Family Photo

I have to take the time to post the following picture. My three closest friends up here and I decided to have a family portrait taken with the mascot, the Nanook bear. It was taken back in October but we finally got our hands on it! Leah is in the hat, Ben in the red and Marilyn is on the bottom left!

I would also like to take a minute and make a shout-out to my UNCLE BEN and say thanks for the advice to bundle up when I go outside up here! What would I do without you?!

End of the first semester!

This semester has gone by so fast!!! Monday is our last day of classes and then I have two finals and I'm done!! Everything is still going pretty well. The sun comes up around 10:40 (right nowish) and sets at 2:45! It is pretty cool to experience, but I'm ready for dinner at 3 and bed at 5 which isn't quite right! It is interesting getting out of class at 10:15 and the sun hasn't come up yet! The high sofar for today is -7 but it didn't feel too cold walking to class this morning. It is very dry here and I think the cold in Maine feels a lot colder than it does here. Everything is full of static electricity!!

Here I am yesterday at 2:15 pm watching the sun set!

Sunset again

We took a drive to North Pole to visit Santa!!!!

North Pole, Alaska! It's about 15 miles away from Fairbanks!

Thanksgiving!!

I had as great a Thanksgiving as I could have away from the family!! My boyfriend, Justin, came up from Haines, Alaska to visit for the weekend and we had a great time!! My friend Leah came over in the morning and the three of us cooked dinner! We had a 14 pound turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, squash, rolls and cranberry sauce! We had pumpkin pie and chocolate pudding pie too!! It all came out super well which shocked all of us! Marilyn joined us after she got out of work and then we ate!!

The rest of the weekend went really well!! I taught Justin how to cross country ski and ice skate!! We had a great time and he is just as crazy and nuts as I am so we got along really well!!! :)

Marilyn, Leah and I with all the food

It's Justin!

Doing my cool tricks

Justin and I

In the Museum of the North on the UAF campus

22 days until I fly home!! Everyone start praying that the weather all over the country is good enough to fly!!

Even COLDER!!!

It's been pretty chilly here recently.....

This was taken around 6 pm!

There has not been too much to report on recently! School is going well and has been busy for the past few weeks! I bought a car last week which is pretty exciting!! It is a 2007 Ford Focus manual transmission. I have not been able to use it all week since it is not winterized and won't start unless it is especially at these low temperatures! It is sitting at the garage so I don't have to deal with starting it again!

Today is the coldest day sofar!! This morning around 11 it was -33F and when I walked past the time and temperature sign it read -25F!! I heard it was 50 in Maine today so that's like...80 degrees difference!! Crazy!! I guess they weren't kidding about it being an ARCTIC university!! :p Next week around thanksgiving it should be up in the positive numbers again but they don't seem to predict temperatures right up here!

My Car!!!!! :)

This was the view on the way to class. The mountains in the background are 12-13,000 feet tall! It was taken around 9am!

I went skiing one day and this was on a lake!

Hannah and I at a contra dance!!

Not much else is new!! 33 days until I go home for Christmas and I can't wait!!!!! :)

Getting COLD!

Temperatures have been dropping in Fairbanks with the decreasing day length!! The highs this week will be in the upper teens and currently it is -4 degrees F at about 9:30 PM! It's time for bundling up to go outside! This past week, we got about 5 inches of snow which is enough for people to get their skis out! It's nice because things don't look as dead looking!! There is very little wind in Fairbanks so the trees keep the snow in them much longer than in Maine so it always looks like it snowed recently!

This was taken the day it snowed!

This past weekend was halloween so my friends and I dressed up and went to the Pub which is the bar on campus!! I dressed up as an old lady with my friend Marilyn. I posted a picture of us below!!

We found some great dresses at the Goodwill type store here!!

Besides that there is not too much new to report on! Classes are still going well and so is the research! :)

Chena Hot Springs

I apologize for not posting last weekend but I didn't have much to report on! This weekend I was able to get out for another hike! I went out to Angel Rocks and Chena Hot Springs which is about an hour NE of campus. We did an 8.7 mile hike starting at Angel Rocks and ended at Chena Hot Springs. We had two cars so we shuttled them back and forth. It was a beautiful hike and the landscape reminded me a lot of western Maine. We could see quite a ways in the distance and it was crazy to think that there are no towns or people out there!

Me with Angel Rocks in the background

Up on the ridge..the trees were covered in frost and there was snow on the ground!

The view. This was taken at about noon so that is how high the sun gets right now! It's only going to get lower!

My friend Ben and I!

The hot springs! It was really hot in there!!

The path we did from GoogleEarth

Besides the awesome hike, everything else is going very well!! My roommate is done with her thesis work and is moving out sometime next weekend. I have no idea if I will get another roommate or not! Classes are going well and are slowly taking up more and more time. I have to start back at square one with all the research I've done so far because we think there was a bug in the software I had been using. It shouldn't be too bad to catch back up though! I don't have much else for news...just getting everything done and hanging out with friends! I've been contra dancing still which has been fun but there are a few creepy old guys that keep wanting to dance and the dances are not as fancy as the Maine ones. It's still fun though and I keep meeting new people when I go!! I am getting excited to go home for Christmas!!! :)

Delta Peak Hike

This weekend has been pretty intense for me!! I went contra dancing down in Fairbanks again which was a blast! I have a few favorite people to dance with up here now, but they just don't compare to the Maine people!! I keep getting comments on how great my spinning is...it is fun to watch people's smiles grow as we spin! There is much less twirling too and the dances are a bit more simple. Ohw well, it is still a blast and I will keep going!! After contra I hung out with Leah, Marilyn and Ben for a bit and ended up at the Pub (bar on campus) for a bit. I didn't get to bed until 1:30 even though I had the hike the next morning!

The hike was quite fun, but more insane than anything I have ever done!! I really didn't know if I was going to make it the whole way, but I guess I didn't have a choice! We started along Gunnysack Creek about 3 hours away from campus. Once we were up the creek a ways, we headed straight up a rockfall covered in a few inches of snow. There wasn't much ice so we never used the crampons lent to us. We kept going up and up this steep part until we got above the creek a ways and then it flattened a little bit. Then our guide pointed ahead to where we were headed and that wasn't event the top! It was super steep again but the snow was windswept and packed down with bits of tundra and rock sticking up through. I struggled with this part and it seemed in some places for every step forward, I took 2 back! On this section, someone doslodged a rock from above and didn't call out that it was falling. By the time someone did yell, "rock!" i tried to scramble out of the way, but it ended up hitting me in the arm. It was a good sized rock and now I have a huge brusie on my arm! At least it hit my arm and not somewhere else! We kept going up and up and the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. I was having a hard time placing my feet because every time I would lift up a leg and there was a gust, I would go flying sideways. Finally our guide decided that was enough and we turned around. We didn't make it to the summit, but I was really okay with that!! We started back down which I thought would be much more scary and slippery, but it was actually much more fun! If the part was steep enough, we would just sit and slide down! The only problem was that there were rocks scattered around and underneath so we had to be careful. I certianly fell on my bum a few times but it was usually a pretty soft landing! We had a few snowball fights and bushwacked a different way back down along the ridge through alders. We came out at a ski area and just walked down along the trails. Here are a few more pictures:

On the way down with a neighboring moutnain

The steep part where the rock hit me! This was taken on the way down though.

The mountain! We went up on the left and did the larger peak on the left.

Today I am super sore and am getting caught up on homework. I am avoiding extra walking as much as possible!!!

Starvation Gulch Weekend

This week I have been busy with homework and research stuff! Tests are starting up this coming week so I should be pretty busy this coming week as well! I started using my desk...there is a picture of it below. It is in a trailer up by the buildings I have class in with other staff and graduate students also funded by the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) stuff. I've been meeting with my advisor, Dave, a few times a week and he gives me small chunks to do every time.

The most exciting thing about this past weekend is that it SNOWED the entire time!! Nothing accumulated on campus, but you can see on other hills that some stuck. The temperatures are down to about 33F midday so it's time to bundle up to go outside!! I went to a rugby game Saturday to watch Garrett play. Garrett is another grad student with Dave that I met in the GIS lab. It was really cold watching the game since it was snowing, but I brought some tea to keep warm!

Last night was Starvation Gulch on campus. This is a campus tradition where they set up for 5-6 HUGE fires and then light them all and we watch them burn. Someone was telling me this started up a long time ago when students studied here in the summer so they didn't have to spend the cold winters here. People would build little shacks out of plywood to live in in that same parking lot and then at the end of the summer, there was no point in keeping them around so they set them all on fire! Now the just pile up palates and anything else that will burn. Below are a few pictures of the fires!

Besides that it was a pretty low-key weekend, but somehow was pretty busy! I am spending this afternoon in the college coffeehouse doing some reading to get ready for the busy week!!

My desk!

A tree in the fire!

The "fire truck"

I had to!!!

Snow up in the hills! Below is the parking lot where the fires were the night before!

Wickersham Dome

This past weekend has been pretty low-key but I got some exploring in! Saturday I met up with Leah, another girl in my department and we walked around downtown Fairbanks. It is not very big at all and looks a little bit sketchy, but there are some fun stores! We ended up at a store that was packed with random Alaska stuff from postcards, t-shirts, whale bone figurines, old bumper stickers, seal skin thimbles and millions and millions of beads! It was a really tiny store, but every corner had things in it! I ended up with a few beads to hopefully make earrings out of! After that, I went to a contra dance that was held on campus and was free! It was fun, but there were a lot of new dancers there. Some older guy tried to teach me to swing dance and wants me to start doing other kinds of dancing! It could be fun if I have enough time!!

This morning I went for a hike with Austin, who also went to UMaine and is a first semester graduate student as well. We went to Wickersham Dome which is about an hour north of Fairbanks off the Alaska Highway. It was a lot of fun and very pretty, but also cold and windy!! There are a few pictures posted below. I also got to see the Alaska Pipeline which was pretty neat! I thought it was funny they made a rest stop out of seeing the Alaska Pipeline! Thankfully, we did not see much for wildlife (bears), although we did see a few grousse. I did have my bear spray just incase!!

You can see the alaska pipeline in this one...the rest of it looks a lot like Maine!

Behind me is what we hiked!

At the top! It was cold!

Kind of looked like Katahdin!

It's behind me again!

That is about all I have for now! Maybe next weekend will be more exciting!!

Friends!

This past weekend was a bit more exciting than the previous! I met a few people at the BBQ with the reindeer and hung out with them all day Saturday. We went to the farmer's market and bought some vegetables and someone gave Ben some caribou and so we proceeded with making a huge lunch out of it all. I also bought a Romanesco which is a broccoli-cauliflower hybrid. I steamed it up last night and it was a tasted like broccoli and cauliflower in one bite! Some pictures of it are below:







This past week I met with my advisor to pick a research topic. I am going to work on the "greening" or "browning" of boreal forests with the warming climate. I don't know too much about it yet, but there have been contradictions about it and we are going to try to find out which way things are going. It sounds pretty interesting sofar!!

On a less happy note, just so everyone is aware Lucas and I broke up the other day. It is hard being 5,000 miles apart for so long and having a busy schedule...

Besides that, things are still going well! Classes are good and my schedule is picking up so I have less and less down time! The weather has been nice all week and in the 60's which is great for walking around campus. There is a contra this weekend so I am looking forward to that! Also, there are huuuuge mountains we can see from certian points around campus! Last night it was clear enough so that we could se Denali way off in the distance...I'm not sure exactly how far away, but a good 2-3 hour drive away. Then, there are a few other mountains to the east of Denali that are 12,000-13,000 feet tall. They are covered in snow and stick out in the background! I will take some pictures next time I have my camera with me!

Anyway, enough procrastonating!

Classes and Reindeer

This past week has been pretty busy with getting classes started and such. Overall it hasn't been too exciting. I briefly met with my advisor Wednesday and he showed me where my desk was located and sent me articles to read regarding which research project I would like to work on. I will meet with him again on Monday with a decision! I had to rearrange my schedule a little bit too. Now I am taking ecosystem ecology, biometeorology, a NRM (natural resource management) seminar for one credit and a 2 credit research methods course which helps students get stared on their research projects.

The weather has been great...sunny and in the 70's! All of the leaves are changing color...all to yellow! There is mostly only aspen and birch for deciduous tress. My advisor told me it could start snowing as soon as in two weeks!! I am looking forward to slightly cooler temperatures! I didn't bring much for summer clothes!

This evening I went to a department BBQ for all students and faculty and friends. This gave me a chance to meet a few more graduate students and a feel for the department overall! Towards the end, a few of us were offered a tour of the reindeer farm right next to where the BBQ took place. We went right into the pens with the reindeer! Luckily I had my camera with me, so I took a couple pictures of them! When they walk around, they make a clicking noise which I guess is from their tendons in their legs so they can find each other in the snow. We all fed them lichen right our of our hands! These ones are raised to be slaughtered in the end but also look at their nutrition and do artificial insemination. The big one in the pictures is the one they take to schools and put on postcards around Christmas and the little ones surrounding it are one year old.

Basic Info

Just so everyone has it, here is my contact information!

E-mail: mbparent628@gmail.com   OR    meparent@alaska.edu

-Both are through google and I will check them both regularly. Discard my old umaine address.

Phone: 207-991-3022

Mailing address:

Mary Beth Parent

UAF

PO Box 752504

Fairbanks, AK 99775-2504

Street address:

Mary Beth Parent

UAF

740 B Columbia Circle

Fairbanks, AK 99775

Feel free to send anything or call anytime! Just keep in mind it can take about 4 weeks for packages to get here, but smaller items come a bit faster.

Classes Begin!!

I started classes on Thursday with Ecosystem Ecology and then Friday I had Biometeorology. They both sound very interesting after the first class, even though they do not have much to do with GIS. It is important background knowledge to have to help analyze any findings. Friday I met one of the graduate students, Theresia, who also has Dave as an advisor. We had lunch in a cafe on campus with one other girl. They were both super nice and Theresia showed me around a little bit. In my Friday class there are only 5 students total and I am the only girl. When I walked in, there was one guy who I thought looked just like Joel and come to find out, his name is Joel! 

I had found out there was a contra dance in downtown Fairbanks online so I decided to check it out Friday night. I took a taxi down which cost an outrageous 11 bucks to go two miles! Next time if I can't get a ride, I think I'll just leave early and walk!! The dance was a lot of fun, even though there was much less twirling than Bangor. I danced quite a few of the dances but sat out a bit more than I usually do. At the end of the dance, there was the last waltz and it didn't look like I was going to find a parter so I gathered my things and was headed out the door. A guy, Patrick, came running out behind me and asked if I wanted to go to a bonfire with him and some of the other kids at the dance! I went and had a great time and met a few new people!!

Today is saturday and I took the opportunity to sleep in! Then I went to lunch with my roommate and one of her friends. Then, my advisor's wife, Becky picked me up and we thought we would try to see if my boxes were at the post office. Guess what! They were there!!! I'm sooo excited to finally have some of my stuff here!! Then I went over to Becky's house where she was trying to get rid of a lot of old kitchen stuff. I made out pretty well! I got a mirror (I didn't have one in my room at all), a small side table, an iron, another fry pan, some games, silverware and a bunch of other stuff. The people around here are so nice!!

I don't have much else planned for the rest of the long weekend. I have a bit more unpacking to do and I will take the chance to relax before I get super busy! I don't have much for new pictures, but I  snapped a few while I was at the contra dance!

Getting settled

The past two days I have spent running around campus trying to get all the right forms to the right departments! Yesterday I did not get much accomplished because I had orientation from 1-5. This was informative as far as graduate student responsibilities go, but not much for general campus knowledge. There wasn't much of a chance to get to know other students since it was mostly speakers talking for four hours. 

Today I walked back and forth across campus numerous times trying to get appropriate forms filled out. I finally signed up for classes and got my student ID card and hopefully got all of my employment papers squared away. It has been hard not having an advisor around this week so I never know who to go to with questions. Thankfully, everyone in every department has been more than helpful. I've had secretaries offer to drive me downtown to get information and it seems like every other person has a relation back to Maine! The department chair's sister currently lives in Bangor so I was able to talk with him for a few minutes about that! After all the walking around today, I crashed early and made some phone calls while it was still a reasonable time on the east coast! I talked to Heidi, Corey, Memere & Pepere, Grandma & Grandpa, Lucas and my parents through Skype among a few others!! It was really great being able to talk to everyone!! I always welcome phone calls...just keep in mind I'm 4 hours behind!!

I went around campus today and took a few pictures of the main buildings...

This is the Museum of the North...a signature building of the school.

The outside of my building. I'm on the lower corner.

O'Neill building where my department is located.

The library!!!

The Wood Center...the student union building. The brown thing on the top stretches the length of the building for really high ceilings inside.

It is quite a nice campus! There are still flowers out and green grass everywhere! I'm sure this will all disappear in a month or so! Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments or send me an email!!

Classes start tomorrow so I will keep you posted with how those go!