Starting Out Strong in Barrow!

Day one was a huge success! Barrow’s temperamental weather gave us a gem of a day- clear skies, low wind, and (relatively) warm temperatures. It was perfect for going out on Elson Lagoon to take some snow samples!

After a short but sweet training session on the snowmobiles (and a few spills along the way), Claire, Nate, and I (Alicia) all headed out with a bear guard to start gathering samples for next year’s class of Chem 125- Authentic Research Experience in Snow Chemistry students. To understand the spatial variability in snow chemistry, we decided to sample in 100 ft transects, collecting surface snow every 20 ft. At the end of each transect (100 ft) we took a depth profile so students can see how chemical composition varies with distance above the sea ice. 

Depth profile for transect #2. There was some pretty shallow snow!

Claire and I collecting a surface sample in the first transect.

We stopped at four sites to take transects, each about a mile apart, and then stopped quickly a fifth time to take another depth profile. This is what our path looks like when our sampling coordinates are plugged into Google Earth (which doesn't show that everything is frozen and snow-covered!).

Not only did we get a total of 38 (!) snow samples to analyze, but we also got the privilege to see a real, live polar bear in its natural habitat! We couldn’t get any decent pictures due to the fact that it was very far away (thank goodness!), but it’s appearance made this trip even more of a once in a lifetime experience than it already was. Props to our bear guard, Orion, for spotting the bear from such a long distance! Not only this, but our talented bear guard also spotted two caribou in their trek across the tundra- giving us the chance to see not one, but two of the Arctic’s more fabled creatures.

It was a beautiful day to say the least, and something that I know I will never forgot. Thanks so much Prof. Pratt and our funding sources at the University of Michigan for making this trip a reality! Last but definitely not least, Go Blue!

Arrival in Barrow!

Nearly 24 hours and three flights later, we finally arrived in Barrow, Alaska on Monday! The long journey included a nearly five hour flight from Detroit to Seattle, a three hour flight from Seattle to Anchorage, an eight hour layover in Anchorage, and a three hour flight from Anchorage to Barrow with a quick stop in Prudhoe Bay.  In the upcoming week, Nate, Alicia, and I (Claire) will be snow-machining across the tundra and sea ice to collect snow samples for the Fall 2016 offering of CHEM 125/126- Snow (General Chemistry Laboratory- Authentic Research Experience in Snow Chemistry).  Last fall, Alicia and I were students in this class, and now we have the amazing opportunity to see where the snow samples we analyzed just a few months prior came from and how they were taken.  In the upcoming week, Alicia and I will post updates about our adventures on the ice, but in the meantime, here are some photos I took along our journey to reach the northernmost point in the U.S.

We had to get up at 5:30 a.m. for our final flight, but it was worth it to see this sunrise.

 Image of the mountain range just outside of Anchorage.

Our plane began its descent into Barrow right over this open water which quickly turned into sea ice just a few seconds later. The sea ice lead is really, really close to shore!

Image of NARL (the old Naval Arctic Research Laboratory) at sunrise.

Here are some of the huts at NARL, one of which we will be staying in for the next week.

Arctic Field Study (Feb.-Apr. 2016)!

We are back to Barrow, Alaska this winter/spring! Our NSF-funded atmospheric chemistry study is a collaboration with Purdue University and Penn State University. Angela Raso, a Chemistry PhD student at Purdue University, spent the last 4+ months in the Pratt Lab at the University of Michigan to prepare the chemical ionization mass spectrometer for field deployment. Pratt Lab post-doc Dr. Siyuan Wang will be conducting one-dimensional modeling to evaluate the important chemical reactions that explain Angela's data.

Angela Raso arrived in Barrow earlier this week and will stay for the duration of the study ending in late April. Check out updates about her adventures at her blog: http://snowkidding.blogspot.com/

Arctic Tundra Lab! (Photo credit: Angela Raso)

We will be posting fieldwork updates here as well! During the University of Michigan's winter/spring break, Prof. Kerri Pratt, PhD student Nate May, freshman undergrad Alicia Kevelin, and freshman undergrad Claire Mattson will be traveling to Barrow! Nate, Alicia, and Claire will be snow-machining across the tundra and sea ice to collect snow samples for the Fall 2016 offering of CHEM 125/126-Snow (General Chemistry Laboratory - Authentic Research Experience in Snow Chemistry)! We are very thankful to several sponsors for this CHEM 125/126 fieldwork: 1) Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Authentic Research Connection, University of Michigan Department of Chemistry, and University of Michigan Program in the Environment. In addition, Alicia and Claire both received Arctic Internship funding through the University of Michigan International Institute! Congratulations Claire & Alicia on this great accomplishment!

Prof. Pratt to give invited talk at AMS Meeting

Tomorrow (Jan. 13) Prof. Kerri Pratt will be giving an invited talk in the "Cloud Effects on Atmospheric Chemistry" session at the 18th Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry at the 96th Annual American Meteorological Society Meeting in New Orleans, LA!

Welcome Ryan, Isabel, Alicia, Claire, Anna, Ahmet, & Leena to the Pratt Lab!

The Pratt Lab just grew a lot! 

Welcome back first-year PhD rotation student Ryan Cook, who did a summer 2015 rotation with us!  Welcome first-year PhD rotation student Isabel Colon-Bernal from the University of Puerto Rico!

Welcome Alicia Kevelin and Claire Mattson, freshman undergraduate students who took Chem 125 (General Chemistry Laboratory - Authentic Research Experience in Snow Chemistry) and will be continuing research in our lab!

Welcome Anna Leemon, a junior Chemistry undergraduate student, who will be focusing on translating our research into outreach activities for the public. Welcome Ahmet Yesilcimen, a junior Chemistry undergraduate student, who will be working with our aerosol instrumentation and Leena Shah, a junior Biology undergraduate student, who will be working with Dr. Ying-Hsuan Lin on the toxicity of secondary organic aerosols.