Greetings from Kangerlussuaq! I’m back, and this time I’m rolling 8 deep with my IGERT buds and professors. Its exciting to be back for a number of fantastical reasons not least of which is the opportunity to learn and experience with my very good friends from uni while hopping across Greenland.
Today was our first full day in Kangerlussuaq, and we jumped into it with zeal and our usual IGERT flair. After a quick bite of “morgenmad” (breakfast), the gang first sat for a quick briefing from the ever-helpful Kathy Young before heading to the cargo yard to try on some of our “extreme cold weather” (ECW) gear made necessary by our trip up to Summit Camp on Friday. I say “up” because Summit Camp sits roughly 2 miles higher than Kangerlussuaq atop the Greenland Ice Sheet. But that’s in a few days … check out the photos from the morning’s work (and stay tuned for what followed – an afternoon with Eric Post and company at his field site down valley from the Russel Glacier!):
Julia and Lauren find a “half” Nansen sled bound for Raven. They decide to take it for a “dry run”, as you do when you’re in the cargo yard at Kangerlussuaq.
Laura inquires about the figure-altering ECW bib-pants, mock-worrying that they might be harming her svelte figure.
Similarly, though somewhat differently, Ross proclaims he hasn’t looked this huge since his undergraduate days at Syracuse University. Or was that his graduate days at University of California at Davis?
You know him as Chris Polashenski; we know him as “Da Man’i… ” Well, some things may just have to stay within the group, but one thing that we all share is our love of his flannel shirts (and facial hair)! Chris, hurry out of Alaska and join us, will ya?!
Finally, how could we ever have even gotten to Kangerlussuaq without the expert guidance of Lee McDavid?! In this picture, we unearth some thoughtfully hidden surprises left by her in one of our food boxes. Toys! A “childhood memory” of hers retold in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland! Kaitlin and Julia express our warmest and bubbliest gratitude!
Hi guys,
Found my way to your blog(s) through the Dartmouth Alumni weekly e-newsletter. Looks like an amazing programme and I like your esprit de corps!
Listen, I was wondering if you’d like to help me out with something — don’t worry, nothing major, but it’s kind of a challenge that has me stumped and having fellow Dartmouth people on location in Greenland might help.
First I’ll introduce myself: Dartmouth ’78, majored in Russian Language and Literature, went on to a career in journalism in Boston area, and now work as Chief of Communication and Design for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy.
In this capacity I am managing a global campaign called “The 1billionhungryproject”, which is basically a worldwide petition drive demanding that governments taken the steps that could bring an end to chronic hunger.
For the campaign’s conclusion in November, we are organizing a very public and spectacular event to shine a spotlight on the hunger problem and let politicians in developed and developing countries know that we are watching. By then the petition should be 1 million-strong so the numbers will speak for themselves.
If you check out the project’s website (www.1billionhungry.org), and once you sign the petition, you’ll see that there’s a “track your impact” feature that allows you to watch how each country in the world is doing at generating signatures. Sadly, Greenland has only ONE signature so far and we have been unable to stir any further action out of Greenland.
I am taking this as a personal challenge, just on principle because hey, there MUST be somebody in Greenland who cares about this issue enough to take 30 seconds and sign the darned petition.
Can I count on you guys to sign on? And then try to sttir up some interest from your family, friends and PEOPLE IN GREENLAND???
All the best to you — I’ll check in on your blog from time to time — what a great moment in your lives. It would be great if you could spread the wellbeing in this way.
Best to you!
SHARON LEE COWAN, ’78