Day in the Life

The first thing most of us do upon waking up is check the infamous “board of lies.” This whiteboard is used to communicate the planned schedule of events for the day as well as other important updates. However, it can and does frequently change due to scheduling, weather, wind, waves, and other unforeseen factors, hence

We started Sunday with a team ritual: reading poems aloud. Some were fun, some serious, all genuine. Afterward came “call-outs,” where team members recognized each other’s efforts, followed by a weather update—crucial for planning fieldwork in the Arctic. These routines, carried out without fuss, reflected how much intention goes into maintaining a strong team culture.

I’ve spent the past six days in Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska, embedded with a group of young scientists working for NEON -the National Ecological Observatory Network. NEON is a large-scale project funded by the NSF that collects long-term, open-access ecological data across the U.S. to track changes in ecosystems over time. And here, at the northernmost

The Juneau Icefield is a group of interconnected glaciers just north of Juneau, Alaska that extends into British Columbia, Canada and covers an area the size of Rhode Island. Maybe you’ve heard of the Mendenhall Glacier? It is part of the Juneau Icefield! The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been collecting data on the icefield since 1948.