Wrangell Mountains Center – Lindsay in the Arctic

Until the Next Ice…

It seems like yesterday that we all came together from all over the world for this International Summer School in Glaciology. The village of McCarthy and the Wrangell Mountains Center have been gracious and amazing hosts, and many thanks go to the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute and International Arctic Research Center, in particular Regine Hock and Vladimir Alexeev, for organizing such an unforgettable learning experience. Throughout this course, which was funded and supported by the National Science Foundation, I know that all participants taught and learned from each other, and met new friends and potential future collaborators. I am honored to have been invited to join this experience along with the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science – I have met amazing people and learned so much from them, and I hope in return I have imparted knowledge and inspiration to them about how important it is to effectively communicate scientific research to the public. And I hope you have enjoyed following along with all of us on this blog! We have now officially had our closing banquet on our last night here in McCarthy (which included quite the entertaining competition for best and funniest photo and video taken during the summer school), and then joined together for a bonfire at the campsite (“glaciology terminology jeopardy” may have been played around the fire). A fitting end to a fantastic experience.

mini-SAM_3200crop — A celebratory bonfire on our last night together in McCarthy

mini-summer-school-group — Our group on the glacier (photo: Andy Aschwanden)

Power, Toilets, and Bears

When we first arrived in McCarthy, we got the run-down of how things work from the super knowledgeable and helpful Wrangell Mountains Center staff, which included rules and safety. If you want to visit or live in McCarthy, here’s what you have to know. As we were told, it’s about “power and toilets and bears.”

We are off the grid, so power only comes from solar panels and generators. Charge your phone, computer, camera only in daytime, and preferably only when it’s sunny. Electricity is expensive.

mini-SAM_2113 — A McCarthy home, with solar panel

Meals are in the old hardware store, thanks to the Wrangell Mountains Center. They are prepared for us, served buffet-style, and are always yummy, and then we all wash our own dishes. Everyone conributes.

mini-SAM_2048 — Yummy meals and good company in the old hardware store…

mini-SAM_2098 — …or outside the hardware store

Instructors are staying in the 6 room backpacker’s hotel, while students are camping. For campers, there is an outdoor toilet and shower, and hot water comes on request from “Ernestine the Hot Water Tank.”

As for bears, if you go out for a walk on your own, be sure to “make noise and say ‘hey bear,’” so bears know you’re there. And never keep food in your tent. All good pointers. I don’t have a picture of a bear yet. I really want one, but I guess I should be careful what I wish for…

McCarthy, Alaska

I am totally enamored. Or back in time. Or maybe both. After a spine-jarring two hour drive on a dirt and gravel road, we stopped at a bridge over a clear, rushing stream. The bridge is just wide enough for someone to walk or bike over it, so we grabbed our backpacks and continued on foot along the dirt road into the lovely village of McCarthy, which is home to just 28 people (as of the 2010 census), and the fantastic Wrangell Mountains Center. At first glance, it appears to be a frontier town as you might imagine seeing a couple hundred years ago. But today, even though McCarthy has amenities like wifi access, this place is still a frontier. It is a frontier not only for adventurers and potential new residents seeking a quieter life in a stunning landscape, but it is also a fronier for scientific discovery. Being at the foot of mountains and glaciers, it is a perfect place for a glaciology summer school. McCarthy will serve as home base, campground, conference center and lecture hall, and the place where we will all learn more about this dynamic environment, how changes in climate affects it, and how changes in it in turn affect the world.

Here is a little tour of McCarthy. It won’t take long, but you will be instantly enamored too.

mini-SAM_2026 — Walking over the bridge toward McCarthy

mini-SAM_2037 — The old hardware store, where we will have our meals

mini-IMG_20140807_185120_230 — The viewfrom the village – a moose JUST appeared from the woods but went back before I could take the photo!

New Alaska Glacier Adventure!

Hello again! After my “Lindsay in the Arctic” expedition last year, I am now embarking on an Alaskan adventure! The University of Alaska Fairbanks is holding an International Summer School in Glaciology, and I will be participating as the Instructor for Science Communication. Taking place this August 2014 in Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, it is truly an international program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, The Glaciology Exchange Program GlacioEx, the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences, and the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

3DA24EB7-1DD8-B71C-07867A913E98EA02[1] — Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

The goal of the course is to provide graduate students with access to firsthand research frontiers in glaciology, including remote sensing, glacier geology and hydrology, glacier dynamics, surging and tidewater glaciers and ice streams, glacier response to climate change, and more.

Twenty-seven graduate students from 9 countries who focus on glacier-related research will join 9 instructors for 10 days at the Wrangell Mountains Center in McCarthy, Alaska. Instructors will be joining from the University of Alaska, the University of Birmingham in the UK, the University of Oslo in Norway, Alaska Pacific University Anchorage, and the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami (that’s me).

alaska 9 flags — Countries represented by participating instructors and students

There is a good reason why the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami is participating in this summer school on glaciers – and that is sea level rise.

Much of the general public is probably not aware of the research being conducted on glaciers, nor how this research may apply to their own lives and environments on the other side of the continent or world. The oceans connect us all, and here in Miami we are particularly attuned to the potential impacts of sea level rise on our beaches and reefs, and the availability of our abundant freshwater. Melting glaciers and ice are one reason sea levels are rising, and the Museum would like to connect you to cutting edge research on the subject. One of the ways we do this is to connect the public with the scientists engaged in this research, and this Glaciology Summer School is an extraordinary opportunity to do that. As an instructor, I will be expanding on the Museum’s local Science Communication Fellows program. I will work with scientists on skills and strategies to effectively communicate their research to the public, and they will share not only their research on glaciers but also their Alaskan adventure with all of you!

And that is what you will get to see here on this blog – in real time! See what they’re doing, you’re your questions, and follow along! And I will help guide the process, so that everyone will understand what brings a Science Curator from Miami, who still lives above sea level, to an Alaskan glacier.

02F0E720-1DD8-B71C-07A290DCE75E206A[1] — Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska