Adventures in Svalbard 2010: On standby for helicopter... again!

The friendly neighborhood Reindeer

Snow in August!

I have not been so great about updates. Much has happened, it snowed here (big time, several inches), but it has melted by now. It must be 55-60 out, its been a beautiful day. However, I have not made it into the field yet. Three times now I've been prepped to go out on the helicopter (we go in teams of 4) but Monday and Tuesday found the weather very poor for flying. The pilots fly by sight, so its very important that they not take risks in clouds. So Tuesday several of us hiked to a glacier to get some samples of algae that live on snow. It ended up being a 7 hour trip. The actual walking time was only about 2 hrs each direction, but there was a long stop for sampling and many little stops on the way back for people to ooo and ah at flora and fauna. Still, its frustrating to not get to see the sites that the samples we working on come from, geological context is important. I could be doing the work I do in the lab here at home. Its the field that this is all about.

Little glacial stream

Yesterday was quite exciting, too. We had an electrical malfunction that blew two circuits. When we got to the bottom on the problem, it was a crappy surge protector that had melted down. In the end, the only casualty was my baritron, which monitors pressure in my vacuum system, but believe it or not I can still run without it, making sure I pump a long time on the system and hoping there are no leaks :-) It was quite scary though, hearing the snap crackle pop of electric current and smelling that awful burnt ozone smell.

Tonight is apparently "initiation," an AMASE ritual that in the past has involved making the newbies do anything from breakdancing to making up limericks. We'll see what happens!