COURSE OFFERING:
ITASCA FIELD BIOLOGY PROGRAM
Arctic Field Ecology "Integrating research, teaching, and Inuit ecological knowledge"
One section of Arctic Field Ecology (University of Minnesota, EEB 4842,
4 semester credits) is being offered this summer
(25 June - 21 July 2002)
This is a very exciting field ecology course that involves a
multidisciplinary team of ecologists and Inuit collaborators. It is a
once in a lifetime experience focused on the excitement of discovery in
the remote tundra wilderness of the Alaskan Arctic.
The course will explore a transect from treeline south of the Brooks
Range to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, passing along the western edge of
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). We will meet in Fairbanks,
Alaska, and travel by van over the Brooks Range and by kayak along the
Sagavanirktok River to Alaska's north coast. We will integrate our
course work with a major field study looking at the interaction of
vegetation, climate, and soils along this transect. We will camp along
the way, interact with scientists at the research sites, and meet with
native people to learn about their knowledge of the region.
Our goals are that each student:
- Learn about current ecological research issues in the Arctic
- Learn about arctic vegetation, soils, wildlife, ecosystem processes,
and natural history
- Learn new sampling and analysis techniques
- Generate his or her own research ideas
- Understand the common ground between Indigenous and western views of
the Arctic
- Gain new understanding and appreciation of the arctic landscape
The course is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the
International Institute for Tropical Forestry, and the University of
Minnesota Itasca Field Biology Station. It is open to undergraduate and
graduate students from around the world and is an exciting introduction
to the Arctic and to field research in the natural sciences.
Course cost is $3100.
There is an information packet you can download at:
http://muskox.com/acrobat/2002app.pdf
For more information contact one of the instructors:
Bill Gould, USDA Forest Service
International Institute of Tropical Forestry
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00928-2500
Phone: 787/766-5335 ext 114
Email: wgould [at] fs.fed.us
http://muskox.com
Andrew Borner
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Phone: 907/474-1844
Email: ftapb [at] uaf.edu