Kate Willis

Kate Willis

Kate is a 2008 alumna of the Polaris Project. Kate came to the project from Clark University and worked on a research project surveying watershed chemistry and biology.

Kate’s journal: July 11, 2008
Today was our first full day in Cherskiy.  It is amazing here.  Such a beautiful and remote landscape.  I have never seen anything like it.  The field station is so cool!  It looks like we jumped into one of the pictures Karen showed us in class in January!  I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE HERE!

Journals

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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