They've kept us incredibly busy so far and I haven't had a chance to write before now. We've had a bunch of interesting lectures from researchers, both in Fairbanks and during our first day at Toolik. I'll give some highlights from those talks below.

Our drive to Toolik was long and bumpy, along the mostly dirt Dalton Highway. (Call it the "haul road" if you want to sound like a local.) It was built along side the pipeline, which was our faithful companion the whole 13-hour trip, snaking next to us through spruce forest, over the Brooks Mountains and into the tundra of the North Slope. It was cloudy and drizzly most of the trip, but the scenery, particular through the jagged, craggy mountains was spectacular. We saw one moose, one rainbow and three sheep, along with several alarmingly large armies of mosquitoes. We'll drive up to Prudhoe Bay toward the end of our time here, which is on the Arctic Ocean, and are hoping for some caribou and muskox sightings en route.

The camp sits on the edge of the lake and is made up of metal trailers and half-moon shaped tents, one of which I'm sleeping in and one of which we're working in, neither of which are heated. It's about 40-45 degrees now, but we're bundled up enough to stay warm most of the time. And they feed us enough to generate plenty of fuel. The meals have been amazing so far. Green curry, corn chowder, turkey pot pie, homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, and as much cereal and candy bars as you can eat.

I'll give more details of the station once I've explored more.

As for the science, here are some of the most interesting tidbits from our lectures so far:

* 2004 was the worst year for wildfires that Alaska has ever had and 2005 was the third worst. The number of lightening strikes has increased dramatically in the past 8-10 years and because the state is so big, it doesn't try to put out fires unless they're threatening buildings. Forest fires change the make up of the plants there allowing deciduous trees to thrive in areas previously dominated by spruce.

* The largest tundra fire ever recorded (it burned an area the size of Cape Cod) happened nearby in 2007 and researchers are eager to learn what effect that will have on the ecosystem given that it appears to affect forests quite dramatically. Initial reports are that it released a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

* In a lecture on strategies animals use to overwinter in the arctic we learned that some animals can cleanse their blood of the things that trigger ice formation and can survive below freezing. One beetle can essentially turn itself to glass and survive down to -100C, then spring back to life when warmed.

* Researchers brought a hibernating, sedated black bear to Fairbanks and installed him in a constructed den. They trained a camera on him all winter and he slept the whole time, except for on New Year's Eve when the boom of the town's fireworks display could be heard in his den. The bear opened his eyes, looked around a few times, appeared thoroughly annoyed, then stuck his paw over his head and went back to sleep.

* Researchers are investigating whether hibernation techniques -- where animals slow down their hearts and need for oxygen -- can be used on humans. The military is funding some of the research to see if, for example, a soldier who is shot could be put into a hibernation state where he doesn't need as much blood or oxygen until he can be treated at a hospital.

* We got a tour of an old mining tunnel dug through permafrost near Fairbanks that's been taken over by the Army Corps of Engineers for research.There's ice at the back of it that's 20,000 to 40,000 years old with bacteria inside that, if thawed, come back to life. Our scientist-guide dubbed it "the real Jurassic Park."