Thoughts, images, wonderings, quests
with the International Arctic Buoy Programme
with the International Arctic Buoy Programme
Engage with IABP AK Spring 22 Deployment Expedition
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****Please sign up to receive the journal posts directly in your email to follow along. This is in addition to Arctic Ruminations. ****  You must click on this image to sign up for the PolarTREC Journals in your email. This is different than these Arctic Ruminations. With only about 10 days until blast off, I am starting to pay attention to the Utqiaġvik extended weather forecasts and figuring out exactly what to pack. This week the high temps are around -10 degrees F. Brr... I want to make sure you see the daily journal posts I am charged with posting on the PolarTREC Arctic science expedition website. These will be different than what I post here on Arctic Ruminations, so you must sign up to receive the journal posts directly in your email to follow along. I also invite you and anyone else who may be interested (colleagues, students, children, friends) to engage with my upcoming PolarTREC expedition to the Arctic Ocean. Here are some ideas for engaging with this expedition.
 Engage with IABP AK Spring 22 Deployment Expedition
So Much Preparation
With only just over six weeks left before departing for Utqiaġvik, Alaska the to-do list is growing. As you know I am not only an assistant scientist with the IABP team, I am also the public relations officer for this IABP AK Spring 22 Deployment mission. So here are a few things I have been working on and still have to do. Public Relations Officer Duties
 The National Science Foundation (NSF) Rigor 1951762 Risk Assessment / Planning Call was yesterday. Our team participated in a call with risk management leaders from the NSF along with local community expert liaison from Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Now we are messaging back and forth to ask more questions. After realizing a bit more about just how remote we will be when flying the local SAR (search and rescue) helicopter out on the drift ice, approximately 50 miles from land to deploy environmental sensor buoys, I have asked for more training. Specifically I need to learn more about the following:
I have been thinking about the unforeseen advantages of having had to wait two years living through Covid-19 to be able to join the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) science team on the Arctic Ocean sea ice. I was supposed to have deployed with them April 1, 2020 for nearly two weeks, and of course did not go due to stay-at-home orders.  As expected, the National Science Foundation, PolarTREC, and The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) have officially canceled my participation in the April Arctic science expedition. The Office of Naval Research and University of Washington Polar Science Center are not behind in officially cancelling too. Hoping that the midsummer Greenland Arctic Circle trip will happen.... yet who knows. In the meantime, laying low trying not to become part of the problem as an unintentional vector of covid-19. Just moved everything I need for a couple months out of my office and am now set up at home. Thankfully my house has a sunny south facing porch that is blocked from the wind - it may become my favorite new office space. And for some much needed levity (in case you haven't already seen this on my social media channels) - I've been googling Covid-19 too much and sometimes I accidentally type in Corvid as well and have seen so many pics of really cool birds. Thought I would share some of these really cool Corvids. Here are only 16 of the 120 corvid species around the world.  Stay connected to those you love and care about, I think the psychological effects of this pandemic is already causing intense emotional exhaustion for everyone on some level. Love your people - even if it's just through phone calls and video chats. I'm definitely feeling it myself.
In it for the long haul, until next time, -Sarah Be flexible with lost luggage, getting sick, delayed flights, missed trains, date changes, weather... I didn’t expect an international viral outbreak to be on that list. Yet, I must remain flexible. I'm trying to get used to the uncertainty of the daily (sometimes hourly) decision making required of all of us right now. So, the current status of going to the Arctic is uncertain and I'm remaining on standby. My participation in PolarTREC is directly connected to National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funding. And currently the NSF is recommending that grant awardees not travel domestically or internationally, if possible. Also, I'm thinking about what it means for a group of scientists from the lower 48 states to potentially serve as a vector for COVID-19 and bring the virus to remote communities in Alaska. This feels a bit irresponsible. Another thought is considering the risk and or access to health facilities in rural Alaska should someone on our team get sick. I have learned that student travel has been restricted by the bigger school districts in Alaska (Anchorage, Kenai, and Matsu). Our primary investigator's (lead scientist) institution, the University of Washington in Seattle has shut down and gone to virtual classrooms. Our other primary investigator from the Office of Naval Research Reserve Component (ONR-RC) has cancelled all OCONUS (outside contiguous United States, which includes Alaska) travel for March 2020. This is an elective opportunity of learning and adventure for me. I am not essential to this science team, nor the data collection in terms of the priority of my participation. Yet, I'm having to work hard at being okay with the situation as it is incredibly disappointing. There is a chance that I may still get to join the International Arctic Buoy Programme on a mid-summer Greenland and Canada Arctic Circle buoy deployment mission; the funding for that trip has been up in the air for a few months so I am waiting in the wings to see what happens. Until next time... - Sarah  Entropy - noun: lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
Only 23 days until I fly to Alaska! The logistics of the next few weeks are beginning to become real, and some might say overwhelming. Not only am I considering all the logistics of packing, attending a week long orientation in Boulder March 15-20, and then participating in an Arctic science expedition; I'm also in full swing of running my own business Wild Rose Education, designing a new fall course syllabus for Colorado Mountain College SUS-440 Watershed Science and Land Use Impacts, finalizing the logistics for five graduate level educator classes this summer, presenting at three conferences between now and the end of April, making sure I've got taxes and bills paid, and looking for new housing here in my community. Yet, I'm confident it will all happen and turn out quite well. Thankfully I'm really good at planning and paying attention to details. And hopefully I can prove to be incredibly flexible. As with any expedition, things change at any given moment and one has to be ready to flex, and also try to be okay with the new situation.  Image by Noel Bauza from Pixabay
One phenomenon I'm really hoping to experience are the northern lights or aurora borealis. It will be my first time to experience them.
Thanks to the MOSAiC Expedition, I found these really neat website links: Looking for equipment to borrow; used gear is great as long as it works well:
I need everything by March 6, 2020 so I have adequate time to learn how to use it well before traveling. Contact me to let me know what you may be able to share. Then plan to mail (or drop off) any items to Sarah Johnson, Wild Rose Education, 520 S. Third Street, Suite 16, Carbondale, CO 81623 Or, if you would like to send funding to help purchase this equipment, please do so with a check or through Venmo (@sarahrosejohnson) Also, thought you may be interested in all else that I'm up to with Wild Rose Education. Read the latest news (sent 2/16/2020) here.
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