As a winter storm barreled over the North Slope this weekend, the plane that landed in Barrow to pick us up had had to skip over Deadhorse because it was too dangerous to land! Luckily we made it out safely, and here’s proof: After a week in Barrow, where tomorrow the sun will rise for […]

Barrow, Alaska January 17, 2014 -34°C (-30°F), clear, no wind WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM AKST SATURDAY… A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR WIND CHILL AND LOCAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM AKST SATURDAY. * WIND CHILL…TO 65 BELOW. […]

Barrow, Alaska January 16, 2014 -32°C (-26°F), clear, light wind Sometimes it seems like 90% of my job is waiting for ice to melt. And the other 10% is me taking selfies of my epic beard-cicles. We measured the temperature of this ice every 10 cm (4 in) in the field and then cut it […]

Barrow, Alaska January 14, 2014 -28°C (-18°F), cloudy, moderate wind Today — in our continued quest to find life in, on, and under Arctic sea ice in the dead of winter — we hit rock bottom. Well, ok… more of a sandy bottom. We were using a Ponar-type grab sampler to collect sediment from underneath […]

Solar noon in Barrow, Alaska. The sun hasn’t risen for weeks, remaining just below the horizon, and won’t rise again until the end of the month. I’m here for the next week with two graduate students from UAF. We’re studying the evolution and diversity of bacteria, fungi, and small animals that live in the sea […]