On a recent afternoon, middle Alaska slipped into darkness. But a few hours after the 3:17 p.m. sunset, a golden light appeared in a field cleared of trees by a farmer more than a century ago. People had gathered there with candle lanterns on the quiet acreage of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to […]
Birch — Qasrulek, Uqgwik Ikani uqgwit tak’ut. – The birch trees over there are tall. The Kenai birch (Betula kenaica) is a deciduous tree with a grey, papery bark and pointed oval leaves. The Kenai birch grows in scattered groves around the Kodiak Archipelago. It is particularly abundant near the communities of Larsen Bay and […]
A father wakes, rolls out of bed and drops his toes to cold carpet. He grabs a flashlight and shines it outside the window. The thermometer reads 40 below zero, the only point at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales agree. The red liquid within his thermometer is alcohol; mercury freezes at 38 below. […]
Photo: Jessie Young-Robertson demonstrates how a device measures tree water content. The UAF ecologist is using the data to help the best times of year to harvest firewood. UAF photo by JR Ancheta While studying how trees take up snowmelt and rainwater, Jessie Young-Robertson noticed dramatic seasonal variations in the water content in the trees, […]