Two weeks in Alaska

Off to Anchorage on Jan. 18 for the Alaska Marine Science Symposium. This is a fabulous conference I first went to in 2005 to present the Glacier Bay work. That year was when I happened to meet John and the rest of the ShoreZone project team. Last year I had barely been with them a month. This year I presented some research I have been doing on using the ShoreZone database to model habitat "capability" and predict the spread of invasive coastal species in SE Alaska.

The talks and posters at this conference are all oriented to marine science in Alaska, but a lot of different disciplines are represented. It's not often in the same day you can see presentations on climate models along with studies of polar bear behavior, phytoplankton blooms, and nearshore fish habitat. The conference really promotes interaction, so meals are included, and the poster sessions are in the evenings with a bar and buffet. We presented in three poster sessions as well as gave a talk.

We also had a big meeting of ShoreZone partners while in Anchorage, at which we established a board of directors and various working groups. While this project consumes my professional life, we are but a spoke in the wheel of the program. It has grown and grown and grown! It brings in 60% of my company's income, and they have formally offered me a full partnership in the corporation.

Anchorage was snowy, cold, but beautiful. The photo above is of Mt. Susitna (the sleeping lady), a 4,140 ft peak northwest of Anchorage. I took this photo from the port of Anchorage, looking across Knik Arm. The pack ice is solid close to shore but then breaks up offshore (either naturally or with icebreakers coming in to port). The tidal currents in Knik Arm, Turnagain Arm, and Cook Inlet regularly reach 5 knots, and at times bores can be 6 ft high and 15 mph! The ice moves rapidly along the axis of these inlets. The Wikipedia entry on Cook Inlet is really good, if you're interested.

There are cross-country "tracks" all over the city of Anchorage, where you can literally ski to and from work or just go out for exercise. They are lighted trails, so people are on them at all hours.


I also spent a day skiing at Alyeska. The mountain got 283" of snow during the month of December! I went skiing instead of snowboarding because conditions were so powdery, and I hadn't skiied in almost a year. The daytime temperature at the middle mountain was 22F (-5C). I didn't go all the way to the summit, because all of the runs up high are for advanced skiers. All the lifts and ski runs stay open until 9 pm under snow lights which makes for beautiful conditions. I had never skied at night before! Even from the mid-mountain I had a clear view of Cook Inlet and its giant chunks of floating sea ice, flowing with the ripping tidal currents, and just beyond that the steep mountains of the Kenai Peninsula. It was amazing. My friend Steve has promised me photos, so stay tuned. For now, a great view can be seen at this link.

After Anchorage I went on to Juneau to spend two days meeting with a couple of people at NOAA. I landed under partly sunny skies, and by the time I retrieved my luggage and rental car, this is what it looked like... I prompty traded in my Ford Focus for a Toyota Highlander (nice ride!!).


Check out this enormous crow.


The two days were full of interaction with colleagues and funding partners, but also friends I made in Glacier Bay who now live in Juneau and hosted a small dinner party for my visit. On my last day I visited the Mendenhall Glacier, where I went hiking in 2004 after the Glacier Bay trip. It was hardly visible because of the snow and fog, but I remembered it. How different the glacier (and life) are now, almost three years later.


There were lovely but very brief moments of sun on that last day.


But the battle between snow and sun proved difficult for actually leaving Juneau, so I spent about 36 hours trying to get home to Victoria. What was it I loved about traveling again?