North Slope students experience science first hand…

Alessio Gusmeroli has a passion for science, and this week he gets to put that boundless enthusiasm into practice as he interacts with students on the North Slope of Alaska.  I have worked with Alessio now for several years as part of the NGEE Arctic project and he is not your typical quiet scientist, he is full of energy and ready to talk to anyone about the Arctic.  Alessio has the experience necessary to discuss the snow science, glaciology, permafrost dynamics in a changing world, and just about anything else that just happens to exist at temperatures below the freezing point.

 

Alessio is a post-doctoral research associate at the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  This week he is working in collaboration with the local community college in Barrow (Ilisagvik College) as they host a summer camp for North Slope Residents, 7th-8th graders.  The camp has 10 kids, from different villages across the North Slope; including Barrow, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright and White Mountain. The camp is called Nuna, which is the Inupiat word for Earth.  Alessio and others involved in the camp will do numerous activities in the coming days focused on the Earth as a whole, from mountains to sea, from glaciers to permafrost, from people to animals and plants.  Day 1 was, according to Alessio, fun and everyone enjoyed celebrating their success on the gravel beaches of Barrow.

 

Photo courtesy of Skye Sturm