Students in Arctic Research (STAR) | Calendar
Meet the Students | Meet the Teachers |
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Aaron Putnam from Barrow, Alaska was on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea with teacher Tim Buckley studying the chemistry and biology of the of the ice pack of the Arctic Ocean with the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). They sampled sea ice for chemical analyses and for algae and invertebrate animals that live in the ice. The project used a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) to observe organisms found on the bottom of the ice and on the sea floor. |
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Aaron Stupple from Stamford, New York flew with Tim Conner to Deering, a village in western Alaska, to help excavate remains of an extinct culture. The remains of the mysterious Ipiutak people were discovered while the city began digging trenches to install a sewer system. Anthropologists hope to unravel the lifestyle of these people and perhaps discover why they disappeared from the region entirely. |
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Elisa Maldonado from Wilmington, California teamed up with Noa Levanon and teacher Myrtle Brijbasi and traveld by plane, ferry and train to Seward, Alaska to study the effects of residual crude oil on River Otter physiology and the otters' ability to catch fish. This study simulates what may actually be happening in Prince William Sound since the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. |
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Noa Levanon from Bloomington, Indiana worked with Elisa Maldonado and teacher Myrtle Brijbasiat the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska to study the physiology and behavior of River Otters that have been exposed to crude oil. This study simulates what free-living otters may have experienced since the 1989 Exxon Valedez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. |
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Javier Lopez from Spring Hill, Florida flew across North America to work on the tundra of northern Alaska with teacher Donald Rogers. They were part of a long-term study measuring the interactions among atmospheric warming, the depth of unfrozen soils above the permanently frozen soils, and the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere from microbes in the soil. |
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Meet the Teachers from TEA 1998 |
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Tim Buckley, a science teacher in Barrow, Alaska participated in the first TEArctic venture in 1995. Since then, he has maintained a collaborative relationship with Dr. Debra Meese of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and has introduced his students in rural Alaska to scientific research by collecting data on the coastal ice pack with his classroom. His second expedition included student Aaron Putnam for further studies of the Arctic Ocean ice pack. |
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Tim Conner, head of the science department at Chenango Forks Schools in Chenango Forks, New York specializes in Geology. His expertise in earth science was useful during his the excavation of artifacts from an extinct Alaskan Native culture in which he and student Aaron Stupple participated. |
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Myrtle Brijbasi a biology teacher from Suitland High School in Forestville, Maryland has taught numerous subjects in the natural sciences. She looks forward to integrating issues of pollution, animal behavior and physiology, and ecosystem function from the River Otter project into her classroom. Myrtle worked in Seward, Alaska with Noa Levanon and Elisa Maldonado. |
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Donald Rogers recently moved to Rogers High School in Spokane, Washington where he teaches mathematics. Donald is integrating results from research he conducted along with student Javier Lopez into his math classroom, including the mathematical modeling of the depth of unfrozen tundra, the reciprocal effects the tundra has on air temperature, and the depth of the ice below the tundra surface. |
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