Yesterday (Monday) was a day filled with preparation for flight.  This included necessary, but somewhat mundane tasks, such as executing radio range checks, setting up stakes to determine the direction of true north for aircraft initialization, fine-tuning the autopilot code, setting up flight plans in the computer, and testing equipment.  I’ll be very honest and… Read More

It always amazes me how easy it is to get from a seemingly “normal”, populated environment to a very remote, very Arctic feeling place.  It’s only about a 1.5 hour flight from Anchorage to Deadhorse, but the end points represent totally different worlds.  Upon arriving at the airport, you deplane from the Alaska Airlines 737,… Read More

Before my flight left for Anchorage yesterday, I got the good news that our equipment had arrived safely in Deadhorse.  Additionally, although Will had one missed connection on the way up, the team appeared to be making good progress in their travels.  I even saw a giant moose in the bog right next to one… Read More

I woke this morning to what may be the last true darkness I see in quite some time.  Our campaign will take place at Oliktok Point, Alaska, at 70.5 degrees north, and at this time of year, the sun only “sets” for around two and a half hours per night.  Those two and a half… Read More

In two days, we set off for far Northern Alaska — it’s a trip that I’ve experienced a few times now, but there is still a substantial amount of excitement that comes along with preparing for field work.  Over the past few weeks, we’ve finalized our team (more on this in a second), booked our… Read More