Sea Ice Workshop in Barrow

Mid-November took me to Barrow (place to hunt snowy owls), Alaska, the farthest north town in the United States and one that I had never been to before. I, along with a few other people, gave a tutorial to representatives from various coastal Alaska communities on how to access scientific information about sea ice on the internet. The workshop was a success, and I was happy to have finally visited the town of Barrow because we may set up a field site there next summer.

The workshop was held at the Barrow Global Climate Change Research Facility, whose doors were just opened last year, and it was a great place to host a meeting with plenty of computers and high-speed internet access.


The signs labeling the rooms were given in English, brail, and Inupiaq.



I'm thinking about taking an Inupiaq class in the spring, but I'm not sure how well I would do. We'll see how it goes. The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium provided lodging in a Quonset hut onsite.


After the meeting was over, I got to drive up and down the coastline a little bit. It looked just like you would expect the Arctic Ocean to look this time of year...frozen.


Another treat for me was the opportunity to see the last sunset of the year for Barrow. Goodbye from Barrow until the spring, old friend. Makes me glad I live just below the Arctic Circle.