The Return to Mongolia

Last time I left Mongolia, I did not really expect to come back. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like the place, but Mongolia is very far away and requires a very expensive plane ticket. Well, a mere three years later, here I am. PIRE Mongolia hired me on as the new project coordinator, doing administrative and scientific work for the project. (I should probably add that this blog reflects my personal opinions and account of the travel and -- not those of the project's or the University of Pennsylvania). Now I'm back in Ulaanbaatar and heading to the field site in a couple hours.

Ulaanbaatar changed a lot in the past three years. The streets are pretty dusty still and the sidewalks are the opposite of wheelchair friendly. But new skyscrapers seem to be popping up all over town. Even in the area where our hotel sits-- not necessarily a hopping part of town-- a new apartment building is going up across the street. Cars clog the streets seemingly everywhere. Brand new Hyundais and Land Cruisers fly by imported and used Japanese, right-hand drive Priuses, none of them stopping for pedestrians. I think the air quality has suffered, too. Walking around yesterday, I inhaled a good bit of exhaust.

During our sightseeing yesterday, we visited a monastery. The place was destroyed under communism, but when the US Vice-President Henry Wallance paid a visit to Mongolia, the ruthless dictator Choibalsan sheepishly rebuilt something to show of the religious heritage he had tried to decimate. Today, the place is back in working order, swarming with monks, and erecting a new building across the street. Inside, the three story tall golden buddha still dominates as he did three years ago. Amazing!

I'm off to the field site today and quite happy about it. Ulaanbaatar is nice, but Mongolia's best features are in the countryside. In a few hours, I'll breathe in fresh air, take in breath taking views, and get to see the experiments which have consumed so much of my time for the past eight months! Also, I'm traveling with the undergraduates this year. If we all make it to the field site safely, I will have completed my job successfully, something, to be honest, I was a little nervous about. Finally, this year, I'm lucky enough to be doing my own research project, looking at the competition between forest species (Larix siberica or Siberian larch) and grassland species (gramanoids, sedges, and forbs). It should be an interesting experiment, and I can't wait to get it started.

I'll be back on this blog come August 2nd or 3rd when I'm back in Ulaanbaatar and then again from August 3-9 while I'm visiting Seoul, South Korea (as a complete tourist!). Until then, definitely check out NYTimes Scientist@Work, which will be documenting our work in the field. The PIRE Mongolia project also has its own blog this year, containing interesting scientific and cultural insights. We can actually update that one from the field, so it should be up-to-date and fascinating.

Kayaking Photos

I got the pictures from my kayaking trip developed today. Seeing the gorgeous scenery again was great pick-me-up for an otherwise rainy and tiring day.

We got up close to the watery scenery

I don't know if it's my outfit or the disposable camera, but this looks so 80s

Our lunch spot; there's a seal swimming out there somewhere

The Bears of Valdez

Moose are sooo last month. Yea, I've seen 12 of them, whatever. Now I'm hyped about our recent bear sighting.

On our most recent work trip, we drove from Anchorage to Glennallen, where we spent four days. Instead of driving all the way back to Anchorage, we took the shorter drive to Valdez and then hopped on a ferry to the Anchorage area. Before catching some sleep on Thursday in Valdez, we drove to a spot often frequented by bears and hit the jackpot-- four black bears.

We spotted three cubs in the woods!

Then they decided to cross the road as momma peaked out from the woods

She joined them by the waters edge for a salmon buffet!

The salmon never stood a chance!

Fishing can be fun!

The birds took care of the leftovers

It's a SMALL World

I never realized the difference that living in a small city can make. I grew up in metropolitan Detroit (with over five million people) and went to school in the Delaware Valley (with over six million people). So with 360,000 people, metropolitan Anchorage is by far the smallest place I've lived. 

Riding my bike through the park, getting groceries, and going hiking inevitably become social events. Another seasonal intern and I have mutual friends in Michigan. I've only been here a month, and I keep running into people I know. For my roommate, this was a little more literal. When she was recently "tapped" by a car on her bike (everyone is ok!), the driver ended up being a friend of our boss.

A small city has other great attributes, too. Traffic, no matter what the Alaskans say, is virtually non-existent. People drive slower and more carefully. People wave and say hello on trails and while passing on the street. The only time I feel unsafe is when I'm in the proximity of bears.

Anchorage does have a little more traffic than this...

My trip this past week was fantastic. I'll be posting more pictures tomorrow!

Time is Faster Than a Glacier

When summer hits Alaska, people up here tend to get a little frantic. "It's all we've got," one six year resident told me. "We've got to utilize every minute of it."

Having a penchant for adventure, I've easily been swept into this mindset. Suddenly, a lazy Sunday seems like a total waste-- I could be hiking, kayaking, fishing, etc! And with so many new people, the pressure to form bonds and make friends leads to an eclectic collection of get-togethers and parties. Moreover, it doesn't help that I know my time here is limited. My summer here is extra precious as it's probably going to be my only one.

So today, I'm bringing down the pace a bit and just relaxing at home. The rain outside keeps me from feeling too bad about blogging instead of biking. And I'm just going to count myself lucky for getting to experience so many cool places through work. 

On Thursday and Friday, we drove south of Anchorage to Kenai Fjords National Park for a grass identification class. As exciting as lemmas and awns may be, I think my real memory from this trip is the glacier. I had never seen a glacier before coming to Alaska, and up until Thursday, I had only seen them from a distance. We got up close to Exit Glacier (we still couldn't touch it though. It would be dangerous to get that close to this huge, yet fragile and moving hunk of ice). The massive power and density of this natural occurrence is something that just can't be conveyed in pictures. But here are some anyway :)

Where the glacier was in 1917. A lot has changed since then!

Exit Glacier and its outwash

I'm standing about 25 yards from the glacial edge

This upcoming week means even more traveling. We're driving to Glennallen, AK to scout plant populations and collect seeds. The trip homes means a stop in Valdez and a ferry ride through Prince William Sound. So what if time is going fast. At least it's quality!

AK 930

Just another day at work...

As much fun as kayaking through the sound and enjoying the copious amounts of daylight here are, they aren't exactly my raison d'être up here. I do actually work up here. It just so happens that my work is just as fun.

In December of 2009, I applied to the Conservation and Land Management Internship. This program, run by the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG), places recent college graduates in government conservation biology positions across the country. In my application, I refused to state a geographic preference, but I did express a desire to work with plants. Since most of America's public lands are in the west, I expected a placement in Nevada or Montana. [If you're interested in what other CLM interns are doing, check out this blog]

Seven months later, here I am working in Alaska! Up here, I work for two entities-- the Bureau of Land Management Alaska State Office (BLM) and the Alaska Natural Heritage Program (AKNHP). And even though these two offices are physically separate, both have the same project for me and my fellow interns. We need to collect seeds.

AK 930 in action

Throughout America's public lands, disturbances often occur. Large fires take out huge swaths of prairie, mining destroys big mountains, or pipelines divide habitats for years on end. Since humans cause most of these disturbances, we often need to repair the damage before bigger problems (usually soil and mineral erosion) take over. To do this, we revegetate.

Unfortunately, many seeds of plants native to the disturbed area are not commercially available or exist so at a prohibitive cost. Thus, the government started the Seeds of Success program in 2001 to bank these vital seeds and increase their availability. Hundreds of collecting teams throughout the United States find native plants and collect around 10,000 seeds from a populations. They then FedEx these seeds to various seed banks and seed processing facilities.

Dryas Drummondii (our only seeding plant)
 and my boss

We are collecting team AK 930, the only collecting team in Alaska. Because of Alaska's unique climate, only one of our target species is currently seeding. This means we spend a lot of time planning. When we're in the office (so far about 30% of the time), we arrange for rental cars, flights, hotels, and food for our upcoming trips. When we go out into the field with our boss, he teaches us plant names and systematics. When he doesn't come with us, we scout out plant populations that might be good to collect.

So what makes this job so awesome? First, we are pretty independent. Second, I'm using my degree. We get to make scientific decisions based on our rapidly expanding knowledge of the plants up here. Last but not least, I'm basically getting paid to hike and look at flowers. Later in the season, we'll even travel around the state. Place like Nome, Fairbanks, Glenallen, and Seward await. Not bad for a first job, huh?

Just keep paddling...

After a couple weeks of settling in and meeting people, I was ready to shake things up for the 4th. One of my co-workers/roommates/friends and I decided to join the Anchorage Adventurers for a weekend of sea kayaking.

This story is a great example of how easy it is to meet people thanks to the internet. The Anchorage Adventurers really only exist online. The 600+ members all have some sort of interest in outdoor activities and various members set up events for others to join them on. No one charges a fee or holds board meetings. People simply show up, have fun, and enjoy Alaska together. I've also been able to meet really interesting people through the Anchorage couchsurfing group.

But I digress. Even though we went with a fantastic group, the kayaking was really the highlight of the weekend. On Saturday, we drove out to Wasilla (about an hour away from Anchorage) to take Sea Kayaking 101. We spent the morning learning proper paddling techniques. Sure, it sounds simple, but I'm glad we did that. Paddling out into the lake, the whole group was like 2010's Lindsey Lohan--messed up and all over the place. Coming back, we resembled Lohan ala "Mean Girls." Even if we weren't completely perfect, we were at least somewhat put together.

The afternoon held the big events. Amid a light rain, we practiced getting out of and into our kayaks. Oh, and we were in the middle of the lake. With a gentle push from our instructor, we were flipped over in the lake, quickly undoing the skirt that kept us in the kayak, and floating to the surface. And climbing back in isn't as easy as it sounds. To keep from flipping back over or filling our boats with water, we had to follow special instructions. I'd tell you, but we don't the terrorists finding out how to navigate Alaska by kayak, do we?

Saturday was simply the prelude to our big trip on Sunday, however. We met up at 7am and drove over to Whittier, Alaska. This tiny town began as an air force base in WWII, because its isolation and heavy fog provided a natural defense against the Japanese. This unique situation has also kept Whittier from booming. All 182 people live in a single apartment complex.

But man do those apartments have views. Paddling around the Prince William Sound, I saw three different glaciers, gorgeous blue-grey waters, steep cliffs, and lush vegetation. We even got 5 minutes of sunshine! By kayaking, we got up close to the wildlife of the area, too. Tiny ducks dove when we got about 5 feet from them. A bird rookery allowed me to watch some interesting (and loud) sea birds. Towards lunch time, a seal swam along side us.

I'm really glad I chose to start kayaking. Through my work (which I will blog about eventually!), I'm going to be doing a lot of hiking and get to see a lot of great stuff on land. But if I can use my free time to explore Alaska's waters, I'll see a side that I might have missed. The company we went with really hyped up their Blackstone Glacier tour. Kayaking around icebergs and watching otters try to crack shells on my kayak sure sounds appealing. Does anyone have any other suggestions of places I should look into going while I'm up here?

Since neither my friend nor I have a waterproof camera, we just brought along a disposable in case of tipping. I'll post pictures of the trip once I get the film developed.

The Obligatory Post About Weather

We finally have some great weather up here today. Ever since I got to Alaska, it's been in the 50s and cloudy, threatening rain, or rainy. For a city with 19 hour days, I haven't seen much sun.

But today, for maybe the third time since I've been here, the sun poked out. And this time, warmer temperatures followed. I was outside--comfortably--in shorts and a t-shirt. Yes, my dear friends, it was 62 degrees!

Most Alaskans have told me that this summer has been unseasonably rainy. They said to expect much warmer and drier forecasts in July and August. Although I love living right next to the ocean, it does bring down the temps and up the rain. More inland cities like Fairbanks tend to have really hot summers (yes, hot in the lower-48 sense of the term, like 80s and 90s), but really suffer in the winter with dry, freezing spells.

Since tomorrow should be good, too, I'm working on finding ways to enjoy the weather. I'm settled in and falling into a pretty good work routine, so I have lots of extra time on my hands. I've been biking a lot with my roommates and just joined a running group yesterday. Now I'm thinking about volunteering with something. Any ideas or suggestions?

My Kinda' Town

My field, environmental science, can be a bit ambiguous at times. No one has ever really tried to define it, and since it's so interdisciplinary, some might say that it defies definition. I specialized in biology. But geologists dominate the environmental studies department at Penn, so their classes felt a lot like earth science. Other schools incorporate a lot more political science, economics, chemistry, the list goes on and on.

I have a theory about the field; I tend to see it as the study of humans actions in the context of a natural environment. How does our search for uranium impact soil erosion? How do populations of flagship species affect conservation initiatives? I'm pretty sure that just living in Alaska, I'll be able to test this theory quite well.

Ever since I accepted this job, I started reading the Anchorage Daily News online. Simply scanning the headlines got me geeked for Alaska-- quite literally. Nearly half of the stories seem to have a fairly direct connection to my environmental science interest. Whether native tribes are debating allowing mining on their lands or the Alaskan politicians are recounting their experiences with the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, it all relates back to humans interacting with their natural surroundings. Even a simple public interest story, like salmon fishing on a river, is fraught with such issues. When will the salmon run this year, how many permits will Fish and Wildlife allow, how many fish were taken, etc., etc.?

Since I haven't met many Alaskans yet, I can't yet rate their perception or knowledge of these issues. But for a people who grow up with human-environment conflict as a constant presence, I wonder if they view it as a science at all. Or is it simply life?

Alaska is BIG

Everyone knows that Alaska is the biggest state in the union-- and quite a bit bigger than most countries in the world (do you know which ones actually surpass Alaska?). But it's quite a different thing to actually experience this largess.

My roommates and I thought about flying to Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States (and the sun doesn't set for three months of summer!). We figured that we're already so close to the Arctic Circle, we might as well go over it.

Well, close is a relative term. Let's just say that a flight to Barrow costs around $500 and takes 3.5 hours. For the chance to dip my feet in the Arctic Ocean? I don't know if it's worth it...

I've met a couple Alaskans who are from villages or islands so isolated, no roads exist. They have to fly three or four hours in a fixed wing plane or take a day-long ferry ride just to visit family and friends.

I'm sure my appreciation for Alaska's size will only grow with time and travel experience. Let's just hope I don't get lost!

My New Big Wild Life

Anchorage, Alaska's current tourist slogan is "Big Wild Life," and the city plasters it on everything, from the welcome packet I found in my room to the buses driving around town. I think it's pretty easy to see why they chose this slogan. 1- Alaska is known for it's size and grandiose wilderness. The city wants to reinforce that thought and attach it to the city itself. 2- Alaska is known for it's size and grandiose wilderness. The city wants let people know that the wilderness isn't ubiquitous. Quality restaurants and nightlife can coexist with bears and moose in Alaska.

Since moving here a little over two weeks ago, Anchorage has surprised me on both points. I expected the gorgeous scenery and news of bear attacks, but I didn't realize that all of that would be so present in Alaska's largest city itself! Chugach State Park lies within the city boundaries, and it's mountains tower over the city's skyline. The coastal trail passes by lusciously growing estuaries and tidal mud flats. I spend 80% of my morning bicycle commute on a wooded river trail. I've seen eight moose so far-- all within the city boundaries.

As far as the second point goes, Anchorage surprised me here, too. I'd heard some negative talk about the city before getting here (ugly, unplanned, can't go anywhere without a car, lack of good restaurants, expensive), but I've found most of this to be untrue. The city's oil boom did coincide with the American strip mall boom, so the architecture and urban planning does leave something to be desired, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the city's density and logical layout. Anchorage has a high concentration of microbreweries, and the food, while certainly not international, has been creative and delicious. The few bars and shops which I've seen in downtown and midtown compare well to my favorites from Philadelphia, Munich, and Detroit.

With only two weeks of residency under my belt, I still have plenty of Anchorage to explore. And I'm certainly looking forward to every minute of it.

A New Adventure Begins

I haven't written here for over a year, a fact that I am quite ashamed of. This blog details the travels and adventures that I'm lucky enough to enjoy. It forces me to reflect on what I've experienced.

The lack of a post does not mean I haven't had interesting travels. My whole second semester in Germany seems to have missed this blog. My return to the States, my quick jaunts to Chicago and Cincinnati, and my move back to Philadelphia all deserve posts just as much as Munich and Mongolia.

But for now, my energies are focused on a new chapter-- Alaska. Yes, I'm about to graduate and enter the work force in Anchorage, Alaska. As I learn more about this great section of our country, I hope to keep track of it here. Perhaps I'll even be able to recollect about Prague, the farm, and my final year in Philly, too.

Our Image Abroad

Why we need to be careful about what we (or those we give weapons to) do abroad...

Excuses, Excuses

Wow. Almost an entire month since my last post. So sorry.

Unfortunately for you plenty of exciting things have happened. Christmas markets came and went, I experienced real Alpine skiing, and my family even dropped in for a visit. But don't worry, over this weekend, I'm planning a quick recap of the biggest events and impressions.

Additionally, one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more creative with this blog. I've got a few ideas already, but if you have suggestions or advice, please e-mail me or leave a comment here. Thanks in advance and Happy 2009!

Rotes Haus Fest

Despite being more expensive than off-campus housing, Penn Housing doesn't offer all that much more in the way of services. When I lived there, I appreciated the extra security that my rent paid for, but the fellowships, endless, terrible movie-nights, and "Meet Your House Dean" dinners, make me all the more happy that I won't be living on-campus next year.

The Germans have a much better system. Although subsidized by the government, the facilities aren't the greatest. But the rent here for a normal student is rock-bottom. And how do the students fill their need for socializing without a "House Dean" to tell them how? Well, they do it themselves.

I just got back from working the Red House Festival, where we sold alcohol and made money. Now for the rest of the year, the inhabitants of Red House can have floor dinners and small outings. And we get to decide for ourselves what to do--no house dean to tell us otherwise.

While alcohol liscensing laws in the USA might prevent Penn from fully adopting this model, they should definitely look into something similar. Get rid of the house deans and dinners, lower rent, and let the students decide what they want.

Welche Finanzkrise?

Home to the European Central Bank, Germany's stock exchange, Deutsche Bank, and the more conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (newspaper), Frankfurt has become Germany's financial center. Thus, it's not surprising to read about the financial crisis on the front page of Frankfurt's influential newspaper.

The world financial crisis isn't hitting Germany as hard as some other countries. Germans don't do risky mortgages; in fact, 50% of the housing stock here are rentals. Whatever real estate bubbles other places experienced, Germany missed. Thus, nothing burst.

But BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen are trying to lower wages and cut production. The German economy is officially in a recession. The government predicts that the unemployment rate will climb dramtically next year before Germany's economy corrects itself. Germany certainly is feeling the cost of globalization.

Frankfurt's newspaper wrote up a great piece about Munich and the "Finanzkrise" yesterday. But why pay attention to Munich now? Because, well, looking around Munich, you wouldn't guess anything was wrong with the world's economy. Despite being home to BMW, Siemens and other suffering multi-national firms, Munich is home base for Germany's super-rich.

Ritzy stores are still open across the fashionable downtown. The "Schickeria" sips on cappucinos in cool cafes. I'm in the process of looking for a job here, and I've got plenty of options. I could be a barista, work the supermarket checkout, or probably find an interesting, paid internship.

A Day Without Turkey

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and you wouldn't even know it. The best holiday America has to offer, and I was in class until 6:45 pm Thursday...

Since many of the Americans on the program are in Weimar on a class trip right now, we decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner last Friday when everyone was here. With many of us cooking on Thanksgiving for the first time, I'm surprised that everything turned out so well. Even the Butternut Squash I made tasted good!

Yesterday, a Spainish friend of mine invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner at a very American restuarant-- the Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, once we got there, the dinner was over and we ended up at a very German restaurant-- the Hofbräuhaus. 

Prost und Happy Thanksgiving!

FC Bayern- Danke!

On Tuesday, I had the great opportunity to go to my first FC Bayern München game. FC Bayern is Munich's premier soccer team and could be considered the Yankees of Germany. They have a ton of money to lure the best players and coaches, year after year. So they win major championships, year after year.

The game on Tuesday was between FC Bayern and Steaua Bucharest as part of the Champions League, one of the three leagues in which FC Bayern competes. The Champions League is Europe-wide (hence why we were playing Bucharest); the Bundesliga is for German teams only; and the DFB-Pokal is the annual elimination tournament of the German Futball League.

We walked up to the stunning and sparkling new (built for the World Cup in 2006) Allianz Arena in Munich. When FC Bayern is playing, the stadium glows red (and apparently my friend's eyes do, too!). When TSV 1860 München (Munich's second team) is playing, the stadium glows blue. During the day, it looms over northern Munich in its natural white.

The fans charged the atmosphere, even before we made it through the securty screening. Fans of vastly differing sobreity levels crammed the subways and started singing when we made it to our stop. The 5 minute walk to the stadium filled itself with cheers.

Once inside, the soccer crazed Germans showed me their true colors. A whole section of the stadium jumped up and down constantly-- and not just because of the cold. Their voices carried praises of FC Bayern throughout the game, never once stopping. The most similar thing in the States would probably be a college basketball game where the student section is quite riled up.

For the other 95% of the fans though, the game was much more important than cheers and jumping. Unlike baseball games where conversations banter about among fans, interspersed with tense moments, these fans kept their eyes glued to the field, rarely taking a break to make a comment or take a sip of beer.

When Miro Klose of FC Bayern finally scored, the stadium erupted, standing up to salute the soccer heros. Once the initial celebration quited down, the annoucer started talking (in German, of course!):

Announcer: And in the 57th minute a goal for FC Bayern by Miro...

Crowd: Klose!

A: Miro...

C: Klose!!

A: MIRO...

C: KLOSE!!

A: The score now stands at FC Bayern

C: ONE

A: Steaua Bucharest

C: ZERO

A: Thank you!

C: You're Welcome!

After two more goals and 33 more minutes, the game came to an end, with FC Bayern victorious! They waved at the crowd as the crowd waved their red FC Bayern scarves at the team. But scarves quickly went back on as people began to stream outside and head home.

Snow!

 

I <3 Nutella