Tundra and Ice Science

Many people come here to DO science.  In the 1950s, the Navy established an operation in Barrow and called it the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, or NARL.  It is a complex of quanset huts spread across about 3/4 miles of land here next to the ocean.

The Navy had interest in existing here for some time, but eventually was done using this space.  Instead of decommissioning and eliminating the establishment, the local people worked hard to come to an agreement with the US Government to use the infrastructure already in place for science.  The Inupiat people arranged to have this place remain as a place for people to come and do science in the Arctic.  At this point, NARL has become Ilisagivk College.  As I understand it, the two essentially exist as one entity now.  This is a word that means "place of learning".  In the years since this was NARL, the dorm building that we are living in was added.  On the west end of this H shaped building is living space for students (and visitors) to the college.  On the east end are offices of various science research projects.  The center section is offices of the college operations and the bookstore.  Notice the building and its proximity to the other buildings here on this map.

There is a significant group called the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium or BASC. BASC has offices in this building as well as well as a beautiful research facility located just a half mile or so from here.  This is the organization the facilitates scientists coming here to work and research a vast array of topics.  Their permanent staff is primarily the Logistics Department.  These folks provide the infrastructure for anyone to use to come here and do research.  They are much the sherpas of the local...providing snow machines, navigation, background data, etc to those that come here to work.

Yesterday we got a tour of the BASC facility and got a bit of an idea of some of the work here.  A group from NASA JPL, for example, is here doing ice research.  They are using the Arctic as a model for the moons of Jupiter.  In future explorations of these moons, we need the skills to probe beneath ice and learn what is there.  What a place to do that but here...where conditions are similar.

Lots can be learned just by spending hours in the hallway outside of these offices and reading the posted research on the walls!  What a rich scientific environment.