Alaska - July 9 - 25

This is a brief post to share some pictures from my summer travels.

First, year 2 of our Alaska grant, examining ecotypic differentiation and adaptational lag to climate change.

The first part of the trip, we returned to Eagle Creek, Alaska, where I carried out my PhD work. We censused not only Dryas octopetala reciprocal transplant gardens, but also the first of six Eriophorum vaginatum (cottongrass) gardens set up by Ned Fetcher and Gus Shaver.






After visiting Eagle Creek for 3+days, we returned to Fairbanks and headed up the haul road toward Toolik, censusing populations along the way. I didn't take too many photos on the way up this year. Here is one at No Name Creek and another closeup of lichen heath at Coldfoot showing one of Ann's favorite plants (low-bush cranberry; Vaccinium vitis-idaea).




At Toolik, Gus Shaver showed us around a few of the experimental sites, and we enjoyed several days of good cooking and beautiful scenery.






We then journeyed to BP-land, i.e., Prudhoe Bay to visit the transplant garden there. On the return trip, we were delighted to see a herd of muskox!











On the trip back, Cindy Bennington, Caitlin Peterson, and I left early to finish Caitlin's work at Coldfoot, and were treated to a beautiful passage over the Brooks Range...