I'll give an overview of my first week in Alaska before I write about the details of life and the work. I flew to Fairbanks on May 30 (a long but amazingly delay-free 4 plane trek from Maine to Alaska). Fairbanks is the largest town in this part of Alaska and there is a UF Gainesville research team that is based there. We stay with that team when we go in to Fairbanks for groceries, etc. So when I arrived in Fairbanks I stayed in University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) apartments and did lots of errands for our projects. I also got to go on a run with Elizabeth in the really nice and extensive trail system of UAF. We also went out to dinner at a restaurant called the Pump House and sat outside on a patio next to a river, introducing me to the infamously dense mosquitoes of AK. We drove the hour southwest to Healy on Friday afternoon and settled in to the cabin. On Saturday we spent most of the day working at the two field sites we have (I'll talk more about those later). Sunday we did some work in the morning and I went for a run in the afternoon. Sundays will be my days off. We've been working in the field all week doing all sorts of things, from regular data collection to trouble shooting and replacing parts. I have already gotten more use out of my leatherman then I have since I got it for high school graduation (thanks Dad!). We have worked in all forms of weather and it changes very frequently. The views from the field site are amazing. Other than work, I have been running and have started to follow a running plan in hopes to do the Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks on September 15. Running here involves very long hills, awesome views, and being barked at often by sled dogs. I hope to write a more comprehensive post soon about what my days are filled with, but for now I'm going to bed. CJ