upcoming trip! We were also given some [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • June 23, 2009

  • Why do we fly all the way around the world?

    The distance between my home in Bellingham, WA and the Northeast Science Station in Cherskiy is about 3,000 miles. That’s a long way but astute readers will notice that the field course participants end up traveling a long, long way to get to Cherskiy. For folks coming from Bellingham: (The map is a schematic – [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 16, 2009

  • All the new students have blog…

    All the new students have blog accts. Adding 11 new folks made me realize that this will be a different trip. Last year we had only 7! #fb

    • By Tweet
    • June 16, 2009

  • and have met with some success…

    and have met with some success! #fb

    • By Tweet
    • June 12, 2009

  • Still trying to integrate all …

    Still trying to integrate all the web 2.0 silliness – blog, twitter, and facebook #fb

    • By Tweet
    • June 12, 2009

  • Outreach Abroad

    I recently traveled back home to Bangkok, Thailand to visit family and thought this would be a great opportunity to share my research interests, experiences in Siberia, and thoughts on arctic science with the international community in Bangkok. I gave two presentations, one to the entire high school discussing the importance of arctic science in [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • June 08, 2009

  • Welcome Chris Linder

    An extraordinary new team member will be joining the Polaris Project field course this summer. Chris Linder is an award winning photographer and scientist who has traveled all over the world documenting scientific fieldwork. Chris has worked in Siberia before, traveling with Max Holmes and Kate Bulygina to the Far East a few winters back. [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 08, 2009

  • PolarisTweet

    The Polaris Project is on Twitter. We’ll work on getting followers a few weeks before the course starts. http://twitter.com/PolarisTweet

    • By Tweet
    • May 29, 2009

  • Google “sea ice pool”

    Go ahead. Last year we had a Polaris Project bet going to see who could guess the minimum sea ice extent in 2008.  Here were our guesses: Here’s what 2008 really looked like: Holly  won the pool and got the glory and acclaim that came with it (that was the only prize). The guesses last [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • May 29, 2009

  • Outreach in Wilbur

    I had the opportunity yesterday to give three class presentations at the junior high and high school I attended in my hometown of Wilbur, Washington.  I spoke with a wide range of students, from the 7th grade science class to the high school chemistry class.  All of the students were very interested in what I [...]

    • By Tyler Llewellyn
    • March 27, 2009

  • Arctic Science Summit Week

    I’m currently in Bergen, Norway at the 10th annual Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW).  One of the draws of attending the ASSW is the science symposium, in which I presented a couple talks and co-chaired the “Coastal Environments as a link between Land and Sea in the Arctic” session.  However, the long-term primary purpose of [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • March 27, 2009

  • Polaris Project YouTube Debut

    Clark University is entering the Web 2.0 world. Here is footage of a recent pubic presentation on the 2008 summer field course.

    • By admin
    • March 07, 2009

  • Peace Prize Highlights

    We are wrapping up the Polaris Project at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. It’s been a great experience for our team. We’ve had good meetings to plan logistics for the 2009 summer course in Cherskiy. We’ve had multiple chances to present our research to some of the 1000 participants at the forum – we all [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • March 07, 2009

  • In Northfield

    The American PI’s for the project are here in Northfield, MN for the Nobel Peace Forum.  It is great to see everyone and begin discussions on our plans for Russia this year.   The forum schedule looks pretty exciting and I am looking forward to hearing different topics related to climate change. -Sudeep

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • March 06, 2009

  • Polaris and Peace

    The Polaris Project PIs are in Northfield, MN at the 21st Annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum. The forum this year honors the scientists from the IPCC who won the Peace Prize in 2007. We’re being kept busy. The PIs are taking part in a panel discussion about climate change in the Arctic. John Schade and [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • March 06, 2009

  • Welcome New Students!

    We have just completed the selection of students for the 2009 Polaris Project field course.  It was a grueling process because we received applications from many more exceptional students than we could accept, but we’re thrilled with the outcome.  The new students are: Travis Drake and Moira Hough:  Carleton College Blaize Denfeld and Claire Griffin: [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 03, 2009

  • Arctic Research on NOVA

    A four-part NOVA special “On Thin Ice in the Bering Sea” has just been released, featuring scientists discussing their climate change research in the northern Bering Sea (including some brief highlights of my own work).  The series also focuses on the impacts of recent climate change and sea ice decline on indigenous communities in the [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • March 02, 2009

  • Boyd and Kate line up a talk

    Boyd and Kate will be giving a talk at Clark University about their experiences last summer as part of our student outreach efforts.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • February 06, 2009

  • Field course description, photos, and more

    Potential students (and their parents) are looking over the website as the application deadline draws near. We added some new photos – especially to the estuary album – and brought in some more information about the 2008 field course. Also, we’ve added some information about the 2008 students to the team page. We’ll be adding [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • February 02, 2009

  • Excitement builds for 2009!

    We had a good meeting in SF. Great to have all the PIs together and great to have some of the students present a sliver of their science. All the PIs have a list of things to work on as we get ready for the 2009 class. We’ll have updates galore in the new year [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • December 23, 2008

  • At AGU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Yesterday (Wednesday the 17th) we presented our poster titled “Biogeochemical characteristics of Siberia’s Kolyma watershed in relation to climate change and permafrost degradation” at the AGU conference.  We spoke to the head coordinator of the International Polar Year for education and outreach.  She was very enthusiastic about our project and future possibilities. It was exciting [...]

    • By Kate Willis
    • December 18, 2008

  • AGU Presentation

    Today, Tyler and I presented our poster at the AGU Conference, the most prominent earth science conference in the world, in San Francisco.  Our poster was located in the biogeosciences section and was titled ‘Using Dendrochronology and Remote Sensing to Assess Drainage Rates of Pan-Arctic Lakes.’ It was a great experience and we received a [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • December 18, 2008

  • Polaris meeting at AGU

    Most of the PIs and at least four of the students from the 2008 field class are meeting this week at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting. There are some 16,000 scientists attending this year and some of the highlights from the meeting will be webcast. NASA scientist Jim Hansen will be giving an important [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • December 15, 2008

  • New photos and better look and feel

    There is a new interface to the photo gallery. The site also has a more consistent look-and-feel. Thanks to Nikki D’Amico from WWU who worked on it as part of her web design portfolio. Max is going through all the pictures from the summer 2008 field class and we’ll be populating the new gallery with [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • December 15, 2008

  • Good press

    Here is a nice article on the Summer 2008 field class in the Worcester paper. Good job Matt, Kate, Boyd, Bill, and Karen – nice article!

    • By Andy Bunn
    • December 08, 2008

  • Website overhaul coming soon

    It is getting to the point where students at the various colleges and universities are looking at the website and contemplating applying to the field course and spending part of the summer in Siberia. As the reluctant web guy on the team, I can tell you that we are going to roll out some new [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • November 21, 2008

  • AGU and Outreach

    A few days ago, Tyler and I submitted an abstract to hopefully present at the AGU Conference in San Francisco in December.  With the help of Andy, Max, and Karen – we sent it in!  Thank you for the feedback and input!! Now that school has started and I’ve gotten into the groove of things, [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • September 15, 2008

  • Site is back up…

    The Polaris Project website was down for a bit shortly after our return to the US. The site was hacked and being used for some nefarious purpose.  We are back online but lost some of our content – Max’s heartwarming summary post from the Moscow cafe was among the causalities. In that post, Max wrote [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • August 19, 2008

  • Homeward bound…

    We’re all currently sitting in an cafe in Moscow, reflecting on the past 3+ weeks of the Polaris Project and getting excited about the fact that we’re heading home tomorrow. Several of us were talking yesterday evening about how difficult it will be to summarize the experience to our families and friends when we get [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 26, 2008

  • Our last days… LAB work!

    July 22, 2008 Upon return from a truly spectacular trip up North to the tundra, we’re back in Cherksiy and have spent the last few days in the labs analyzing and sifting through the countless water samples, tree rings, soil layers, organic matter, and gases collected since our expedition here began. It has been quite the [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 22, 2008

  • Into the tundra!

    7/21/2008 Yesterday afternoon, the students and PIs were given the options to either embark on an adventure up north by boat for a few days, or to work on data in Cherskiy.  The majority of us chose to travel north with hopes of seeing arctic tundra, reindeer herding camps, and possibly the Arctic Ocean!  So, last night [...]

    • By Kate Willis
    • July 21, 2008

  • A Journey Back to the Pleistocene!

    July 18, 2008 Today we went on an excursion to Pleistocene Park, Sergei Zimov’s largest experiment.  The park consists of roughly 40,000 acres of forest, shrubland, lakes, streams, and if Sergei has his way, grasslands.  At the park there is a cabin that houses two people that work at the park, various outbuildings to store equipment, and [...]

    • By Tyler Llewellyn
    • July 18, 2008

  • Off the river and thinking about mammoths

    July 17, 2008 Author: Sudeep Chandra As you may have gathered from the other blogs, we have just returned from a multiday trip up the Kolyma, a river that flows into the Arctic Ocean. We hired a ship to move the barge on which we are living, teaching, and collecting samples.  The barge would periodically [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 16, 2008

  • Kolymskoe and river water sampling

    7/16/08 Today began by splitting into our study groups. The filled-in lake (which are called alas) group went back to Duvannyi Yar and found a large alas to take some measurements in. The permafrost group analyzed their data collected from Duvannyi Yar. The lake group picked invertebrates from samples collected the day before and worked [...]

    • By Kate Willis
    • July 16, 2008

  • Arrival at Cherskiy station, 70 km from the ocean!

    July 14 2008 Author: Sudeep Chandra We arrived at the Cherskiy Research station a few days ago.  Check out our location by typing in “Cherskiy Russia” on Google maps. The ride in an old Russian turbo prop plane went much better than I had imagined.  I think the energy of the students, great company, and [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 14, 2008

  • Life on a Barge

    July 14th 2008 Our boyant “hotel-like structure” is being pulled up the Kolyma, en route for Duvannyi Yar. Valentin was especially excited, since he is a scientist from the Permafrost Institute in Yakutsk. We were told stories of huge exposures of permafrost, slowly thawing into the river, revealing mammoth, horse and bison bones buried for thousands [...]

    • By Matt Ruppel
    • July 14, 2008

  • Reflections on a meat donut

    July 14, 2008 Day three on the barge, and we are currently in the middle of the Kolyma river. The barge is being pulled along south so we can experience the range of environments along the river, and eventually bear witness to dynamic changes in permafrost when we reach Duvannyi Yar. So we have some [...]

    • By John Schade
    • July 14, 2008

  • Our First Day of Travel

    7/13/2008 When we woke up this morning we were slowly moving south along the Kolyma River.  Our destination is a two-day trip to Duvanniy Yar, a place were there are large permafrost exposures.  This morning we were confined to the barge as we moved upstream.  After going in circles for a while, we found a [...]

    • By Katie Abbott
    • July 13, 2008

  • Coring Trees and Scaling Fish

    July 12,  2008 Waking up early to help Sudeep organize his chlorophyll data, Kate and Boyd were busy analyzing and differentiating the data based on date and lake samples in the hopes of creating a baseline for samples taken this year as a part of the Polaris Project. It was great to finally have seen the [...]

    • By Tyler Llewellyn
    • July 12, 2008

  • New pictures

    There are a few new pictures on the site. We are trying to get them up as fast as the connection here allows. -Andy Bunn, WWU

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 11, 2008

  • Day 1 of fieldwork!

    This morning began with fresh minds, fresh rolls (with jelly!) and a talk given by Katey Walter about her research on methane emissions from nearby lakes.  These emissions have been increasing recently due to thawing permafrost.  We located some of these lakes on  a map, and then headed out for a tour of the surrounding [...]

    • By Kate Willis
    • July 11, 2008

  • Finally in Cherskii!

    July 10th After an early morning wake up (4:30 am) and breakfast on the way to the airport, we left Yakutsk in a small prop airplane.  While there had been quite a bit of disagreement over Cherskii’s time zone and the duration of the flight, we were all very excited to finally get to our [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 10, 2008

  • Data analysis and swimming in the Lena

    July 9, 2008 (We were unable to post this due to disabled internet connection in Cherskiy) Waking up fairly early to a delicious breakfast in our hotel (thank you Katey and others), we began our day with a quick trip to a local internet cafe to check our emails and to see if we could connect with the outside [...]

    • By Matt Ruppel
    • July 10, 2008

  • Well wishes from the States…

    Hey team, Holly here. I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still alive and I made it back ok…just ten pounds lighter (new Russian dieting technique?). Turns out that food poisoning was likely (I think it was that soup that Katie and I both ate in the airport…but she only had a cup). [...]

    • By holly.faulstich
    • July 09, 2008

  • Yakutsk, Eastern Siberian city of mammoth bones, permafrost, cultural diversity, and lattes!

    Greeting from eastern Siberia.  My name is Sudeep Chandra, one of the principal investigators on the Polaris Project and an assistant professor at the University of Nevada- Reno. Our trip to date has been filled with learning experiences for all involved. I feel honored to be part of a project where students are experiencing different [...]

    • By Sudeep Chandra
    • July 08, 2008

  • Home – NY – Moscow – Yakutsk… Cherskiy Tomorrow!

    We are now several days into our trip and we’ll finally reach Cherskiy, our final destination, tomorrow (if all goes as planned).  Things have gone mostly smoothly so far, with one notable exception.  One of the undergraduate students had a health issue (sinus infection) that was quite severe when we were in Moscow, and after several [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • July 08, 2008

  • Comments

    The ‘Comments’ on the blogs have been set up to work correctly now. Readers feel free to comment. I’ll have to approve them but will try to do so regularly. So make yourself heard! -Andy, WWU Professor and reluctant blogmaster.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 08, 2008

  • Здравствуите из Якутска!

    We arrived in Yakutsk around 10 am yesterday due to a plane delay in Moscow.  While the flight was technically a “red-eye”, it never was dark during its 6 hour duration.  In order to retrieve our baggage, a ticket had to be shown for each bag (a system drastically different from the United States).  We [...]

    • By Tyler Llewellyn
    • July 08, 2008

  • Thoughts from the Moscow airport

    July 7th, 2008 From the Moscow airport We have been traveling for a long time now and are waiting for, in some cases, our third red-eye in four days, as others have already mentioned.  We have used this time to get to know each other and to begin what will be an ongoing conversation about [...]

    • By John Schade
    • July 07, 2008

  • ресторан москва кафе стоп банк россна

    We arrived into Moscow early around 10:00 a.m. planning on spending several hours going through customs and ended up passing right through. Arriving at our ‘hotel’ nicknamed the Green Circle Hilton which was really a dormitory resembling a prison/hospital. There was a dog in the lobby. We had our first taste of borscht which was [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 07, 2008

  • Moscow

    We arrived in Moscow at dawn on July six. We made it through customs in a fairly short amount of time with all our scientific gear intact. Everybody was feeling pretty ragged as Kate Bulygina met the two minibuses she had hired and we loaded all the gear into one and all the people into [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 07, 2008

  • Leg one completed

    Tyler, Holly and I finished the first of our three overnight flights after landing at JFK at 7:00AM from Seattle. We met up with the St. Olaf crew fresh off field work in California and are trying get some rest before meeting the rest of the crew at the gate to catch our flight to [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • July 05, 2008

  • Just about ready..

    So I think I’m pretty packed and ready! More than anything I’m excited to finally begin this experience! It finally hit me that I’m GOING TO SIBERIA tomorrow morning!  How many people get to say that? Packing was somewhat difficult, it being hard to pack ‘light’ for a 3-week trip into western Siberia but I [...]

    • By Boyd Zapatka
    • July 04, 2008

  • Packing, preparing, etc.

    So the past few days have been spent getting together all of the unfamiliar equipment I’ve acquired this summer and trying to fit them into one duffel bag. Unsuccessfully. But what has been really enjoyable has been responding to the question “What are you up to this summer?” I think that going to Siberia is [...]

    • By Kate Willis
    • July 04, 2008

  • Ready to Go!

    After several months of work, on March 16, 2007, we submitted our Polaris Project proposal to the National Science Foundation’s International Polar Year grant competition.  Six months later we learned that our proposal was successful – the project would actually happen.  We’ve now completed our first round of on-campus courses at the collaborating colleges and [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • June 27, 2008

  • Max and Anya on the radio…

    Max and Russian student Anya Suslova did an interview on public radio about the Student Partners Project. They give a great interview and talk about the Polaris Project a bit at the end. Listen here. You’ll learn something about rivers in the Arctic and something about how the Polaris Project got started.

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 26, 2008

  • The Sea Ice Pool

    Betting on future climate has become a phenomenon on lately. See here and here, and here. (Those are all blogs I like by the way). In a related vein, there is also a pool for bets on what the minimum arctic sea ice extent will be in 2008. See here. Some foolish members of the [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • June 26, 2008

  • Max’s Update from Yakutsk, Siberia

    As part of another NSF funded project, I’m in Russia for ~3 weeks with a group of four people.  Two have never been to Russia before, so in some ways it is a good test run to help identify some of the logistical challenges we’ll face moving the Polaris Project group from the US to [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • March 10, 2008

  • Frey to conduct fieldwork in the northern Bering Sea on the Coast Guard Cutter Healy icebreaker

    In addition to having research interests in impacts of permafrost thaw on land-ocean linkages of carbon and nutrients in Siberia, my research also investigates carbon dynamics in coastal and shelf environments in the Arctic. My most recent project seeks to determine impacts of sea ice variability and polynya formation on biological productivity and spring phytoplankton [...]

    • By Karen Frey
    • March 07, 2008

  • Methane Madness

    Who I Am I am an aquatic an aquatic ecologist and biogeochemist interested in carbon and nutrient cycling between terrestrial and aquatic systems, the cryosphere and atmosphere. I am also one of the organizers of the Polaris Project. I have worked in Cherskii since 2000, and have a passion for science in Russia, particularly when [...]

    • By Katey Walter
    • February 27, 2008

  • Holy Cross Professor Eager to Extend Reseach and Teaching Efforts to Arctic Ecosystems

    I am a stream biogeochemist and ecologist who has studied the fate of terrestrial-derived organic matter and aquatic primary production in a variety of aquatic ecosystems spanning from small headwater streams to large estuaries. I have instructed courses in Freshwater Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, and Environmental Biology at Holy Cross College annually since 2002. The primary [...]

    • By Bill Sobczak
    • February 13, 2008

  • Meet the team…

    The Polaris Project is moving forward. The team is in the process of selecting the inaugural class for the field class and we are going start blogging about our activities in earnest. The various team members are going to start making short posts that highlight their research and tell us something about who they are [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • February 13, 2008

  • The winter weather in Cherskii

    While perusing wunderground.com, I checked out the temperature in Cherskii. It’s cold over there right now, which makes sense at 69°N. Here is a link to the Google Map for the area. It was -38°C today (-40°C is -40°F) . It just set me to wondering about the summer temperatures. We’ll be there in July [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • January 16, 2008

  • 14,000 and growing…

    Every December a huge number of scientists gather in San Francisco for the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). This year there were over 14,000 attendees, and the number grows every year. Though the meeting covers almost all aspects of earth and planetary science, climate change and polar regions were clearly dominant themes. [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • January 08, 2008

  • Sea ice

    Arctic ice, both sea and land, has been in the news quite a lot lately and I expect we’ll hear more about it once the world’s leading ice scientists present at AGU in a few weeks. however, in the last few days I’ve come across two really interesting things. The first was a seminar from [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • November 30, 2007

  • Welcome to the Polaris Project website and blog

    ‘Global warming’ is all over the news these days, mainly because of changes that are happening far away or because of events we fear may happen some time in the future. But in the Arctic, big changes are happening now. The Polaris Project will train undergraduates at five US universities and one Russian university to [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • November 28, 2007

  • Northward Bound!

    The Polaris Project will give undergraduate students the opportunity to witness the changing Arctic first-hand as they participate in a field course and research experience in northeastern Siberia (8 time zones east of Moscow!). After completing an on-campus course associated with the Polaris Project, a select group of undergraduate students will travel with project scientists [...]

    • By Max Holmes
    • November 28, 2007

  • The Polaris Project Web Site is Live

    Well, somehow I didn’t hide underneath the desk fast enough when Max asked how we were going to get a Polaris Project web site up. I thought he was just asking me for things I thought should be on the site. Like a blog, and photo sharing, and a wiki, and a place for students [...]

    • By Andy Bunn
    • November 28, 2007