From the Arctic: Stepping Into the Field

James Locke is currently traveling as part of an Earthwatch Institute expedition to study climate change at the Arctic's edge. The following is the second in a series of dispatches he is filing for Manhattan Beach Patch during his trip.

Sleep was uneven—whether due to time changes, strange location or persistent light is uncertain—but the "sunset" at 11:30 p.m. was spectacular with a light rain and the chirping frogs.

Most of us were up early and chatting before our briefing, which gave us a quick overview of the day and why we were here in Churchill. The area is valued because it is accessible Arctic with mostly pristine ecosystems between the boreal forest and the Tundra.

Then we had our first breakfast. Afterward, we returned for data collection training, including identifying our "prey" (the trees we were cataloging) and the characteristics that would be our focus. Also necessary was an understanding of the materials we would be using to record our data. These included a handheld data entry port that was already loaded with the necessary spreadsheet and a GPS locator for recording our site location. Helpfully, we had a few "volunteer" specimens to practice with as we walked through the spreadsheet.

Our facility with the GPS was tested just before lunch when we ventured outside and entered the Churchill Northern Studies Center as a first location. Here we discovered the accuracy of the GPS when used correctly, and adjusted the devices so that they were giving us the proper data in a uniform way.

We also discovered we were not dressed warmly enough, and most vowed to return after lunch with better/more layers for our afternoon in the field. The bug hats were also put through their paces. It is very hard to look out at one's teammates and see the mosquitoes flying around, knowing you must look the same from their eyes. And there stood Dr. Peter Kershaw, lead researcher, with his neck covered, completely unconcerned. He explained it required one to build an emotional tolerance as much as anything else. We also received photo boards to photograph our seedlings and saplings.

Lunch passed quickly and we returned to the classroom newly layered and complaining of being hot. This was short-lived as we loaded into the van and headed out to the Plantation site. It contains several rows of planted White Spruce and was a great first location as evidenced by the many, many questions that came up as we began to use the handheld and input real data.

The day was cool, but not cold, and a light breeze kept the bugs from being too bad, most of the time. There was a period where bug hats were donned, often trapping a mosquito or two inside with you. They quickly became carcasses that floated inside the mesh while you worked.

As teams progressed down their rows, their speed picked up and most felt fluent by the time Pete called it a day. A good thing too because after returning to the van and discovering it would not start we went back and started up again, not missing a beat.

We returned to base and had some time to learn the data download systems and figure out how to download the photos to the main data base in the computer room. People had time to write their "How I got here" essays and blog/diary entries. Peter and I even squeezed in a run before dinner, almost a 10K across the tundra—definitely a first for me in my running lifetime. An ermine and ptarmigan made an appearance but still no polar bears! However, a white dog did startle me. At least I was paying attention.

The evening concluded with a lecture entitled Climate Change: Cryosphere, Treeline and Global Warming. Dr. Kershaw was warned it had better be incredibly stimulating because the team seemed to be fading at dinner. The evidence for warming is compelling and the big rises are post industrial, suggesting human activity as the cause. (Kershaw put forth a fascinating theory he had heard that a period of cooling may be due to the Bubonic Plague and the return of so much land to forest.)

The solstice bonfire was canceled because of the rain, and we will await the return of a spectacular sunset.