Birds and radio waves

Today we had a warmer, sunny day... for a little while at least! Students have continued working on their research projects, but we also had two small activities during the day for students to learn about research happening around the station.

We were lucky enough to go again with Antero, this time to visit his "bird boxes". There are about 200 of these bird houses in this valley, used by several of the species native to the area. For many years, Antero has recorded the number and size of eggs and chicks born in these bird boxes, to track the health of the bird populations in this area.

Can you guess what Antero has in his hand that the students are so eagerly gathered around and photographing?

It's newborn chicks of the species of bird called the "great tit"!

We also visited KAIRA, which stands for Kilpisjarvi Atmospheric Imaging Receiver Array. It is an array of radio receivers that detect low and high frequency radio waves from space. That allows them to measure things like meteors, space trash, planets and stars "twinkling", and the aurora borealis. KAIRA is just down the road from us, so their scientists often stay here when they're working on the array. Derek gave us a tour. On the left of the photo are the low-frequency antennae on poles, and the structures in the center house the high-frequency antennae, held above the ground by the wooden structures.

Interestingly, the wooden structures were made out of the pallets used to ship the equipment. The entire project was designed to create very little waste and reuse even the shipping materials.

We even got to crawl under the high-frequency receivers, which are raised off the ground to increase the ability of the wind to blow snow off of the antennae, which are placed in foam beneath the black plastic. It was nice, because it got us out of the cold wind that came back this afternoon! The shorter of our students could juuuust stand up under them, but the taller students had a harder time:

Reindeer traffic jam

Students have been busily working today on their independent research projects. They are working in teams of 2: one art major and one science major. The teams are designing their own research project about some aspect of this Arctic ecosystem. The topics of their projects range all over different topics: How different species of birds respond to human disturbance, how substrate availability impact lichen communities over elevation, how the lake plankton respond to warmer temperatures, how plants important to the herbivores in this ecosystem will change with future permafrost melt, and soil invertebrate communities living on Saana. They are also at the same time working on how they will communicate this science to the public. They are working with clay they collect from the soil, collages of natural materials, recording bird songs, among other things. We'll keep you posted on their progress.

Kylie and Gina are excited about starting their independent research! They are investigating the lake plankton.

On another note, we had a bit of a traffic jam on the way home from the market the other day:

Field trip with Antero

Today we got to go on a hike with Antero, who is the director of the research station. He has been working here for over 45 years, since he was a graduate student working on his PhD, so we learned a lot of information from him!

Kilpisjärvi is in the northwestern "arm" of Finland, sandwiched between Norway and Sweden. Borders with both countries are very close. To get to the hike, we had to cross into Norway. We stopped for a photo op at the border stone:

From the left: Tiff, Brooke, Manny, Christina, Antero (our host), Ezra, and Diego are in Norway. Gina, Guillermo, Andrew, Becky, Stephanie, and Richard are in Finland.

As you can see, we had genuine Arctic weather today! It was snowing and below freezing when we set out. But we are tough! We were mostly walking along an old road that was built during WWII. Finland at that time was aligned with Germany, allowing German occupation of Lapland to fight the USSR (which Finland had to do to maintain its independence). The road was built through the German army with labor of Russian prisoners of war.

The fence on the left side of the photo is a reindeer fence. Sami reindeer herders used to be able to move around the entire region, but now there is a fence dividing the Finnish and Norwegian reindeer herds. While walking on the road, we would frequently stop to hear information shared by Antero about the plants, animals, and people of this area.

It was a nice hike for exploration, but tomorrow we get down to business! Over the first couple of days here, students have had a chance to see the region while finalizing the plans for their independent research projects. Tomorrow, they start their own research!

A couple of days of exploration

This is our second full day at Kilpisjärvi Biological Station. Here we are, excited to be in the Arctic at the main building of the research station!

Over the past couple of days, we've taken a couple of field trips to local ecosystems. Yesterday, we visited the Pikku-Malla strict nature reserve (which is a highly protected type of reserve in Finland).

Pikku-Malla strict nature reserve

We had a very leisurely walk, stopping quite frequently because the theme of the walk was "observation". And there was quite a lot to observe! There were a lot of midges swarming. One landed on Tiff's coat, so Stephanie got a closer look using a miniature field microscope:

The rocks also host quite a lot of diversity. There are also a lot of very interesting lichens of all shapes and colors to capture our attention. We see shades of green, but also yellow, orange, and black.

Today we climbed Saana, which is a mountain fell in the Scandinavian Mountains. We observed the change in plant communities as you increase in elevation. At the bottom, there are stands of short silver birch:

Then, we were above the tree line, looking down at the lake, Kilpisjärvi. There are no more birch at this elevation, only plants that live close to the ground, like moss and crowberry, with the occasional willow shrub.

By the time we got to the top, at about 1,000 meters in elevation, we had true Arctic weather! It was chilly, windy, and snowing! Lichen and grass (and crazy ASU students) are the only ones who flourish at this elevation. The lichen were great to observe again, since the theme for today's lecture and hike was "color", and they come in so many fabulous colors.

Ezra, Stephanie, and Diego... so bundled up that you can hardly recognize them!

Because the weather was turning bad, we returned to the station. On the way down, these Sonoran Desert dweller ASU students got to play in some snow. (And how DARE they take aim at their professor?!?!)

Manny, Guillermo, Brooke, Gina, and Diego throwing snowballs

The hike wore everyone out, so they have the evening off. Tomorrow morning we continue with our coursework and field work.

Arrival in Kilpisjärvi

This morning we flew from Helsinki up to the northern town of Kittilä, then drove three and a half hours to Kilpisjärvi.

As the airplane was landing, we got our first views of beautiful Arctic Finland.

The town of Kittalä has a pretty small little airport, and from there we crammed ourselves and all of our luggage into a bus. It was a tight squeeze for 3.5 hours! We had a very quick stop for lunch of reindeer sandwiches, but otherwise we were squeezed in like this:

We arrived at the research station around 6 pm, where we were met by the director Antero, and the very kind and wonderful cook who kept dinner warm for us. We were very hungry, and it was a wonderful welcome!

It's overcast and chilly here. It was about 6°C when we pulled into the station. That's about 42°F, which is a far cry from the 110°F Phoenix weather we are coming from! Antero promises warmer weather next week, and asks if we brought our bathing suits. (Hahaha!)

After dinner we settled into our rooms, and walked around a little bit. Here is some scenery that we get to enjoy during our stay here:

"Järvi" in Finnish means lake. So Kilpisjärvi is Kilpis Lake. Here it is!

Tiff, Richard, Guillermo, Manny, and Gina check out the lake with Saana "mountain" in the background. The little blue flag in the middle flies at the main station buildings.

Tomorrow, we resume the students' coursework. No rest for them! But, for now, it's bed time after a long day of traveling.

A Day in Helsinki

All of the students made it into Helsinki yesterday, and after a shower, a good night's sleep, and some coffee, we were ready for a day of learning in Helsinki!

Our day started at the University of Helsinki's Viiki Campus, which is where their environmental and sustainability programs are located. Here we are at the entrance to the Biocenter (or Biokeskus, in Finnish) for Helsingin Yliopisto (Finnish for Helsinki University), bright eyed and bushy tailed despite our jetlag!

Left-to-right: Diego, Guillermo, Stephanie, Kylie, Manny, Ezra, Gina, Richard, Tiff, Brooke, Christina, Andrew, and me

We started the morning hearing from the Senior Economic Officer with the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki about Arctic issues. Finland is now the chairing country of the Arctic Council, which is made up of all eight nations that fall within the Arctic and indigenous groups native to the Arctic to promote cooperation in important issues like environment, climate, economics, and people. We were particularly interested to hear about the work of the Council and their goal of promoting decisions based on science, and to think about how science can better be communicated to politicians and the public. (And it was cool to hear about careers with the Embassy!) We were so interested, that we continued talking about what we heard after Jay, our visiting officer, had to leave!

Then, we got to tour the Biocenter facilities and learn about some of the cool science being done by ecologists at the University. We learned about everything from viruses (and some very creative origami viruses!), to microfossil moss leaves used to understand past climate change from before humans were around, to how growing plants respond to changes in their climate. I think the favorite part for everyone was the greenhouses and experimental fields outside, because we love our sunshine and foliage! (We lucked out and had some beautiful weather today.)

And that was all before lunch! After lunch we took the city bus to the Finnish Museum of Natural History (or, Luonnontieteellinen Keskusmuseo). Students were assigned to tour the museum, and identify their favorite exhibits that do a good job using artistic elements to communicate complex scientific concepts. I think my favorite was a hallway where it showed animals and plants that live in mountains, going from high elevation at the beginning of the hallway down to low elevation as you walk though. The left side showed that gradient in the Rocky Mountains in the U.S., and on the right it showed the gradient in the Alps in Europe. I thought it was cool, because it showed you that, no matter where you are, things change in a similar way as you go from high to low on a mountain. While the species might be different between Europe and the U.S., they are often related, and they have a similar niche. (Unfortunately, it's hard to take a photo of both sides of a hallway... so I can't show you.)

We ended the evening with a group dinner, and a quick visit to a sound space art exhibit. (That's an art installation where you enter a room and listen to the sounds being projected, with carefully chosen frequencies and rhythms.) Here we are at dinner, still awake despite the jetlag!

Now we are back at our hotel. Tomorrow morning we get up early and head back to the airport, because we fly north to Kilpis! We are excited to get north of the Arctic Circle and begin our research projects!

Onward... to the other side of the planet!

I mostly post about our research on the polar soils of the southern hemisphere in Antarctica. However, I have just begun a journey to the opposite side of the planet, this time heading north above the Arctic Circle. Our group from Arizona State University will be spending the next couple of weeks at Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in northern Finland. 

Kilpisjärvi is in the northwestern tip of Finland, near the point where Finland, Norway, and Sweden meet. At 69°N, it is north of the Arctic Circle, so at this time of year we'll be enjoying 24 hours of daylight and some chilly temperatures that give us a much-needed break from June in Phoenix, AZ! You can learn more about Kilpisjärvi on their website here.

Our team this year is interdisciplinary. We are two professors and 11 students. Half of us are scientists, and the other half are artists. The students on the project will be working in scientist+artist teams to conduct independent research projects in Arctic ecology, as well as communicate that research to the public through a creative work. So often science and art are thought of as entirely different fields, when in fact they share the same core set of skills: observation, interpretation, creativity, and communication. The stereotype of a scientist is someone analytical and boring, with no creativity or inspiration. But scientists can't design exciting new research without being creative! They need to be able to observe their surroundings from different viewpoints and think outside the box, just like an artist is trained to do. Artists also need to be analytical and take risks like scientists do, and shouldn't be deterred from getting involved and understanding science. So we hope that the students will leave the program as better scientists and better artists as a result of practicing both fields through their research projects. Plus, we'll introduce a cohort of students to the Arctic who have never been here before and convey what they learn to the public, through hands-on research experiences. Already they are coming up with some pretty cool ideas of what they'd like to work on!

Our trip begins in Helsinki, Finland. The two professors (Richard and I) arrived in Helsinki today. Tomorrow, the students join us. We'll spend a couple of days here meeting with the US Embassy, scientists and artists from the University of Helsinki, and visiting museums before flying up north to Kilpisjärvi on Saturday. Stay tuned!