Outreach Activities @ Toolik

North for Science! - North for Science! is a program for middle school children to explore science in the north of Alaska. Toolik Field Station participates as the northern stop for the program.  The kids spend a day exploring the plants and animals around Toolik and hearing from researchers about what they do at Toolik.  This program is sponsored by the Alaska Songbird Institute, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  To learn more about the North for Science! program check out their webpage!

PolarTREC - PolarTREC is a program for K-12 science teachers to be embedded within a research group preforming arctic research.  The teachers come to Toolik as part of a research team, rather than being hosted directly by the field station. The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) manages the PolarTREC program and matches teachers with researchers for their polar exploration.  The teachers and their research group provide classroom and public connections through blog posts, skype-a-scientist, developing age appropriate curriculum, and so much more.  To learn more about the PolarTREC program check out their website

  • PolarTREC Teachers atToolik
    • 2021 - Liza Backman
    • 2019 - Alejandra Martinez, David Walker, Kate Steeper
    • 2018 - Melissa Lau, Svea Anderson, Kim Young
    • 2017 - Jennifer Baldacci,
    • 2016 - DJ Kast, Nell Kemp
    • 2014 - Andre Wille, Lauren Watel, Regina Brinker, 
    • 2013 - Alicia Gillean, Bruce Taterka, Nell Kemp, 
    • 2012 - Melissa Barker, Susan Steiner, Nick LaFave

BLM/TFS Artist-in-Residence - In partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Toolik Field Station (TFS) offers an Artist in Residence program.  The 2022 BLM/Toolik Artist-in-Residence Program is committed to supporting artistic efforts from all mediums that support the public lands.  The artist will be hosted by both the BLM at one of their cabins or campgrounds for 5-6 days along the Dalton Highway and by TFS for 3-4 days giving the artist a glimpse of both Boreal and Arctic Alaska. 

  • An 8 day quarantine and PCR test is required prior to coming to Toolik Field Station, please arrange with TFS and BLM accordingly. 

TFS Artist-in-Residence - Toolik has had a number of Artists come to the station as Artist-in-Residence.  As part of their stay each has contributed a piece of artwork to the station.  

Interested in being an Artist-in-Resident at TFS? please email uaf-toolik-communication@alaska.edu for more information.

Toolik Talking Shops are held once a week throughout the busy season at Toolik (May-August).  At each talking shop we have one or more speaker share their research with the Toolik Community.  This is a great way to not just share your research but also to gain experience in presenting in front of a friendly environment. ​

Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
6/16/2021 Jenn Guerard Contaminant Fate and Transformation in the Arctic: Chlorinated Pesticides and Brominated Flame Retardants
6/30/2021 Mike Weintraub What controls tundra soil carbon responses to environmental change?
 7/7/2021 Marwan Wartes   Introduction to the Geologic evolution of the Brooks Range, Northern Alaska
 7/13/2021

 

Jeremy May 
Jess Richert

 

 

Monitoring Arctic Tundra Vegetation Using the Mobile Instrumented Sensor Platform (MISP)
Winter Snow Depth and Caribou Forage Quality

 

7/21/2021
Daniela Aguirre
Olivia Cronin-Golomb
Deciduous shrub encroachment effects on tundra soil properties
Modeling benthic solar irradiance to inform seagrass habitat suitability in the mesotidal PIE

7/28/2021-

Undergraduate Showcase

Alex Jennings
Asha Kaliappan
Cameron Jones
Caroline Brose
Jansen Nipko
 Danny Weldon
Pollination Ecology and Experimental Warming
Soil & Iron
PhLr
An Introduction to Phylogenetic Analyssis of the Goodeniaceae
ArcticRIOS - Arctic Watershed study
Tussock Packing Factor
8/4/2021

Toolik Community Discussion

Toolik Field Station DEI Talking Shop

Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
5/28/2019 Adrian Rocha  Why ecology matters: insights into the inner workings of globally important biogeochemical systems.
6/4/2019 Kim Hageman, Jenn Guerard, Jeff Perala-Dewey, Ginna Quesada  Pumping water through foam, Drying stuff in the sun, and walking on thin ice
6/11/2019 Amanda Young  Between snow and shade:importance of high light on the forest floor
6/18/2019 Helene Angot  The Mystery of nocturnal ozone depletion and the big red balloon
6/26/2019  NEON  
 7/3/2019 Marwan Wartes   Introduction to the Geologic evolution of the Brooks Range, Northern Alaska
 7/10/2019

 

Jeremy May & Steven Unger
Hayes Henderson & John Fiegelson

 

MISP and Moss: raiders of the moss Arc
Everything you wanted to know about plant sex, but were too afraid to ask

 

 7/17/2019  Alex Michaud, Remi Masse  The rusty cryosphere: Why microbes love iron
7/24/2019  Roxaneh Khorsand  From the Amazon to the Arctic: why plant reproductive biology matters in a changing environment.
 7/31/2019  Scott Filippone  Hemodynamics 101: how to keep blood inside of you

 8/7/2019

REU

 
Daison Weedop
Emily Reast
Abigail Rec
Cailee Peterson
Shannon Harney

 

Characterizing the Stream Fish Community Within an Open Lake System
Water holding capacities of arctic mosses around Toolik Field Station
Nutrient Diffusing Substrata: nutrient limitation and spatial variation in Arctic stream systems
The Quest for the Quantification and Quality Content of Caribou Candy
Quantifying disturbance i Siberian Alder Stands
 8/14/2019  Thomas Hartman  YtoY: Yellowstone to the Yukon Photo journal
 8/15/2019  Crystal Glassburn  
8/20/2019
Brandie Brooks
Brandon Cobb
The Brooks Range Float
Climate and Energy Security in Alaska
 8/21/2019
Ian Klupar
Jessica Richert, Kaj Lynoe, Heidi Becker
How can fire change the productivity limitations of the Tundra?
Caribou Nutritional Landscapes
 8/28/2019  Alex Huryn  Alabama Caves, North Slope Springs, and Icelandic Geothermal Vents
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
6/12/18  Ben Abbott & Ariel Shogren The permafrost climate feedback: biggest terrestrial tipping point or potential carbon sink?
6/19/18  Dan White  I Am Lakes. So Can You.
6/26/18  Sally MacIntyre  What's Happening Under the Ice?
7/3/18  Anne Giblin  Rising Seas and Coastal Marshes
7/10/18  Nick Barrett  Arctic Lake Warming...and beyond
 7/17/18  CPS Safety Training  
 7/23/18  Ken Tape  Beavers North of the Brooks
 7/31/18  Reiner Giesler & Johann Olofsson  P-availability in tundra ecosystems: effects of vegetation, elevation and herbivory
 8/1/18  Detlev Helmig  Chasing the Elusive Nessie from Toolik Lake
 8/7/18  Mindy Brugman  Arctic Weather Forecasting: Analysis and Prognosis of the "New Normal" During a Period of Dramatic Climate Warming
 8/10/18  Crystal Glassburn (BLM)  Cultural/archaeological history of the Brooks Range with Q & A

8/14/18

REU

Amy Li
Allie Pankoff
Ryan West
Classifying Arctic Shrubs via Remote Sensing
I-1 and I-2 Stream Characterization
Population Structure and Diet Composition of Fishes in Two Headwater Lakes
 8/21/18  Jade Lawrence  Blood Falls, Antarctica
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
6/6/2017  Sal Curasi  Water track distribution and effects on carbon dioxide flux in an eastern Siberian upland tundra landscape
 6/13/2017
Ryan Stephens
Juliette Funck
Pulsed resource availability changes dietary niche breadth and partitioning between generalist rodent consumers
Creating a RODEmap
 6/20/2017  Alex Huryn & Josh Schimel  
 6/27/2017  Jeremy May  Temperature events and their impacts on plant phenology
7/4/2017  Adrianna Trusiak  Seeing Red in Blue waters and Snow! The role of Iron in liberating CO2
 7/12/2017  Tracie Curry  Paths toward Shared Understanding in Transdisciplinary Knowledge Processes
 7/17/2017  Matt Irinaga  CPS Arctic safety
 7/18/2017  Diane Benson  Living in Extreme Conditions: A Woman Truckers Perspective of Construction Days in Toolik, Coldfoot and the Pass
 7/25/2017  Gus Shaver  Forty years of change at Toolik Field Station and in moist acidic tundra
8/1/2017   Tom Glass  Tracking wolverines in the greater Toolik area

8/8/2017

REU

Quinn Gavin
Thomas Hafen
Erynn McNeill
 REU Presentations
Sagwon Bluffs Soil and Vegetation Assessment
Exploring the differences in fish populations between open and closed systems
How herbivory affects the growth of Siberian Alder
 8/15/2017  Go Iwahana  Quantification of Thermokarst and Carbon Release
 8/22/2017  Ned Fetcher  Cottongrass Ecotypes
 8/29/2017  Breck Bowden  Effects of Climate Warming on Stream Metabolism: A Continental Perspective
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
6/7/2016  Tom Glass  Trails and Travails: Tracking the Elusive Wolverine
 6/14/2016  Will Longo  Molecular fossils from northern Alaskan Lake sediments record 16000 years of climate change
 6/21/2016  Jesse Krause  White crowned Sparrows
 6/28/2016  Christie Haupert  Arctic Field Training
 7/5/2016  Greg Hill & Traci Ruthkoski  Arctic Grayling & UAVs
 7/12/2016  Kimberly Maher  Permitting for Science on Alaska DNR land
 7/19/2016  Christine Hedge  Mercury dynamics of an arctic tundra ecosystem in northern Alaska: a mass balance
 7/26/2016  Steve Oberbauer  Glaciers, frogs, and cushion plants
 8/3/2016  In a Time of Change Artist group  Visiting artist group presentation 

 8/9/2016

REU

Gina Lupo
Megan Christie
The Effect of Bryophyte Presence on Kuparuk Community Composition
Nutrient Use Efficiency Patterns of Moss in the Kuparuk River
 8/16/2016  Adrianna Trusiak  Ironing Out the Arctic Carbon Cycle
 8/23/2016  Ben Abbott and Jay Zarnetske  Permafrost Carbon Feedback and Pulsing Carbon Fluxes
 8/30/2016
Agata Buchwal
Mike Gooseff
Shrubs
The McMurdo LTER
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
6/2/2015  Rose Cory  Radical carbon cycling
 6/9/2015  Jesse Krause  Birds and stuff
 6/16/2015  CPS  Arctic Field Training
 6/23/2015  Sally MacIntyre  I Can't Shake the Lake: My 16 Years of Struggle at Toolik Lake
 6/30/2015  Byron Crump  Biogeography of bacteria in streams and rivers: influence of environmental conditions and dispersal
 7/7/2015
Brie Van Dam
Traci Ruthkoski
Tropospheric O3 in the Arctic
Cool gadgets for science
 7/14/2015  Heidi Golden  Fishscape: A Journey Through Time & Space
 7/21/2015  Ann Giblin  Lake Fertilization: Who Wins and Who Loses?
 7/28/2015
Gus Shaver
MBL Journalists
Scaling up from Toolik to the Arctic
Science Journalism

 8/4/2015

REU

Levi Simmons
Kate Yuhas
Structure of Fish Populations in Toolik-Area Lakes
Electron Donating Capacity in Natural Waters
 8/11/2015  Jeremy May  A, Andrew, and the Arctic
 8/18/2015  Helen Chmura  Bird Nerds on the Tundra
 
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
 6/3/2014  Traci Ruthkoski  Arctic Glass plus Amazon Web Services (AWS)
 6/10/2014  Werner Eugster  What fluxes out of Toolik Lake and the wetlands, and how we measure it
 6/17/2014  Annesofie Norn Another windless day in space looking down at drifting landscapes
 6/25/2014  David Hoekman and Yuri Springer  The National Ecological Observatory Network: From big picture to bugs
 7/1/2014  Joe Tuck and John Brown (BBC)  Everything you always wanted to know about natural history filmmaking but were too afraid to ask
 7/7/2014  Morten Rasch  Something strange is happening in the Arctic", plus overview of Zackenberg Research Station and North Greenland expedition
 7/15/2014
Stephen Klobucar
Yo Chin
 
A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work
Persistent Organic Pollutants in Polar and Alpine Environments
 
 7/22/2014  Steve Oberbauer  Cold season physiology of tundra plants
 7/24/2014  Hank Loescher and Russ Lea  NEON Overview and Q&A session
 7/29/2014
Tyler King
Ashley Asmus
 
Heat fluxes in Arctic Rivers
Arthropod Community Responses to Fertilization and Fire
 
 8/5/2014  Nathan C. Healey  A mobile instrumented sensor platform for long-term terrestrial ecosystem analysis: An example application in the Arctic Tundra

 8/12/2014

REU

Christine Pardo
Jamie Goethlich
Michell Rasmussen
Zach Osterhlz
 
Fun with phenology
Diet composition and size structure of slimy sculpin (Coltus cognatus) in fertilized and unfertilized lakes
Quantifying lateral inflows in Arctic beaded streams
Hyperspectral analysis of photosynthetic greening following tundra fire
 8/19/2014  Emily Voytek  Visions of the Deep: Subsurface Characterization Of Water Tracks
 
Date Speaker(s) Title(s)
 5/22/2013  Jeffrey M. Welker  The Mixing of the Modern and Ancient C Cycles in the High Arctic-Examples from NW Greenland and Svalbard
 6/4/2013 Shahid Naeem  The Consequences Of Biodiversity Decline
 6/11/2013 Kathleen Hunt  Whale Poop & The Meaning Of Life
 6/18/2013    LTER Poster Presentations
 6/25/2013 Jonathan Perez  "The effects of Methimazole on development of vernal migration in white crowned sparrows"
 7/2/2013 Cory Williams  Keeping Time Under the Midnight Sun: Circannual and Circadian Rhythms of Arctic Ground Squirrels
 7/9/2013  Sarah Page  .OH, The Places You'll Go
 7/16/2013 Lee Vierling  Lasers, Ecology and You
 7/23/2013
Water Tracks Group
Erik Hobbie
An Introduction to the Water Tracks Team
Do Squirrels Eat Mushrooms?
 
 7/30/2013 Donie Bret-Harte  The Great Pluck of 2013
 8/6/2013 Cleo Davie-Martin  This is Flaming Retarded! A Tale of Wayward Contaminants.
 8/13/2013  REU Presentations  REU Presentations
 8/20/2013 Jeb Timm  Snow Transects via Trans-Alaska Snowmachine Adventure
 8/27/2013  Chad Diesinger  Climbing the West Ridge of Mt. Hunter

AGU Booth PhotoToolik Field Station 

Sponsors sessions at the annual AGU fall meeting to promote interdisciplinary research and foster collaboration. 

Exhibition booth to network with researchers and future researchers during the conference.