PolarTREC Event 22-25 March

We arrived at Fairbanks pretty much on time. Robert had volunteered to be one of the van drivers for the PolarTREC group so we were able to pick up a rental van to haul all of our gear. It was one of those large 15 person passenger vans with all the seats in it. The van was "plugged in" to keep it warm. It was a bit old with rear wheel drive and slightly bald tires so it was an adventure to drive it especially when it wasn't heavily loaded. We arrived at the Princess Hotel (see photos) which indeed sounds like an odd name being located in Fairbanks. It has that name because of the Princess cruise lines which run around Alaska in the summer including excursions to the interior (Fairbanks). It was rustic with the big beams and hardy frontier look with a big cozy fireplace when you walked inside. The rooms were typical hotel but with local charm like the "hand-carved looking" entertainment center (see photos). There was wireless available near the hotel lobby so we spent many of our off time hours near the lobby trying to catch up on e-mail.




The first thing I did was check in with Hans and that's when he told me that there had been an incident on the Submarine at the camp and that I should read the mail and my blog where he had loaded up some press release links. I read it all very carefully trying to take in all the issues that would now add complications to our field planning. It slowly began to dawn on me that this might be the end of the trip before we ever got started (see press releases). A couple of days of uncertainty followed where all we could do was proceed as if things would continue and then hope in the back of our minds that they would. All the planning in the world could not have prepared us for such a situation. In addition to this press release, Hans relays to me the news that "Anderson is coming back" for a Stargate episode to be filmed on our ice camp during the classified Navy section (see press release). This is the camp period that Jackie, Jen, and I had negotiated with the Navy and NSF for months to try and get some of us onto the camp so we could collect our scientific data and deploy our buoy arrays. There were other teams too who tried to do the same. I can not tell you how bizarre it feels to be bumped from two weeks of scientific data collecting due to such political maneuvering by those with higher powers (i.e., $$$$).

We were absolutely amazed when we found out that the British crew, in the midst of this tragedy, managed to get nearly a full survey done below the ice before the event and so their mission was basically a scientific success. They let our UK science colleagues off at the ice station where they were. Peter was flown home to see his family instead of via submarine. His colleague Nick remained in Fairbanks as he did not have family to see and didn’t see the point of spending 6 days travel home and back just to see his flat. Jen (chief scientist - see team list) helped Peter get a flight home to the UK. She was amazed how calm he was through all of this. Having known Peter for almost 25 years I knew that he was just that sort of private fellow who would use the focus of his work and his family to keep him going in the midst of this tragedy. A couple of days later this incredibly resilient man was contacting her about the next phase of the experiment and confirmed that both he and Nick would be joining us at the ice camp following a few days rest in UK. He asked if Jen could find Nick a place in Fairbanks and she offered her home immediately as she had planned to use her house as a crash pad for anyone coming through on the way to the ice camp. The whole sub incident just set the tone of the whole experiment at a very serious level that gave everyone pause for thought at how seriously we would have to consider safety on this mission.

In the meantime, we had to wake up the next day bright and early to begin our 4-day long PolarTREC training at 08:00 on Thursday 22 March. I was the only research scientist able to make the event. It was intended for the teachers as an orientation, but since it was so close to our field camp departure date, I thought it useful to attend and I was so very glad I did. The ARCUS team (see link as non-profit organization) is incredibly organized with a long track record for organizing and coordinating teacher training and several other coordination efforts. Never before in my career of 20+ years had I been able to get such formal training so I really enjoyed the experience for my own personal development. In addition, the teachers chosen were just absolutely outstanding. There had been 200 applicants and only 15 chosen. They were not only outstanding from an academic standpoint but also in their positive attitudes, outdoor capabilities, and willingness to work very, very hard with a positive attitude. We basically worked in formal lectures from 08:00 to 18:00 every day and then had to spend 2 hours after dinner every night doing our "homework."

Robert's journal entry.

The first day was an overview of PolarTREC, the responsibilities of the teachers, and a conference call with the researchers. The second day was survival training with a "learn to return" fellow named Tuck Brouhard from LTR Training Systems (see photos) who targeted the class toward all the things we were most likely to encounter. He covered basic first aid, how to dress in layers for the cold, how to ensure the integrity of our primary shelter (i.e., ourselves and how we kept our bodies protected with clothing), and how to be careful out there. His presentation on frostbite left clear images in our brains as to why we needed to take care of ourselves especially our feet and hands to prevent them from getting cold. Pictures of frost bite are some of the most horrible things to look at especially when we realize that it is self inflicted because we are caught unprepared. The images of these pictures were clearly burned into our brains as he made it very clear how to follow certain safety rules to avoid having our feet and hands look like the ones shown in those those photos. Shudder, shake, brrrr!!!!

Robert's journal entry.

The last two days were intense training on the use of technology. There were several pieces of hi-tech equipment that each teacher was given and their job was to learn how to operate this equipment to submit daily journals, photographs and podcasts for the PolarTREC website. The teachers each received a laptop computer, an iridium satellite phone, a high end digital camera, a James-Bond-looking mini tape recorder, and a back pack to carry all this stuff in. One of the teachers even learned how to run this stuff from a fold open solar panel system since she would be on the coast of Greenland on the go with no power supply. I was just amazed at how much cool gear and high level training they received in the operations of these very sophisticated systems. There was an enormous amount to learn in those two days. I sat in on those meetings to make sure that Robert has a back up technical person (me) who would also know how it all worked. In an emergency, it was highly likely that the PolarTREC teacher would have far more communications equipment than all of the scientists put together on this camp.

We left the PolarTREC training feeling like we had just had someone open our brain and pour a bottle of knowledge into our head. The meetings were separated by very enjoyable meals and lots of bonding sessions so that the teachers got the chance to really get to know one another. Overall it is an intense enjoyable memory.


Robert's journal entry.