Stacy Golden Studies Frost-Boil Ecosystems in Canada 11 July - 31 July 2004

Stacy and the research team will be working on Prince Patrick Island, Canada on a long-term project that studies frost boils—small circular landforms caused by frost action—as ecosystems. Frost boils cover large regions of the Arctic; climate, vegetation, and soil all interact in complex ways to shape their structure. By studying these interactions, the team will gain insight into arctic carbon and nutrient budgets as well as the response of tundra ecosystems to climate change. This project is part of NSF's Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) program, which is designed to foster research and education on the complex inter-dependencies among environmental systems. Click here to learn more about the frost-boil project.

Where is Prince Patrick Island?

Prince Patrick Island is part of the Northwest Territories, Canada, and is located in the western Arctic Archipelago. It is surrounded by ice year-round, making it one of the least accessible of the Arctic Islands. Stacy and the research team will be working near Mould Bay, the site of a U.S.-Canadian weather station near one of the island's many inlets.

Meet the Teacher:

Stacy is clearly captivated by the northern environment; since moving to Alaska in 1994 she has earned a Marine Biology degree, interned at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, worked in a salmon hatchery, volunteered with a whale biologist, and has worked as a naturalist on a marine wildlife tour. Stacy is looking forward to passing onto others the newfound knowledge she gains from her TREC experience, and hopes to inspire students to search for careers in science.

Meet the Researchers:

Donald "Skip" Walker is a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the director of the Alaska Geobotany Center. Since "Biocomplexity" is a relatively new and evolving field, he is eager to communicate the significant scientific issues to teachers and students following the TREC project. In addition to the frost-boil research, Dr. Walker is involved in several projects that focus on arctic vegetation and landscape responses to climate change.

William Gould is a Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is also a research associate at the Alaska Geobotany Center and director of the Institute for Field Education. His interests include the of study ecological controls of biodiversity, ecological patterns and processes, vegetation and ecosystem mapping, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and curriculum development.

Martha "Tako" Reynolds is a Research Associate at the Alaska Geobotany Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Tako's professional interests lie in plant community description and mapping, plant identification, and Geographic Information Science (GIS).

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