Yesterday was a busy day with flights from Knoxville to
Chicago to Anchorage, and then to the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska. Normally I stop in Anchorage for a night to stock up on supplies, but given that
the NGEE Arctic team is well equipped I flew straight through to Nome. I had
forgotten that flights from Anchorage to Nome include a short stop in Kotzebue
(http://www.cityofkotzebue.com/),
which is several hundred miles north of Nome. Kotzebue has a population of over
3,000 people and serves as a regional supply hub for 10 satellite villages in
the Northwest Arctic Borough and one in the North Slope Borough. We visited
Kotzebue in 2012 and enjoyed the area, especially our visit to the Northwest
Arctic Heritage Center operated by the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/noat/learn/news/nwahc.htm).
The flight from Kotzebue to Nome was short, less than an
hour. Flying into Nome provided an opportunity to see some of the surrounding
tundra and, in fact, the city itself. The weather in Nome has been cloudy with
a few rain showers, but should be sunny and clear by the first of next week.
Although Amy (UAF) and Holly (ORNL) have been in Nome
working for three or four days, most members of our team begin arriving
tonight. We will welcome several dozen NGEE Arctic students, staff, and faculty
in the coming week so there will be a lot of activities on which to report. Later
today as I travel around town I’ll be sure to take a few pictures and include
those in a post this weekend.
- Stan Wullschleger
