Update on Summer Plans

Hello Again, 

So I figured it's time for an update so those of you viewing this blog have an idea of what adventures I will going on this coming summer.  The current summer schedule is setting up:

June 12 - July 3 

I will be participating in the International Polar Year 2009 Summer Field School in Svalbard.  This will be my first trip overseas!  Svalbard is a group of islands just east of Greenland and about midway between the tip of Norway and the North Pole.  It's actually under the government of Norway.  I'm very excited and honored that I was selected to participate!  There were approximately 20-30 graduate students worldwide selected to take part in this program from a wide variety of polar science fields.  I will post more information on this adventure as I learn more about what I'll be up to.  If you're curious to see where Svalbard is on the map here's a link to a website with more information:  http://wikitravel.org/en/Svalbard

July 4

I'll be flying out of Svalbard on July 3, and my plane actually stops in Minneapolis on the way back to Fairbanks, Alaska.  So I'm hoping to actually spend the 4th of July this year with my mom and dad in Annandale, Minnesota!  That would be the first time I've celebrated the 4th in Minnesota in 3 years!  This past summer I was interning at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, and the summer before that I was interning at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii.  Fingers crossed it works out and my flights aren't delayed, I know it would be wonderful to see the family again!  I haven't been home now since the first week in January, and my next opportunity to see them will be in October or December.

July 7 - July 19

Soon after I return to Fairbanks, Alaska I will be participating in the RAP/IARC Summer Field course concerning Global-to-Local Interactions: Assessing Social-Ecological Resilience in a Rapidly Changing North.  I am also so thankful and honored to have been selected to participate!  There were ~15 graduate students selected from worldwide applicants to participate.  During this time we will be meeting to share our own research, and then going out into the field in Northern Alaska.  The itinerary so far includes stops in Northern Alaska at:

- Bonanza Creek - Long-term Research Program (1 day)

  working on moose and fire ecology 

  - Dalton Highway and Wiseman/Coldfoot, Alaska

plant ecology with climate change

Issues facing a village on the road system

National Park management and ecological monitoring

-Toolik Lake Field Station (1 day)

Global processes (flux; watershed ecology, thermokarst)

-Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay (1 day)

Oil field facilities

Fish and wildlife of the North Slope, Alaska

-Village... aka "bush" Alaska (location of visit TBA)  (3 days)

Local observations and adaption to change

Energy, climate change, and human migraiton

Local observations and adaptation to change

Policy issues affecting village sustainability

August 13 - Septemper 10

This is my most recent summer opportunity.  My thesis advisor, Dr. Igor Polyakov, has invited me to tag along on the NABOS (Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System) research cruise in the Arctic Ocean north of Scandinavia and Russia.  The cruise takes place on a russian icebreaker ship that checks ocean moorings and buoys in the Arctic Ocean that monitor ocean and climate.  These measurements play a key role in documenting changes in the Atlantic Water Layer in the Arctic Ocean, that may be impacting the changes we are seeing in sea-ice cover over the Arctic.  More information can be found at:  http://nabos.iarc.uaf.edu/objectives.php

I'm very very excited about this opportunity!  More information will also be posted on this adventure soon.  I'm currently working on a publication with Dr. Ron Kwok of NASA JPL and my advisor, Dr. Igor Polyakov, utilizing data from past cruises to study some of these changes that we're seeing in Arctic ice cover.  I'm turning into a work-a-holic, but it will be so wonderful to look back on this when I'm older to see how I was at the leading edge of scientific research in the Arctic!  

So I'm very very excited for the adventures that await me this summer.  I'm a little sad that I will be missing out on a large part of the beautiful and all too short Alaskan summer, but these are opportunities of a lifetime and they're impossible to pass up!  I promise to take lots and lots of pictures, I've been saving up to buy a nice new digital SLR camera to help me document the sights.  I'm also going to try to put together a big collage with any friends and family that would like to "join" me on my adventure.  My thoughts are to take this with me and take photos of all of my friends on the ice up in the Arctic with me so you can all share and tell your friends that you were in the Arctic too... haha!  If you'd like to have your picture included send me a picture of yourself and I'll add it to the collage.  I'll try to write up another blog just on this subject in the near future so no one will miss out.

That's it for tonight up in Alaska.  It got up to 70 degrees F today!  Most of the snow is now gone, aside from the shaded areas on my driveway and in the backyard, as well the wooded areas around town.  People are happy as can be now that the sun has returned.  As I write this it is 11:05 PM and the sun set within the last 45 minutes.  It will remain twilight past midnight and the sun will rise tomorrow before 5 AM.  We're approaching nearly 24 hour sunlight!  It really messes with your head and you loose track of time!  

Take care!  I miss you all and send warm happy wishes your way!

The Road Trip of a Lifetime!

Here's a blog post I wrote for another site back in October of 2008.  The post is about my move to Alaska back in mid August of 2008.  Approximately 4,000 miles from my parents' home in Maple Lake, Minnesota to Fairbanks, Alaska.  Enjoy!

Hmmm... where to start...

I guess first of all some reflections on Alaska.... It's Beautiful! I love the landscape! The drive up here on the Al-Can was nothing short of the road trip of a lifetime. I love my dad sooooo much! We had a lot of really interesting and deep conversations on the drive, I am so greatful for that time we had together now that we're so far apart. We drove around 1,000 miles a day for 4 days to get from my parents house in Maple Lake, Minnesota to Fairbanks, Alaska. That's like 10-12+ hours a day... haha... so lots and lots of time together in my lil Corolla. 

The first part of the trip was through western North Dakota... which I was shocked to learn had a lot of oil drilling going on... we saw lots and lots and lots of fields.... and the same landscape of oil drilling and fields continued well on into Canada. We made it about 3-4 hours into Canada on our first day and found a campground to spend the night at. Both of us in my lil 2 man tent that I had just bought at Cabela's. We had cots that barely fit into the tent so it was a very very tight fit... haha... but all that more entertaining when dad started snoring... haha. I actually didn't mind the snoring though... it was just normal for me to hear it because growing up we'd always here dad snoring at night.... haha... kinda reminded me of those good ol days. 

Towards the end of the 2nd day of our trip we started to get to the pretty landscape... some of the beginnings of the mountains... there was a TON of driving the 2nd day because we wanted to get further along so we're have time for sightseeing in alaska before dad had to fly home. Did you know that gas is Sky High in canada... like seriously... we were paying (converted to US dollars) any where from 5.50.... to 7.50 a gallon... lol... it was insane... The second night we stayed at a hotel... Dad said we had earned it for all of the miles we had put on... and it was nice to have a hot shower. 

Come morning we were back on the road again now into the Alaska Range... SOOOOoooo beautiful! Around every bend whoever happened to be in the passenger seat at the time just kept clicking away with the digital camera.... lol.... We also made it to the official start of the Al-Can (Alaska-Canada Highway) and the whole time during this trip we were following along with "The Milepost" magazine/book. They have lil tidbits about every 10 miles or so about a steep road ahead or watch for wildlife... or beware of Bison on the road... yes Bison... crazy enough there are a lot of them wandering along the roads in canada. So the end of that night we made it to a nice sized town and headed in to find this awesome place for dinner that we had read about in the book. We waited outside on the street for about an hour before we were seated... haha... but it was well worth the wait. We had the Bison Steak and Moose Stew...and of course some Alaska Beer....mmmmmmmmm sooooo good! After dinner the sun was starting to set so we hurried to try to find a place to camp for the night... the one we had staked out was really really weird... Nothing but crazy Hippies!!! I SWEAR!!! Oh my gosh it was insane I don't know how else to describe it.... dad was like lets just find a spot here but i was tooo weirded out... lol... so we drove around and eventually found another campground with a spot open. When we tried to set up the tent the ground was rock hard and the stakes wouldn't go in and dad was getting very very frustrated... which never happens... i think the hours on the road were getting to him... so i tried to make light of the situation... haha... we ended up moving the tent into the woods... haha.. kinda funny... guess you had to be there. 

Next morning ... up bright and early again... and started as always with our morning stop at the gas station to fill up the tank.... debug the windsheild... lol... and fill up on Coffee... MMmmmmm I love my coffee!!! This leg of the trip was amazing too! We started to see more hitchhikers which i guess is a common scene... kinda weird to me though... We eventually crossed into Alaska and made the treck up to Fairbanks... at this point I was starting to get that nervous feeling... I was extremely anxious to arrive and a lil sad too. We eventually made it into town and found my new house. We pulled up to the house and met Steve my landlord/owner of the house. Then after lots of akwardness we headed to Sourdough Sam's for something to eat. After some interesting dinner chat about Steve and fairbanks we stopped at the store for some local beer and went back to my new place. 

Dad and I had a few beers on the deck and watched the sunset and made plans to go to Denali Park the next morning. The next day we got up early and drove down about 3 1/2 hours to Denali Park. We ended up getting on a bus into the park... it was about 9 hours round trip. The park is BREATHTAKING! A must see at some point in your lifetime! We really lucked out because we had a clear morning and were able to clearly see Mount McKinley aka Denali... aka highest mountain in North America. We also saw Tons of wildlife... and dad... being the hunter he is... was able to spot Tons! We saw over a dozen grizzley bears... they're Massive! We even saw 2 of them fighting... and a few mama bears with cubs. We saw caribou aka reindeer, moose, and doll sheep. It was a Great Day! One that I'll never ever forget!!! On the drive back at the end of the day Dad told me how nice it was to go on the trip with me... mom would have never been able to sit for that long... and dad also said it was the first trip he's been on in a long time where the passenger wasn't sleeping or reading or something while he was driving... I'm so glad he was able to come with me!!!

So the next morning was a lil bittersweet... we slept in and it was the last day he was here with me. In the morning we drove up to see campus... which was kinda neat. I'm glad he was able to see where I work. It makes it a lot easier to talk about people and work when he know's what and who I'm talking about... haha... After that we drove around and explored town a lil before coming back to the house to grab his things. We were both really sad but trying to hide it. Dad went out on the deck for a long time facing away and just looking at the landscape... Eventually I went out there too and we were both trying to choke bad the tears and be strong. That only lasted so long.... he came over to my side of the deck and put his arms around my shoulders and said... "I'm so proud of you Becki".... I lost it. We stood there hugging and I was crying so hard I was shaking and he was crying too. I've only seen my dad cry 1 time in my life and that was when his mom (my grandma) died.... we stood there talking and crying and hugging for like a half hour. He told me he was so proud I had the guts to come up here and try this and reach for my goals... and he also said that no matter what happened I always had "home" in minnesota. Before you know it ... it was time for him to get to the airport...

That was the hardest drive ever.... dropping him off and giving him that one last hug.... man I swear it killed me.... we were both sobbing once again as we let go of each other... him heading into the terminal.... and me driving away alone.... I cried and cried and cried the whole drive back to the house...

I tried to distract myself but it didn't work... That night and the next few nights I cried myself to sleep... It was so weird to get so close again and share such an amazing trip with my dad and then have to say goodbye for 4+ months. I was also coming to the realization that I really was Alone.... and I really needed to get out and meet some new people... which leads me to my next section...

Man sorry this is crazy long... but it's been a long time since I've blogged so I guess it's due....

I'm alone up here... it's insane... I slowly started to meet people in the department I work in but people up here aren't like the people in Minnesota and North Dakota. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves and/or has a really tight group of friends to stick with... which has made fitting in up here really really difficult for me. 

I've started to learn to just kinda do my own thing. I spent my birthday alone at home in my room with a bottle of wine and a few good disney movies... nothing close to the fun last year out with my Amazing friends in North Dakota... but I guess it's time to grow up and move on too... i dunno. Sometimes I just get kinda bummed out up here... it's hard but hopefully things will get better... 

I know I CAN'T WAIT for Christmas break.... I miss home and my family... and my friends... more than I ever thought I would... Sigh... I'm all talked out for now... write more later...

So that's the roadtrip in a nutshell... sorry about the sad part at the end.  I didn't want to edit this though because it's something I want to be able to look back and reflect on in the future.  My first semester here was pretty hard... it's breathtakingly beautiful up here but it took me some time to "find my feet" up here.  Now all is well so no need to worry ;)  Happier posts to come soon!

Update and gameplan for the blog

Alright so here's the gameplan.... I'm going to start by sharing experiences I've had since I moved to Alaska to update everyone.  I may slip in posts about new adventures that come up in the process as well.  Once I'm caught up on my Alaska adventures I may also go back and share more about this past summer living in Virginia and working at NASA Langley Research Center... as well as the summer of 2007 living in Hilo, Hawaii and working for NOAA at the Mauna Loa Observatory.  So here goes nothing.... the post you'll see above this will include the road trip I took with my Dad up the Al-Can highway moving to Alaska.  I wrote it for another blog site this past fall.  Enjoy!

A place to look back on past adventures...

Welcome to my new blog!

So I've been trying finally get around to starting a blog for like a year now, so this is finally it!  I was just talking with Julie the other day about how nice it would be to have an online journal to look back at one day, and read up on all of the adventures life had thrown at me throughout the years... so here it is!!!

Julie your blog was my inspiration.. haha!  You always have such neat adventure stories so it's about time I finally start this!  So here goes nothing!  Check back whenever you like, I'll try to post a few pictures and short updates about where life leads me in my day to day life.  I love comments too so feel free to let me know what you think.  This could be a great way for my family and friends in the lower 48 to see what I'm up to.  I love you and miss you all!