Welcome to the Pratt Lab blog! Dr. Kerri Pratt is an assistant professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Earth & Environmental Sciences and faculty associate of the Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan. We study the chemical interactions of atmospheric trace gases, particles, clouds, and snow, with a focus on the Polar Regions and wintertime environments. Our interdisciplinary research has relevance to climate change, air quality, and human health. As an analytical chemistry lab, we primarily apply novel mass spectrometry techniques to our field research. We invite you to follow our adventures in (and outside!) the lab!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Shipping snow from Barrow to Michigan

Research in Arctic is an adventure.  Lucky for us Alaska Airlines flies all of the way to Barrow, AK.  This time my flight itinerary was Detroit, MI to Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA to Fairbanks, AK to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, AK to Barrow, AK and back via Barrow, AK to Fairbanks, AK to Seattle, WA to Detroit, MI!  The airport "terminal" in Barrow, AK consist of one room with a baggage claim "slide".  Luggage arriving in Barrow consists of lots of large boxes and coolers since there are no roads to Barrow!  My luggage included three bags/boxes with aerosol sampling equipment and three coolers for snow samples.  Two of my coolers have lots of insulation to prevent the snow from melting and are even bear-proof (which means that so far they haven't gotten damaged from all of the shipping, unlike the regular cooler)!
"Baggage claim" at Barrow, AK
My "luggage" back in Detroit after its' second trip to Alaska this year!

Heavy-duty YETI cooler with snow samples from Alaska!  We put -20C blue ice packs in the coolers for shipment to keep the snow frozen.  (Photo by request for students at Scranton High School (PA)!)

Posted by at

4 comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)