Hello fellow interns,

Winter has arrived, albeit rather mildly.  I’ve yet to experience a true Fairbanks chill as the November temperatures have been rather uncharacteristically warm (daytime temperatures usually in the teens) with the exception of one -7ºF day.  Warmer yet in the hills as they are above the infamous temperature inversion that traps cold air (and air pollution) in the valley.  ‘Freeze up’ is in progress on the Chena River in town and trees are coated with ice and frost, reflecting light magnificently and resembling gravity-defying chandeliers.  ‘Termination dust’ has fallen and although Fairbanksians curse it for halting summer activities, they soon change their tune and curse Mother Nature for not providing enough for winter activities like skiing.

Mid-November freeze up in progress along Chena River.

In the office, I’ve been working on tracking down lots of past invasive plant species data, cleaning it up, and getting it ready to submit to AKEPIC (The Alaska Exotic Plants Information Clearinghouse).

I’ve also been still working away at identifying plant specimens from our office and over the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of going to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks to compare our specimens with those in their herbarium.  This has been a really fun and valuable process for me as I’ve been able to see a larger scale herbarium in action and be around and get advice and identification help from some very talented botanists.   We thought we might have a rare plant Arnica lonchophylla amongst our specimens, but alas it turned out to be the more common Arnica angustifolia ssp. tomentosa. Although an admittedly intermediate specimen, as verified by one of the herbarium’s very talented pseudo-retired botanists.  I’ve also really enjoyed this experience as it has allowed me a glimpse into the academia side of things.  It has been very interesting and enlightening to be able to compare and contrast these two very different worlds.

The biggest recent happenings, however, occurred in late October when I was able to go to Anchorage for the annual Invasive Plant Conference!  The conference was a really amazing opportunity to witness and experience the full scope of the invasive species management community across Alaska.  I was able to meet, talk with, get advice from, share management successes/failures with, strategize and laugh with people from all over the state who work for all different types of organizations and agencies.  Not to mention learn a lot from many great lectures, presentations and workshops.

I was also able to visit with my Anchorage CLM counterparts Bonnie and Charlotte, complete with some time on the Matanuska Glacier!

All in all, a great week in Anchorage.

December has brought even milder temperatures in the 20s (what the heck Fairbanks?!) and more AKEPIC and plant ID work.

I also had the opportunity to drive north to Central, AK to monitor the winter caribou hunt along with some peers from Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  After a nasty drive across Eagle Summit in nearly white-out conditions we arrived at a very cold Central field station.  One heater malfunction, one rented ‘hotel’ room and several greasy meals later we were able to comfortably sleep in the field station. The next few days were spent driving along the Steese Highway checking hunters’ permits and licenses as they emerged from the surrounding hills on snow machines towing caribou.  The hunt was remarkably civil with no citations written and no fist fights or shots fired between hunters (apparently this civil-ness is quite a rarity).  The scenery was breath-taking as usual: rolling hills of snow dotted with the black silhouettes of spruce trees.  Certain portions of the road looked like a moonscape of pure white snow with no vegetation in site.  Something you would see in Antarctica (or Mann’s planet from Interstellar).  Mornings before sunrise (i.e. before 9:15 AM) and evenings after sunset (i.e. after 3:45 PM) were spent at the Steese Roadhouse for more greasy fare.  It is the sole restaurant, general store, and gas station in Central.  After one day of hunt monitoring weather forecasts started predicting some ominous snow storms, and thus, with the hunt slowing down and weather on the way we left on the second (and last) day of the hunt and headed back to Fairbanks for fear of being snowed in.

Us monitoring the caribou hunt along the Steese Highway.

Hope all you CLM interns still on board are having a great winter!

Katie

Fairbanks, AK