Tag: Alaska

A herd of caribou stands on an ice shelf, staring directly at the viewer. On a rise in the midground stands a lone bull with massive antlers, silhouetted against the distand blue mountains.

Caribou Kingdom: The Magic of Migration in The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

August 1, 2024

I crawled from my tent and stared at the ice wall along the northern horizon. It looked like something from a fantasy novel, the bulwark of some legendary polar kingdom. No escalade could scale these battlements: the shimmering bastion was a superior mirage, reflected from the Beaufort Sea eleven miles away. And this was no … More Caribou Kingdom: The Magic of Migration in The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Aialik Glacier rises in a sheer wall of craggy blue and white ice. Tiny kayaks bob in the middle ground.

Kayaking Aialik Glacier, Where Geology Mirrors Psychology

June 28, 2024

My Laddie’s mother came to visit us in May, and since she’s fond of kayaking, we took her to Seward for a paddling excursion at Aialik Glacier. I’d watched the weather forecast all week and booked just a few days ahead, choosing the lone sunny spot in the meteorological lineup, It didn’t disappoint. Mountains rose … More Kayaking Aialik Glacier, Where Geology Mirrors Psychology

A Common Redpoll bird pops up from a snowbank, its red cap vibrant against the white snow. Several flakes fly up around its speckled breast.

Bird Joy: Science warms to the idea that birds play in the snow

January 25, 2024

After researching how climate change threatens snowy Arctic biomes, I’ve been spending as much time as I can outdoors in the Alaskan winter. A recent 20-Fahrenheit afternoon felt warm after December’s negative temperatures. My neighborhood stream, artificially heated for utility purposes, burbled along with less ice than usual encrusting its rocks and reeds. Birds took … More Bird Joy: Science warms to the idea that birds play in the snow

A snowy landscape, with an inky stream winding away through white marshland towards a mountainous horizon.

A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

January 10, 2024

Only one thing scared me about moving to Alaska six months ago. Not the remoteness. Australia got me hooked on wild environments with more nature than civilization, so this was actually a selling point. Not the wildlife. While moose and bears can be aggressive, photography has taught me to keep a respectful distance (and a … More A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

Side-by-side globes showing El Nino satellite data across the Pacific. The 1997 globe shows a thick red line near the equator; on the 2015 globe, the red indicators have spread up the west coast of the United States and into the Pacific.

Fire and Ice: How Climate Change Impacts the El Niño Southern Oscillation

October 2, 2023

“I saw the termination dust in September,” said my colleague, nodding out the office window toward the Chugach Range. When I raised my eyebrows, he added “That’s what Alaskans call that first sprinkle of snow on the mountaintops, because it means summer is coming to an end. I’ve never seen it that early before.” I … More Fire and Ice: How Climate Change Impacts the El Niño Southern Oscillation

A great horned owl peers up from a green patch of clover, vivid yellow eyes blazing through the pink blossoms.

The Fifty-Dollar Owl: Contemplating the Cost of Conservation

September 5, 2023

My overseas work contract recently concluded, but after three years of vast Australian skies and wilderness at my doorstep, I couldn’t bear returning to the congested mid-Atlantic sprawl I’d once called home. Instead, I took a job in another remote pole: Alaska! I’ve hopped hemispheres from the Great Southern Land to the Great White North. … More The Fifty-Dollar Owl: Contemplating the Cost of Conservation