Schools on Tundra 4: Exhilarating!

LCC students Victor Zhao’13 and Andrew Hamilton’13 had the opportunity to participate in ArcticNet’s  Schools on Tundra program during the March Break.

“Students and teachers participating in the Schools on Tundra program [had] the unique opportunity to conduct authentic field research in the sub-arctic, engage with scientists working out of the [Churchill Northern Studies Centre] and participate in lectures and workshops. Participants also [experienced] the diverse geology, biodiversity, cultural history, and wild beauty that the area around Churchill offers.

The program was hosted at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC), a hive of scientific activity located outside of Churchill, MB Canada. Here, scientists are trying to increase our understanding of the changes that the sub-arctic is experiencing due to global climate change.”

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March 2, 2013

Today was a very packed day in Churchill. After an early wake-up (6:30!), we continued working on our model rockets. Most people finished assembling their rockets. I’m very excited for Monday’s launch!

At about 10:30, we left for the day’s main event: dog sledding! We arrived at Blue Sky Expeditions a half hour later, eager to begin. Gerald Azure, the founder and trainer, walked us through how the sleds work. There were two sleds: one with space for one passenger, and the other with space for two. Both sleds were each pulled by a team of seven dogs. Blue Sky is unique in the way it treats its dogs; they believe strongly that the dogs shouldn’t be overworked, so each dog is “retired” into adoption at age eight. One of the dogs, who ended up being a lead dog for us, had recently been rescued from a home where she had been abused. You could see in both her timid nature and the scar above her eye that something wasn’t quite right with the dog psychologically.

On a happier note, I think that I speak for the entire group when I say that we had a great time dogsledding. It is a completely unique experience, one which I find difficult to put into words, but I will say this much: The feeling is a mix of exhilaration, empowerment and, well, surprise when the dogs first take off.

Then we went to sleep for the night. Or so we thought. Around 11 o’clock, Max (one of the teachers accompanying the trip) woke us up to take a look at the northern lights. They were by far the best I’d seen so far on this trip, and the viewing dome was completely full for the first time. He managed to get some incredible pictures of the overpowering phenomenon, and those of us who managed to get up were staring at the sky in awe for a while.

When thinking of what I was going to write for this dispatch, I thought it was almost unfair that I got a day that was so full of great activities. That’s when it hit me – it wasn’t that this day was so much better than the others, it’s that every day on this trip has been an incredible experience in and of itself. I feel privileged to be here. —Andrew Hamilton ’13

Schools on Tundra 3: Enlightening!

LCC students Victor Zhao’13 and Andrew Hamilton’13 had the opportunity to participate in ArcticNet’s  Schools on Tundra program during the March Break.

“Students and teachers participating in the Schools on Tundra program [had] the unique opportunity to conduct authentic field research in the sub-arctic, engage with scientists working out of the [Churchill Northern Studies Centre] and participate in lectures and workshops. Participants also [experienced] the diverse geology, biodiversity, cultural history, and wild beauty that the area around Churchill offers.

The program was hosted at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC), a hive of scientific activity located outside of Churchill, MB Canada. Here, scientists are trying to increase our understanding of the changes that the sub-arctic is experiencing due to global climate change.”

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Feb 28th Blog pictureFebruary 28, 2013

We’ve been in Churchill for a few days, and not to be cliché, but to describe our experience in a word, it has been cold!  We’ve spent the last few days from dawn till dusk, doing science! Lectures that have gone entirely above our heads have been… “enlightening,” the Northern Lights lecture was genuine enlightenment and an amazing recounting of the way our world works.  Andrew and I were lucky enough to get a first-hand experience just now, around 8:40 Churchill time, right after seeing the most beautiful purebred Siberian sled dog, Princess Scarlett. Although anyone else would assert that she was here as part of the dog sledding presentation we just had in preparation for our dog sledding expedition in two days, in my mind I’m sure she was here to keep me company.

Over the past two days, we’ve spent a total of approximately nine hours in the outdoors, and in that time, I’ve noticed some things. The first is that as great as hand warmers are, when wind chill makes it so that it’s around 40 degrees below freezing, no hand warmer will keep you warm, and even with boots rated for -73 degree weather, the cold really bites deep, especially given that exposed hair WILL freeze, and that applies to eyebrows and eyelashes. Because of that, most people can’t see clearly by the time they return to the science centre. I’ve been having an especially fun experience where glasses aren’t great because neck guards are pretty crucial, and the second they cover your mouth and nose, the air that gets caught and fogs your glasses instantly. What people should recognize though is that even with whatever limited visibility or extreme cold there may be, being outside is beautiful here, and snow angels are absolutely amazing, even if you need to (read: get to) wear snowshoes to get to where you can make them.

More on the science side, we’ve mainly been doing snow sampling, tree sampling and generic lab work, and lectures have kept us so occupied that by the end of the day, everyone is absolutely exhausted. In fact, last night, after a long day of doing research and snowshoeing and sampling, we got to dinner, which has been absolutely amazing, and I may or may not have eaten ten pieces of pizza. Staying well rested and nourished has never been as important, but it’s really worth it, not only for the amazing scientific experience, but for the beauty of the area around us as well.  —Victor Zhao ’13

Schools on Board – 1: Tired & Anticipating

Feb 24th Blog pictureLCC students Victor Zhao’13 and Andrew Hamilton’13 had the opportunity to participate in ArcticNet’s  Schools on Tundra program during the March Break.

“Students and teachers participating in the Schools on Tundra program [had] the unique opportunity to conduct authentic field research in the sub-arctic, engage with scientists working out of the [Churchill Northern Studies Centre] and participate in lectures and workshops. Participants also [experienced] the diverse geology, biodiversity, cultural history, and wild beauty that the area around Churchill offers.

The program was hosted at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC), a hive of scientific activity located outside of Churchill, MB Canada. Here, scientists are trying to increase our understanding of the changes that the sub-arctic is experiencing due to global climate change.”

Enjoy the blogs!

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

It’s around 9 pm Winnipeg time, 10 pm Montreal time, and even without the trip really beginning, I am, in a word, tired. After a delayed flight, Andrew and I arrived yesterday at around 4:30, and unfortunately we missed the first orientation activity, where the group just walked around Forks, a town named after the fact that it is at the fork of two major rivers, the Red River and the Assiniboine. We had a nice dinner, a highlight of which was Andrew ordering the “muddy burger,” a burger big enough that he had to cut it into pieces with fork and knife to eat it, and met the four girls and two other guys that formed our current group before we met the other two boys in Churchill. We had a nice time skating along a barely-frozen path that was also at times terrifying and quite painful due to the skates we were wearing. By lights out at 10:30, the four guys in our room still hadn’t showered or decided where people were sleeping, as we only had two beds for four people, and the sleeping arrangements were really only decided at 4 in the morning when Tyler, the boy from Iqaluit who had elected to sleep on the floor, decided that it wasn’t worth it and climbed into bed with Andrew.

After a restless night, we had a nice pancake breakfast and continued to marvel at Manitoba’s ridiculous course sizes before climbing onto our 45-hour long train ride. We’ve been on the train for about 9 hours now, and it’s been surprisingly… well, not eventful, but not the long, boring experience we had expected. Playing cards and looking at pictures of polar bears in anticipation of the next week and a half have been keeping the group occupied, as has sleep. Sleep has been great. That, as well as watching people stumble along the train, have kept me quite amused, and excited for the days to come. –Victor Zhao ’13