Four Crossed Spoke

Oral Exams Ahead

bvillejohns — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:49:19 +0000

After a long delay in the process oral prelim exams are friday during the midday. If successful, the meeting place for celebratory activities will be posted here by 2:00 pm our thereabouts

A few last posts

bvillejohns — Sat, 28 May 2011 06:27:52 +0000

Getting everything packed up for an early departure tomorrow. Here are a few more shots from the field.

A few links to try

bvillejohns — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:33:38 +0000

Good morning. The crew is going through their AM group games. Thought you might like a few links before we head into the field:

Here’s the place we have been the last two nights,

and the web site for place in the woods run by WISE,

the Roadhouse Inn in Teklanika,

the Ranger Station in Teklanika,

and finally the visitor center at the nation’s largest national park (the site where we saw the salmon wheel.)

Time to head out for a bit of geology. Remember that some of the earlier content is in the list of pages in the darker band at the top of the page. Seward tonight.

Last night on the bay.

bvillejohns — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:30:33 +0000

All is quiet in the yurts as the sun is no where near setting. A series of four hour studies in the field has left the group feeling a bit tired. The sing along last night had everyone participating until nearly ten. Tonight by 8:30 only two students remained as Jenny and our own Mr. JT led a lively songfest.

Tomorrow we head back the vans parked on the spit and make our way to Seward to sleep at the Sea Life center. Hopefully we’ll have access to the internet via phone or PC and the time to toss an update your way.

A few photos from today’s afternoon investigation of cobble and sand beaches as well as a look at some 4,500 year old settlements.

Checking for diversity on the cobble beach.

How many barnacles are there in a 1×1 frame?

Peterson bay search for Echinoderms, Arthropods, Mollusks, and Cnidarians. And unexpectedly finding a couple of octopi.

These three beauties were in a protected tide pool. These live to be 150 years. Frilled anemones, you know.

Check out the pages above

bvillejohns — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:44:43 +0000

If you have not yet looked the pages in the dark band near the top of the page you may want to do this now. Images and some comments have been placed there instead of in the posts.

Off to do a biodiversity survey in a tide pool. Must beat the tide, I’ll post something tonight while we have access.

At the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies

bvillejohns — Tue, 24 May 2011 02:25:25 +0000

Greetings all, hope you weathered the storm that we got fragments of information about. Nothing like sitting at a National Park in Alaska and getting a text from the UMN telling me to take shelter if on campus.

We have covered some remarkable pieces of Alaska since the last post. So remarkable that internet access has been minimal via phone or PC. In a single day we heard from a BLM manager, a park ranger, a manager in a petroleum transportation company and some people working a non-profit to provide environmental education for the schools.

Tonight we across the Cachemak Bay from the town of Homer. Homer is where Tom Bodet is from- when he says “goodnight from the end of the road” he is referring to the “spit” of land at the end of the road in Homer.We sailed from the spit this morning and have spent the day handling animals found in the tidal pools around the island. Trivia lesson for today- the tides here have the third greatest difference between high and low in the world. We saw a difference of 24 feet today, and it’s not the best tide.

Off to help with dinner. I’ll post some more later when things settle down and I can upload some pictures.

PS. No bears nor earthquake tremors yet. Sorry, but we are hopefully.

Landed and headed to breakfast

bvillejohns — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:48:16 +0000

Quick post today. All went well at the Copper Lantern. Should be out of Anchorage by 11:00 after a museum stop. Three hour time difference here but all are up. More later.

Nearly off

bvillejohns — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:31:49 +0000

Some last minute notes for all

Itineraries were handed out today; one to be left home and one brought along
Make sure that you have a photo ID tomorrow
We will gather around 12:00 noon, everyone should eat first lunch tomorrow.
Bring your packed bag. Most of you are packing your sleeping bag and pad in your gear.
Drop your bag off by the elevators
We hope to be on our way to the airport by 12:30
an ATM card or cash for the various airports and snacks may be good for most
BRING a journal as well as pencils and pens

SEND a reply to this blog if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you.

Look for posts here during the study.

Alaska here we come!

Alaska traveller update

bvillejohns — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:47:38 +0000

Greetings to all Alaska Field Study students. We haven’t had many questions lately, hopefully meaning that you have collected all that you need for travel and things are going well.

We will meet on Wednesday, May 11 to go over some final details and to hand out travel bags. Monday and Tuesday we will remind participants of missing forms (if there are any missing- way to get them in!). On Wednesday you can attend either the 6:50 meeting or the 2:15 meeting depending on your schedule. Each meeting will last for 40 minutes and will start on time. If you arrive late we will ask you to meet with us after school on Thursday to be sure that you have gotten all the information.

Spread the word on the meeting. Write down any questions you have so that you will remember to ask them on Wednesday. Parents- send questions along or email them to us directly. Look for responses to questions to be posted here after the meeting.

Alaska Final Parent Meeting 4/21

bvillejohns — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:09:47 +0000

C. Johnson meets his match

As we complete the final parent meeting in preparation for departure next month we want to take a few moments to get you acquainted with this site. We have used it in the past to communicate information from the field to the folks back home.

This has been especially important when airplanes have been delayed (as in Copenhagen just days before winter break) and for sending the staff perspective on activities as the study progresses.

For now, here is a link to the information sheet from Thursday’s meeting

Look for more information ahead. If you are using an RSS reader consider subscribing to the blog during the study.