Time has flown by and I've already been in Fairbanks for three weeks. I've been busy getting accquainted with the town, people, and the project I'll be working on. So let me break it down for you:
Fairbanks:
I'm currently living in an apartment with three other girl in the section of town that is oriented to college students. I'm a quick walk away to restaurants, a quirky bookstore, and ice cream (very important). And I'm a short bike ride from the farmer's market, fair grounds, and an awesome bird refuge called Creamer's field. Downtown and some other places are a bus ride away. My new alarm clock is the train that runs right by my apartment. It runs throughout the day, but is particularly noticeable at 4am and 8am. I can see the train from my bedroom window. Sometimes it's carrying coal and other times it carrying passengers. I am close enough to the train to sit at my desk and see the faces of the tourists pressed up against the train's windows. While I'm only a mile away from the building I work in, the University is on top of a big hill (I mean really big). I've been biking and walking and I hope in a few weeks to have walked off all the breakfast sandwiches I ate during my last semester of undergrad. However, biking home in the evening down this huge hill, with a full view of the Alaska Range makes the morning trudge uphill worth it.
The Work:
I'm quickly trying to understand just exactly I've gotten myself into. And here is the main gist: Alaska is trying to find new energy sources and a Dam has been proposed on the Susitna River. Now, this dam would be one of the largest in the country (think Hoover Dam big) and would dam a river basin that stretches just south of Fairbanks all the way to Anchorage. It's a highly political and controversial dam. However, prior to building the dam, the Alaska Energy Authority is conducting an extensive study on the impacts of the dam. Here is a list of all 40+ projects http://www.susitna-watanahydro.org/study-plan/
Of these projects, my group (3 of us) is only working on the River Productivity Study and Fish Distribution and Abundance. The study is skewed to focus mainly on Salmon (there are 6 kinds in the Susitna). We are helping out with fish crews who are going to be measuring, weighing, aging, and seeing what the fish ate. In order to see what a fish eats, you have to pump it's stomach, a process known as fish lavage. The majority of my time here so far has been making lavage kits for out in the field. We are also going to be collecting algae, macroinvertebrates (insect) and organic matter from the study sites. On Sunday, we are traveling 5 hours south of Fairbanks to Talkeetna to spend two weeks doing field work. This week we've been busy getting supplies together (sleeping bags, waders, boots, etc) and trying to work out the logistics of this huge study plan. Besides the three of us from the university, we are also coordinating with two teams of environmental consultants, and the phone calls, planning, and logistics is VERY complicated. I'm glad to be the research tech doing work like ducting taping and labeling instead of trying to figure out how to transport a boat via helicopter (yes, this might actually happen).
While I'm a bit nervous about our first field excursion, I'm excited to get out of Fairbanks and see more of the great state of Alaska. I've already learned so much, and can't wait to learn even more!
-Suz
Here's a view from the University.
