Hello, my name is Amanda and I am going to Alaska this February 19 to the 27th. I am really looking forward to going to Fairbanks because it is a wonderful once in a lifetime opportunity. Besides being a once in a lifetime opportunity I am looking forward to learning all about climate. To be able to test different things that will help people understand how the climate is changing and why it is changing is great.

Sunday February 20,2005 Today was the relaxing day. We settled into the Nordic House and discussed our fun filled week ahead of us. After getting at least 7 hours of sleep we went out for brunch at The Pump House that was originally a pump station that pumped water between two valleys to a gold mine. After our delicious brunch we went to Fred Myers for groceries to last us throughout the week. Grocery shopping is so much better when you don’t have to pay for the groceries. After spending an arm and a leg at Fred Myers we went to Alaskan Coffee Roasters and discussed the week ahead of us over a cup of hot cocoa. Dr. Martin Jefferies (the very nice man that has agreed to take us throughout the week) talked to us about what we are going to be doing tomorrow. I cannot wait, first we are going to see the Permafrost tunnel with Matthew Sturm and then we are going to be Aurora Pond to take measurements of the heat flow. After going to the lovely coffee shop we went to the Geophysical Institute to collect our parkas and snow pants and other things to keep us warm out on the ponds. Then we went back to the Nordic House and had a little fashion show where we tried on all of our clothes. Then the rest of the day was putting away our belongings and getting used to the time difference.

Monday February 21,2005 WE SAW THE AURORA LAST NIGHT!!! It was a bright green and every once in a while it would disappear but it would come back within seconds. It is a fascinating site that was the cherry to my ice screen sundae (the final touch to a great day). Today we visited the Permafrost Tunnel; it is the most amazing thing ever. I love the fact that you could see fossilized bones from 40,000 years ago. Before entering the tunnel we gathered in a small cabin like office so that Matthew Sturm could tell us a little bit of background history. We found out that there were several reasons while the permafrost tunnel was dug, one was because of the mining reasons and another was because of military reasons. After getting some information about the tunnel we walked over to the mining shaft and crawled under millions of formations of ice crystals into the 40,000 year-old tunnel that reeked with the stench of clay. I learned so many things about the tunnel and below I got pictures of a horse jawbone with the teeth still in it. Isn’t that amazing that the teeth are still there and they don’t even look like they are in poor condition? I also got a picture below of a bison horn that also is in good condition. We got to ask several questions of Matthew Sturm. I asked if there were any benefits from global warming because we always hear about the negative impacts. He had told me that there are winners and there are losers and by that he meant that every person has a different perspective and some people will like the global warming and other people won’t. After the Permafrost tunnel we traveled over to the Geophysical Institute to have lunch and discuss what we would be doing after lunch. After having a relaxing lunch we went to Aurora pond where we took measurements of the density and the depth of the ice and of the snow. Then, Martin’s friends that were at the pond with us invited the crew to their house for chili and salmon (which I have to say was really good, and to top it all off after we ate the chili we found out that it was moose meat) YUMMY!! Then, after we ate, we hung out and talked about school related things and things about their family. At the end of the day we came back to the Nordic House and worked on these journals.

Tuesday February 22, 2005 Today we stayed at the GI all day. At first we watched an amazing slide show that Martin Jeffries provided for us about thermal conductivity and heat flow between snowy ice and black ice. We learned that the bigger the layer of snow there is on the ice the thinner the ice is because snow is an excellent insulator. We also learned that the reason the snow ice is more cloudy is because it will snow so much that it eventually floods the top of the ice and then that ice will turn into slush and freeze making the original clear ice very cloudy. After watching the slide show and asking the questions that we had on it we had about an hour and a half of time to eat lunch and walk over to the bookstore to spend all of the money that we had left. After returning to the GI conference room that we had we interviewed Uma Bhatt. She is a very interesting lady. She seems very into her work and very eager to talk about it with us. One thing that she does for a living is she makes climate models; these take a long time to make (around five to 7 months). A climate model is really two different graphs put together but mean the same exact thing. She also told us about the most important thing in science and that is “to be patient, it doesn’t come quickly.” She had mentioned this because she works on these things for years, sometimes, and she would get and idea then she would have to share it with other people then it would take 2 to 3 years to kick in. The number one thing in her field of work is communication and everybody needs to communicate in order for anything to work out. After talking with Uma for an hour we had another interview and that was with Martin Truffer. Martin Truffer is a glacier physicist. We had a great conversation with him about his field of work. There were several questions that we had and every single one was a “great question” to him. One thing that I learned from him was that there are many glaciers that are melting because of climate change but that the melting has influenced the climate change. One way it influences climate change is that all of the melting has added more water into the ocean changing the evaporation rate. I also learned that the duration of ice has decreased by 20 days since 1985. After the interview we went back to the Nordic House and we worked on the journals then we went to the library with Auntie Marge (aka Ms. Porter)

Wednesday February 23, 2005 Today we visited Poker Flat Research Range and took measurements of the ice and snow. Chelsea and I went with Kim, she is so nice, and went to 31.6 mile pond where we measured the thickness off the snow and the ice and also we took the temp of the bottom and top of the snow. After gathering all of the information we put all of the data onto a spreadsheet to compare the heat flux out of our pond with the other ponds. On our way back from 31.6-mile pond Chelsea, Chelsie, Katie and I spotted a moose and her baby. After the day out on the pond we came back to the Nordic House to get ready for dinner. Then we went to College Town Pizza for dinner.

Thursday February 24, 2005 Another day to take it easy. After waking up 5 minutes before we had to leave we went to the GI where we cut up ice core samples of Lake Ice. Then, after cutting the ice into small slices we went into a different freezer where we looked at the smaller pieces of ice under a light. This showed us the difference in crystals at the top of the ice and the bottom of the ice. At the top there aren't large crystals at all because of the snow that had frozen to it, but at the bottom there was black ice and that had giant crystals (as you can see in the picture below). Then as everyone else was in the freezer I got interviewed for the GI’s newspaper. After Ms. Porter and I got interviewed Martin took us back to the conference room where we ate lunch and worked on the computer. After lunch we went to the museum, we didn’t really walk through it we just visited the gift shop. Later on that day Martin took us to meet the Director of the GI, Roger Smith, who is really nice, and we got to take pictures with him in the globe room (as you can see below). Right after meeting the Director we went to see the reindeer and caribou at the university “farm”, then went over the see the musk-oxen. They are really ugly, black “blobs.” From there we went to downtown Fairbanks to see if we could catch people finishing the Yukon Quest dog-sled race. This was so great because it was and important race and it would have been the 4th or 5th person to cross the finish line, but when we got there we talked to some lady and she said that the next person wasn’t coming in till 10:30 that night. So Martin took us over to get coffee and to look in some gift shops. Then we came back to the Nordic House.

February 25,2005 I have to say that today was a really fun day. We went to the Elementary School and participated in their snow day. The reason why I liked it so much is because I have always wanted to be an Elementary math and science teacher. Let me tell you it is very tiring but it was a lot of fun. They (well, some of them) would just sit there and listen to you and after everything is done you could ask them a question and they would tell you the right answer, because of the fact that they were listening. It actually felt great that they sat there and took in everything that you said. At the elementary school there were three classes and each class would go out one at a time and within one class they would divide into three groups. At one station Kim had the kids look at snow crystals. At another station Martin had the kids take ice samples and measure them, and at Ms. Porter’s station, where I was at, we took the surface temperature in the shade and in the sun and then we took the bottom snow temperatures in the sun and shade as well. After two of the three classes went through we had a lovely lunch that one of the mothers had prepared for us, it was lasagna with nice salad and garlic bread. After lunch we had the last class to go. Every class went through the same thing. They all had to go through the three stations. After al long but fun day at the elementary school we went back to the Nordic House and Ms. Porter told us that we had a surprise that was coming at 6:00. 6:00 rolled around and to our surprise it was Italian food, spaghetti and meatballs, more salad, garlic bread and soda. Thanks to the lovely parents of Josh. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! It was really good!!…. This is my second to last journal entry, hope you enjoyed it, I know I did. Tomorrow we are going to Denali and we are going to see the highest peak in North America. It is going to be so much fun, then after that we are going to be flying back to Connecticut to return to our FAMILY…. Yeah!! I am going to miss Alaska and Martin and Kim and everyone else that took their time to take us around and that let us interview them. It is deeply appreciated. Thanks again!

University Park Elementary School

Denali National Park Dog-sled Ride