Wildlife, Wildfires, Wild (insert-noun-here)

Walking over aufeis near Galbraith Airport, South of Toolik Lake

Under aufeis!

Bonding with the Licor6400xt... One of the experiments we are working on this summer involves measuring respiration rates of decomposing leaf litter and roots. This involves many days of sitting in the lab pressing these buttons!

Helicopter flight to the burn sites
Now that the eddy flux towers have been set up for the season we visit them every two weeks to collect the gas exchange data and make sure the instruments are working properly. While at the sites we also measure canopy reflectance and thaw depth.

Goose egg

A burnt tussock (Eriophorum vaginatum) sprouting new growth

Moss regrowth at the severely burnt site

Sunday is my day off, time to go for a hike! This ridge is along the northern rim of Atigun Gorge.

Close up of the tundra showing moss, two different kinds of lichen, and some arctic cranberry leaves (Vaccinium vitis-idaea). Anyone else think this looks like an underwater scene?

A red fox that has taken to hanging around camp.

Eagle on Toolik Lake ice

Thermokarst/Ice-wedge slump
There has been some discussion as to what the proper geocryological term is to describe this feature that has shown up along a stream south of camp. Whatever the name it is definitely pretty awesome to poke around and look at.

Roots 'n dirt 'n ice

Jason sampling the ice

More roots 'n dirt 'n ice! I took these pictures by hanging my camera and arm down into some of the cracks.

This is a sparrow nest that I found in one of our research plots

Birds of doom! These chicks hatched the day before I took this picture... and were eaten the day after I took this picture.

Me and a really BIG gas powered drill!
Photo credit goes to Claire Treat, who was kind enough to let me help her take some permafrost cores.

Get your popcorn ready...

Because you've only got 50 seconds to eat it.

I cannot decide what I like best: watching the weather change, the ice melt, or the ground squirrels play on the rock in the foreground. Shortly after arriving in camp some of my lab mates and I set up a game camera to take photos of the lake inlet. I made this video with the hourly photos it has taken through today (June 7). Though it may look like the lake is now completely thawed, in reality much of the ice has simply migrated to the parts of the lake not visible in these shots. Nonetheless, you will notice the plants are greening up in the background!