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By Erica Prather and Andy Davidson ASC MIcroplastics Adventurers Boasting one of the planet's highest biomass productions, the Tongass National Forest is the largest remaining temperate rainforest on Earth. With its famed ice caves and ancient glacial melt, it encompasses the entire Mendenhall Glacier. Visit the Mendenhall Glacier in this stunning film: ASC adventurers and naturalist guides Erica Prather and Andy Davidson spent this past summer sampling freshwater sources in the spectacular Tongass. Their film follows meltwater from the Mendenhall as it snakes through Juneau and pours into the open ocean, where it drives a largely intact marine food chain. A window into the magical salmon spawning grounds highlights the interconnectedness of fresh and saltwater systems in Southeast Alaska. Learn more about the Microplastics Project and other ASC projects on our website, the Field Notes blog, and our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ pages.
Watercolors by Sara Dykman ASC Microplastics Adventurer  The Missouri River Breaks is home to rock formations made by time, water and wind. We stretched our legs and enjoyed the view from Hole in the Wall. In July, six paddlers set off to follow the water for 3,500 miles. The group began their adventure at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park, following snowmelt, small creeks and cold water springs to the Missouri River. From the Missouri, they will continue to the Mississippi and then on to the Gulf of Mexico.
Federal Government Releases Memo, Toolkit for Citizen Science  GT moving and shaking at the White House. By Emily Stifler Wolfe
ASC Staff ASC is riding the crest of a powerful wave. At a September 30 forum, The White House released a memo on crowdsourcing and citizen science, as well as a new Federal toolkit for citizen science. "The field of citizen science has just been elevated in a dramatic way," said ASC Executive Director Gregg Treinish, who attended the invitation-only forum in the Eisenhower Building. Both the memo and the toolkit are designed to help government agencies build, manage and gain value from citizen science projects. Included in the memo are mandates for agencies to designate a citizen science liaison and list their public projects on a federal website. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren noted multiple benefits of citizen science in his keynote: "These innovative approaches can simultaneously enhance scientific research, address societal needs, provide hands on STEM learning and increase STEM literacy, and by allowing individuals to participate in efforts that transcend geographic and sectorial boundaries, citizen science can help create a sense of connectivity, community and ownership that you rarely get in traditional scientific activities." By Thomas Nielsen ASC Microplastics Adventurer  Team Sea Runners sailing north past Lasqueti Island. During their adventure, they gathered samples for ASC. (Photo by Michael Dougherty) By mid afternoon, light southerlies were filling in. The sea surface became rippled and our sail was starting to pull. Free speed.
Up from behind, the bigger boats were pouring on the canvas, and soon they grew from pinpricks on the horizon to distinguishable teams gaining on us. After three days, the Race to Alaska fleet was now at the southern end of the Gulf Islands, between Victoria Island and Vancouver, British Columbia. Writing and Media by Dove Henry ASC Landmark Crew Member  Click above to hear the elk During the third week of September—the peak of the elk rut in Montana—the Landmark crew made a trip to the Slippery Ann elk viewing area in the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. Herds of elk cows grazed and wandered in the grassy clearing, guarded by large bulls. Beyond them, the towering cottonwood trees bordering that stretch of the Missouri River had just begun to yellow, their trunks like columns. I decided to return after sunset to capture an audio recording of the bulls bugling.
 Conservation biologist Lesley de Souza (right) studies Arapaima, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. (Photo by S. Piper Kimmel) By Lesley de Souza ASC Microplastics Adventurer I plunge my arm below the surface of the water, feeling the weight of the bottle increase as it fills with our first sample. The sun is relentless here at 3 degrees north of the equator, and my first impulse is to dive in and cool down, but I know black caiman, anaconda, sting ray, electric eels and piranha also take pleasure in these waters. We are on southern Guyana’s Rewa River studying arapaima, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. Arapaima often surface to breathe air, and their size—more than 10 feet long and up to 400 pounds—makes them an easy target for sight fishing and overharvest. Despite their threatened status, they are a sought-after delicacy in tropical South America.  The Rewa is one of the most remote ecosystems on Earth. (Photo by Zachary James Johnston, Ship To Shore Productions) I’ve spent the last three years studying arapaima movement patterns, helping inform managers about the need for protection. I work with the indigenous Rewa villagers and Rewa Eco Lodge, whose ban on commercial harvest has contributed to high arapaima numbers here.  A black caiman preys on a peacock bass in the same waters where de Souza collects samples. (Photo by Zachary James Johnston) |
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