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.

• Anyone can read all the Expedition Virtual Base Camp journal posts (I write them) and start their own journal of learnings and new questions. I will be adding journals more frequently very soon and every day of the expedition. 
• Everyone is encouraged to write questions in the 'comments' box on the virtual base camp journals (I'm the one who is responding to them, along with answers and information from my science team). 
• Perhaps you follow along closely then on Tuesday, April 5, get together with folks for the PolarConnect live-stream, and you offer an introduction based on all you've been reading and learning from our Virtual Base Camp.  PolarConnect is at 9am (mountain time UTC-6); register in advance.
• Old, young, middle aged... all are encouraged to sign up to receive the journal posts directly in their email so they don't miss a beat. 
• Participate in the NASA GLOBE Observer citizen science challenge from wherever you are on the planet - all the details

The International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP) is responsible for accurate highly precise observations of weather conditions of the atmosphere above the Arctic Ocean as well as the temperature of ocean water and movement of sea ice. The observation data is then used by many other science and research teams to interpret the changing Arctic.
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People who are not formally trained scientists also take observations of the current conditions of the landscape; actually we all do this everyday to help us decide which clothes to wear if it is a warm, wet, cold, or windy day outside. And some folks go beyond that and have rain gauges outside their homes, thermometers on their windows, and wind socks in their gardens among other weather instruments. The IABP buoys our team is placing out on the sea ice are similar, in that they have instruments inside them that measure the current weather and they have the necessary technology tools to send the data out to a satellite to then beam the data down to a master computer here on Earth.

Community and Citizen ScienceMany people around the globe are interested in not only being observers of the places where they are, but also contribute to the collective understanding of how the world works. We call these folks community and citizen scientists.

I was fortunate to participate in an Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) online conference in October 2021: the Community and Citizen Science in the Far North meeting. I learned about so many initiatives happening around the Arctic Circle to not only collect observation data, but to affirm and celebrate the people and culture of who make the observations and share what they are seeing.

In addition to radar, satellite data, and other technologically advanced observation data, the IABP team also relies on citizen science observations from both more formal citizen science projects such as the Alaska Arctic Observatory & Knowledge Hub or AAOKH (most recent observations are on AAOKH facebook page), SIKU, the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, and Seasonal Ice Zone Observing Network; we also ask and listen to the local people of northern Alaska for their daily sea ice observations and any pertinent knowledge to ensure that we are safe while out finding the best places to deploy the buoys.

Citizen Science Challenge for All Readers
In addition to the deployment of weather buoys, I will also be collecting citizen science data for the NASA GLOBE Observer program and I invite you to do the same from wherever you are on the planet in the next three weeks (and into the future).

All you need is a smartphone and an email address to set up the GLOBE Observer app. Then you can easily learn how to make Cloud and Landcover observations through the app. I have all the instructions clearly explained here. It is important that you join the Wild Rose Education 2022 Arctic (and beyond) observation team so we can see where in the world everyone is making observations.

Let's Have a Contest!
Let's see who can make the most observations with the GLOBE Observer app from now until April 10, 2022. Then whomever has the most observations will win a small prize. You will need to make sure you read the daily PolarTREC journal posts (get them in your email) for instructions on how to let us know how many observations you've made over the next three weeks to be a winner.

Bonus Points
In the 'field notes' section of each observation include any other observations you can make such as temperature (if you have a thermometer), snow depth (need a ruler or yard stick), inches of rain fall (if you have rain gauge), barometric pressure (if you have a barometer), as well as any other observations you can measure.

You will be able to see the observations I make in the Arctic (northern most point of Alaska) on the GLOBE Visualization System map. It does not appear that many GLOBE Observer Clouds or Landcover data have been submitted from the North Slope of Alaska, so my observations will be very useful to the NASA scientists. Also, I will be watching your observations come in through our group team map as well.
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Please comment below if you plan to participate and in which region or area of the planet you will be observing. I really look forward to seeing your participation!

I've been wondering about the social-political perspectives of the Arctic Ocean. I teach courses on public lands in the USA. I'm realizing how little I understand how oceans are managed administratively. So, I have looked into it and found this short video (watch below) that helps to explain the nuance and increasing complexity due to sea ice melting and navigation becoming easier. As you watch it, I'm curious to know what your new questions and curiosities are; please share a comment if you wish at the bottom of this page. 

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

• Schedule Real-Time Science: Arctic Ocean Expedition community library programs in May to share out upon my return
• Draft official press release and send to numerous media outlets
• Draft outreach toolkit to send to the numerous professional networks I am part of to encourage them to follow along with this expedition
• Complete all the required PolarTREC programmatic learning documents
• Set up a NASA GLOBE Observer team/community to curate Land Observer observations from the Utqiaġvik area; and you will be invited to contribute observations from wherever you are as well
• Working with my science team to set up a live stream PolarConnect event from Utqiaġvik for all of you; save the date for, either April 5 or 6 at 9:00 am (mountain time); will confirm soon.

Learn How to Use Equipment

• Become very proficient in the craft of writing these journal posts
• Create a system for naming and cataloging photos and videos I take while in the Arctic
• Practice using my GoPro camera and devise a system for lowering it down the holes we auger in the ice to get footage from under the sea ice (varying depths)
• Practice using my iPhone to make short iMovies and use my new external microphone (watch for some videos to be posted soon)
• Practice manipulating .kml files in Google Earth along with other buoy data to understand the movement of the Arctic buoys so I can explain to all of you how the data is useful
• Practice using a Kestrel Weather Meter and how to log the data with this advanced 5500 model
• Devising systems to keep the batteries warm for all the electronics I'll be using (cameras, iPhone, etc.)

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: 

• Sea Ice Hazards
• Hazardous Wildlife Awareness at Arctic Ocean
• Working Around Helicopters and any necessary personal safety equipment
• personal/self rescue on the sea ice and what emergency equipment should be in my backpack on the sea ice

These are wilderness and expedition topics I do not have any practice or experience in; so I will be adding to my toolbox of skills which is pretty neat. 

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. 

Back to the logistics planning table and white boards to capture all the details... yet we are still working from zoom and google drive, no real tables or dry erase markers yet. A couple weeks ago the National Science Foundation loosened the quarantine requirements for NSF funded scientists deploying to Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Upon the announcement, almost immediately my team came together via pixels on the screen to talk through eight pages of pre-field logistics. There are six people working on all the details of me traveling and contributing to the work of the International Arctic Buoy Programme. I have never had such an entourage of personal assistants to help make an adventure come to fruition. Well, they are not exactly personal assistants, more so they are experts in Arctic science, travel and expeditions, education and outreach, cold-weather gear, and day-to-day up north living. It is an incredible gift and opportunity to get to be in this position as a PolarTREC educator.

Headed into the field is standard vernacular for outdoor science observing and data collection and typically is very desirable work time for scientists. Yet, I want to use alternative vocabulary of headed out on the ice. Instead of fieldwork, we should be calling it 'sea ice work' as the observations and data collection all happens on the sea ice or directly in contact with the Arctic Ocean water.

Ways to Be Part of This Expedition

• follow the PolarTREC Expedition Journals by clicking the Subscribe to Journal Emails button on the expedition page
• write in questions and comments at the bottom of journal entries​
• follow me on Instagram @Wild_Rose_Education
• follow me on Facebook @WildRoseEducation
• follow #ArcticRuminations on other social media channels