Best Place to Study Science

I have just finished a week of trainings and presentations from people doing scientific studies in Alaska.  Wow, what a week.  I got to talk to other national park biologist and will be working on proposals with some of them to get funding for a wolverine study.  I teamed up with a biostatisian and we are going to try a new way to monitor birds in the spring.  I worked with a GIS database operator to create an app to collect moose data, of course one of these days I am actually going to have to find the moose in Katmai. 

I also learned a lot about the volcanoes of the area and where lava is stored in the ground.  I learned about glaciers and their disappearances.  I learned that as we lose glaciers, the ground is rising.  In some areas 6 - 8 cm a year.  I learned about ice events and now know I can expect at least two a month from now until Feb.  I learned about sheep movements, peregrine falcons of Kenai Fjords and harbor seals of Glacier National Park.  I learned about caribou movements and who is eating them.  I learned about volcanic soils and what is starting to grow on them.  I have listened to reports on wind conditions and changing tidal patterns.  My head is full of facts, ideas, and things I now have to work on.  It is so full of science that I need an adventure.  Today I am going to spend the entire day exploring Anchorage.