I have been slacking on this blog… mostly because there is nothing new to say. We are super busy, super stressed, and the summer is coming to a close (sadly). After the summer of work is over, Tim, Jenny, Sergio, Christian, and I will be going to Denali national park for a few days, then Christian and I are off to south Alaska until I return home on September 3rd. So, that is exciting.

Christian and I went for a short drive along the coast the other day (before our adventure got rained out). But here’s some photos:

I hate to be so short when I haven’t posted in so long… but, Jackie Brown is playing in the kitchen, and I have to watch it at least once before the end of the summer, in honor of Jeremy May. Then, it’s to bed early to try to kick this cold.

The weekend was very busy, but it was a nice break from Barrow. We had sunshine for the past 2 days, with very little rain. It was so nice to actually be enjoying the weather outside for the first time this week. Tomorrow, it is back to Barrow to continue cover assessment on the crazy grid mentioned previously.

Well, I am at a loss for words. I am exhausted, and out of exciting things to say. But, here’s some photos to make up for my blogging incompetence, and also some words to help explain.

This little bird is going for a ride on the trolley cables. They are actually moving, and he/she is riding along on those small pieces of wood. I attempted to catch it on video, but it flew off before I had the chance.

All of the supplies needed for an evening trip to the field with Jenny- Craisins, Pringles (full and empty cans), bubbles, containers to collect “tundra cake”, and Mt. Dew.

This is a Salix (willow) that is diseased.

A caribou that was laying down munching away very close to where Jenny and I were working in Barrow. He stayed for quite a while, tends to hang out around our sites lately.

A couple of aerial views on the way over to Atqasuk.

Well, today was interesting to say the least. I will not go on and on about everything that went wrong, because I am sure that no one wants to hear me complain. But, to sum it up: Changing flights= way too expensive, Julien ate my poptarts, rain, rain, more rain, cover assessment on a forest of lichens took almost 4 hours on one plot, laptop for NIMS broken, rain, rain, rain, truck stuck, rain, rain, done. I am now looking forward to relaxing for the night… playing cards on my computer and eating as many oreos as my stomach can handle.

Yesterday was a better day. We didn’t go out the field until after lunch, and the weather was beautiful. Jenny and I worked on NIMS for about 6 hours and got 4 plots done. All the while, we had a caribou friend laying down and eating some grass and lichens about 70m or less from where we were working. Cute little guy… he walks around our sites all the time. I will try to get some pictures soon. We have these big flags and posts around that he likes to scratch his head on.

Here’s some photos from the last time I was down in Aqasuk:

The team is planning a trip to Atqasuk for the weekend to hopefully escape some of the stresses of Barrow for a few days. I am hoping the mosquitoes are not too bad so that we can enjoy some hikes and fun field days (preferably rain-free).

So, then we lean over the sides of these boards all day, look at plants, at say what percent of each square each species is. Yesterday, it took us 7 hours (with lunch) to do 5 plots. Very time consuming, and it really does a number on your lower back.

The first day we did this, we did two plots because of the weather. It was rainy, windy, and cold. Jenny and I got so cold that our hands were SWOLLEN. I have never had that experience before. So, we called the quits after two. Jeremy May was working on this project with Jenny before he went back to MI. The two of them successfully got a lot of the plots done… Jenny and I as of right now have 26 left to do.

Well, I was hoping to write more but, duty calls. The internet has been going in and out, so I will try to post again when I can.

Jeremy was right, the mosquitoes are getting much more organized in their attacks… they are attempting to take out the things that I need up here the most- my hands (used for measuring and counting), my eyes (used for seeing plants), and my ears (used for listening to my iPod so that I do not go insane). I guess this is their way of saying “Welcome back to Atqasuk!”

Oh well, overall we had a very productive day in the field yesterday with the boss (who is back up here for the week). We spent most of the day discussing our new project, it’s importance, why it’s so interesting, and so forth and so on. Julien and I then did some counts out on the ARCSS grid, and realized that we are actually super fast, and think we can EASILY get the plots on the grid done today (I am a little skeptical as I look outside at this weather, but we will see).  Yesterday, in the hour and a half that we spent actually doing the counts, we were able to finish an entire row of the subset plots (5 plots), leaving us with 5 rows left to do (25 plots).

I just found another bugbite on my finger. Great.

Before I left Barrow, while waiting for the plane, Tim and I decided to be tourists and take our photos at a touristy Barrow location:

So, there’s me and Tim, being tourists. That pole is actually really cool. You can’t see it in the photo very well (unless you click it to make it bigger), but each of the arrows off of it tells you the number of miles to different places, like the north and south poles.

Well, I have been assigned by the boss man to teach myself how to use this pretty intense stats program… so I am about to start every morning with an online tutorial. We will see how it goes. So much for learning Spanish this summer…

Things are going well here. Tim and I have been working hard, trying to get as much done as possible before Jenny and Jeremy arrive to work on the NIMS grid here in Barrow, at which time I will be sent back to Atqasuk… I  am not sure if I am happy about that or not yet. Just as I am getting used to being in Barrow, it will be time for us to switch. I am not ready for the heat or the bugs of ATK… but, I could be happy with working on some easier sites… I guess we will see.

The boss man is getting here on Thursday to check on our progress. That should be interesting. I feel like we have been working our tails off, but it is inevitable that we will hear how unimpressed the boss is with our progress.  I think he just hides how happy he truly is with what we are doing in order to make us work harder. It works… at least for me.

That is how I started my email to the boss man yesterday, after a trial run of the individual counts Tim and I are supposed to be working on. So, in a total of 90 plots, we have 5 10cm by 10cm squares. In each of these squares we have to count the number of individual plants of each species. This is difficult when you have a very tiny plant, buried beneath a mat of dead grass or a branches of a shrub. Also, for one of the species in my plots (Salix rotundifolia), I have to count leaves. Yes, leaves. You may not think this is a big deal, but many of you have never seen this plant. It’s leaves are less than a cm long or wide (very, very small), and they love to overlap each other and hide underneath other things… it was fun.  In one square that was not even half filled with this plant, I counted 214 leaves. Then I still had to count all of the other plants, and do 4 more squares before I could finish just that one single plot. It was taking forever. Tim was clocking in at about a half hour per plot at his site, and I was at about 20 min. I emailed the boss to let him know it was taking forever, and his response: “Oh, only a half hour per plot? I thought it would take a lot longer than that. Sounds great.” Cool.

So, this project is pretty much going to consume my life for the next few days. While out on the tundra a couple days ago, I took some pictures of a bird. Not sure what it is… I have been told about 30 times but I can never remember. I think it’s some kind of sandpiper, but don’t take my word on that. Anyway, these birds have a nest by one of our plots out on the ARCSS grid, and they get kind of upset when we get close to it. So, they will actually fly and land pretty close to you. Also, Christian took a few pictures of me working while we were in ATK. They are the only pictures I have of me working, so here you go:

That’s it for now. Time to go count some more leaves.

Walking out to the sites the other day in the fog and wind, I said to Tim “Well, it’s just another typical Barrow day,” only to hear the response from the ever sarcastic Timothy, “Yep, first one this week.” That gave me a good laugh. According to some, Barrow is alwasy cold and wet. Those are “typical” days. I beg to disagree. Weather in Barrow has been really nice. Sunny and beautiful and pretty warm… usually in the low 40s lately. Tim even soaked up the sun on the boardwalk during a 30 second catnap the other day while i was remarking a plot. Of course, there is the occasional cold and wet day… when you just feel a mist on your face all day while you work… but this is far from “typical”, in my opinion.

Things have been super busy. Tim and I have been busting our rears trying to get the Barrow dry site completely remarked. I also made a brand new map book for the site. We use mapbooks to show us where each individual is located in the plot so that it can be found easily for various measurements. Before and after pictures are below. The “before” is the mapbook I used last year. It was rough.

Everything is going to be so much more efficient with the new mapbook. I am very, very excited. EFFICIENCY (for you, Jenny)!

Another project Christian, Tim, and I worked on for 2 nights was our very own “Top of the World Monopoly” game. We made a board, money, property cards, chance cards, and community chest cards. All of the “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards had funny things on them that have happened up here in Barrow. For instance, “Jenny drove the ATV in to the river. Pay $30 to get it pulled out” or “You got the truck stuck on the beach! Wait a turn.” All of the properties are locations in Barrow, like the NARL huts, Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant, and Joe’s Museum. We even converted the airlines to the airlines up here, and made the utilities in to “Water truck” (which is what delivers water to our huts), and “Northern Lights Electric”. We were able to play last night when Jenny and Julien got back in to town. Also, Jeremy arrived last night! The three of them already left to go back to Atqasuk. Jeremy is only up for 18 days to help with the NIMS grid project. So, that leaves me, Tim, and Julien in charge of the ITEX sites, as well as some extra work on the ARCSS grid. I know all of the acronyms don’t mean anything to most of the people reading this, but just know that all of this equals a LOT of work to be done in a very short period of time.

Things have been going well in Barrow. I do have to say that I miss some things about Atqasuk… but I am very comfortable in Barrow for the time being. Since being in back in Barrow, I have learned a few things:
1. Nothing goes as you had planned, so don’t even bother trying to schedule.
2. If it’s foggy in the morning, chances are it will be a nice evening.
3. If it’s a nice morning, it will probably be a foggy night (like right now).
4. No matter how late I drink caffeine, I still sleep like a rock from exhaustion
5. My OCD of having to have everything clean and organized is getting worse and worse…
6. The fire alarm really says ‘Fire, Fire” … but in an unnervingly calm voice
7. The washing machine is swiss, but speaks french

That is all for now. It’s time to work until dinner… and then work more after. I guess I should make some coffee.

One of the things I am doing this summer is helping Mac Butler’s research group from North Dakota collect insect samples. Mac and Dan (one of his researchers) were kind enough to let us sit next to them when we went to the whale festival a while back, and today Mac emailed me some pictures:

Sadly, we did not attend any of the 4th of July festivities like we had planned due to the pretty bad weather that day, and the massive amount of work we needed to get done. Hopefully I will get to see them next year.

Well, being that this is the last night we will have all together for quite some time, we are having some carrot cake as an early birthday celebration. Will write again soon, sorry for the long delay previously.

Julien and I have been very busy finishing the prep work on the sites here. For each species in our plots, we have 3 individuals that we mark and measure every year. They are marked with very small popsicle stick like markers that we write the species and individual number on. For instance, for “Cassiope tetragona individual 3”, we will have a stick that says “CTET3” in the plot so that we can find it to measure at the end of the year. Well, it has been a while since the sticks have been replaced, and one of our projects this year is to replace them all. So, let’s say there are 6 species in the site (there is more than that, but let’s low-ball the estimate). 6 species, times 3 individuals each, times 48 plots, times four sites… so that makes… 3,456 sticks to paint, write on, and replace in the plots. Oh, such a fun, fun time it has been. Julien and I have finished marking the Atqasuk wet site, and are almost done with the dry site here. Jenny and dim have a much more difficult job in Barrow… there are more species and the plots are much more dense with plants. While Julien and I can remark an entire site in about 5 or 6 hours, Jenny and Tim (last I checked) were moving that the pace of 30 minutes per plot… so it would take them 24 hours to complete a site. Sorry guys… good luck!

The weather here the past few days has been interesting… we have had a mix of snow and rain for the past two days out in the field. I usually do not mind snow or rain… but working in it with 15-20mph winds, and having it constantly hit you in the face for a few hours is not very enjoyable. Of course, the weather is like this in the morning while we work, and right now at 8PM, it is sunny and beautiful outside. I have been considering changing my sleep schedule and sleeping all day and working at night. It is 24 hour day light, so I could do that without a problem.

I wish I had more interesting things to talk about… but the past few days have only consisted of work, work, work. At night we do sit down and watch a movie before bed, but that is not something fun and exciting to write about in my blog.

In other news, it’s July 1st. That means only 11 days until my 20th birthday. As much as I pretend like I am not excited or don’t care about celebrating my birthday… every year I still count down and get really excited on the day of. I guess that means I am still a kid at heart. It seems to me that this blog is long and seems slightly boring, so I apologize… I will try to make something interesting happen in the next couple days so that my next blog can be fun and exciting. We will be going back up to Barrow for the 4th… they have a parade and some other celebrations. I am hoping to get some good pictures to post and have some fun experiences to write about. But, for now, to continue with my uneventful traditions, it’s time for a cup of tea and a movie, then off to bed.