Ingoya 2015 Update: Plane Leaves 5/26...

Quick expedition update: there is one, an expedition that is, and the time to set sail north comes quickly. After putting off an introductory post for the 2015 field season I decided it was high time to put digital pen to electronic paper and get this thing a'movin. I find it equally fitting that when I ventured a quick, last minute check with 'google translate' on the Norwegian equivalent of "part two," it promptly responded with a brusk and simple "part two" output (that's what it is in perfect Norwegian). While my sophomore students may not get the "Hot Shots" movie reference I was going artfully weave into the title of my post, they will surely appreciate my linguistic situation and the failing of such a useful online tool in a time of need.

Which way north?

My plane heads north on 5/26 to Oslo and then Tromso (you may remember the Paris of the North!) where I will rejoin the majority of last year's crew. There we will board the Hurtigruten and sail to the island of Ingoya to commence work on the 2015 field season. Accordingly, this blog will soon wake from its dormancy and I would greatly appreciate your company (you the reader at home or in person if you can filet cod and recite the Pleistocene ice sequences of North America). Your questions are encouraged, your requests will be filled to the best of my abilities, and I aim to more show than tell the scientific, environmental, and cultural wonders of the Norwegian Arctic through images and video of the north (present prose excluded). If there is something you're wondering as you read, please ask, if you'd like a picture of what shrimp flavored Norwegian cheese-whiz looks like on canned mackerel, I'd be more than glad to oblige. This is a land of wonderment, grand in stature, bold in taste...

In search of clams in the Barents Sea, photo courtesy of M. Mette

I owe a huge thanks first to Al Wanamaker, Michael Carroll, Will Ambrose, Madelyn Mette and Michael Retelle for offering me the opportunity to rejoin the group this year. Last year was an incredible journey and if you want an idea of what you might be getting into this time around, I encourage you to check out the 2014 chronicles. If you are super-curious for other adventure blogs in the name of science and polar bears (and long on time), you can check out 2012 work in the even more northerly location of Svalbard: PolarTrec Blog from Svalbard: High Arctic Change 2012

The 2014 Ingoya Crew (minus author, which is why they're smiling)

Most importantly, I owe a huge thanks to everyone at Thornton Academy for allowing me to take the time away from my classroom to pursue this opportunity. This works fuels a great part of my inspiration in the classroom to share how the STEM fields are being employed at the edges of the earth in solving real world issues relevant to those of us here in sunny Saco, ME. Thank you Marsha Snyder, Jack Morrison, Joan Folker, the administrative team, the math and science departments, my students...the list is long...thank you TA!

Honors Geometry may recognize this photo from HW 49 in search of quadrilaterals amongst the chaos...

With that, my email is: Dan.Frost@thorntonacademy.org and my fancy new twitter handle is @FrostArctic (gosh I think that is how it works). Please check out the new domain name, frostinthearctic.com, and I hope to hear from you. More to follow, tusen takk...try that on for size google translate...