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16 March, 2001Moose for dessert! At last! Exercise paid off! I encountered a mother moose & her calf as I took a jog around campus (see photos.) They seemed oblivious to traffic and were patient enough to wait for me to run back to get the camera! Now, if only I could get a shot of the Aurora! Thursday would mean another day out on the lakes at Poker Flat. This time, however, our team of Fairbanks teachers would not be joining us. They would be at home, trying to scrounge a few precious days of well-deserved R&R out of their vacation week. Martin, Kim, and I would be visiting three lakes, most importantly "MST"-- the undisturbed site that was most consistently monitored all winter. The MST transect had three unique pieces of equipment that were designed to measure the ice thickness without the need to drill. Naturally, drilling increases the chance of flooding (due to the weight of the snow on the frozen surface.) Flooding, in turn, prevents growth at the base of the ice and causes the formation of "snow ice" at the surface (see yesterday's photos.) REMINDER: If you haven't entered the "ICE THICKNESS COMPETITION 2001" there IS still time to do so! Prizes will be awarded to both Woodstock Academy students AND to non-W.A. students who come up with the closest predictions! You have until Wednesday, March 28th to enter! Our Thursday visit to Poker Flat would be my last for a while. I have come to appreciate the silence and solitude of this part of Alaska. It is truly the quietest place that I have ever known. I can also understand why there is a struggle to preserve the Alaskan wilderness, America's "last frontier". I would like to call attention to the work of a scientist from DURHAM CONNECTICUT. Those of you from Coginchaug Regional High School, take note! Steven Kalinowski (a CRHS graduate) has his Ph.D. in Conservation Biology, and is working to bring attention to the debate over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Visit his web site at http://www.arcticeden.org and find out more about his efforts.
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