Limnoir

While Jersey was talking I slipped another big stack of dirty dishes on the counter. She didn't even notice. "To study these microbes," she carried on, "I take ice and meltwater samples and bring them back to Montana State University where I'm a graduate student. In our lab, I extract DNA to find out genetically 'who's there'. I also try grow representative inhabitants of this environment in culture media. Once I've grown these 'isolates' I can study these ingenious little bugs' adaptations to the cold and their growth strategy in more detail."

By this time Jersey was waving her hands. She sprayed us with soapy water droplets from her dish rag to ensure that we were paying attention. "These Blood Falls organisms have some far out implications. They're the kind of life we might find on Europa, a moon of Jupiter, which has a thick ice cover over a liquid ocean. And they're the kind of life we might find on Mars, which has surface and subsurface ice and soils that, like Blood Falls are rich in iron."

The beach

My head was spinning with information by now and although all of it was really interesting I started to wonder if Jersey was every going to stop and take a breath. She finally paused when Joking Mad walked up. He was acting all nice, did we need help washing the dishes, he inquired. I gave him the evil eye. He'd been calling me Sandy lately - ever since our teams had played Frisbee on the "beach" by Canada Glacier at the Lake Hoare camp one Saturday night and had gotten into a big sand fight.

Glacier Boy Thomas Nylen had instigated the entire incident and for some inane reason Joking Mad had gotten involved - something about getting sand in one of his hiking boots. As far as I could tell it was a case of wrong place, wrong time but I ended up getting pile driven into the sand. "Hello Sandeeee!" he would taunt.

Whatever. We finished up the chores and relaxed around the dinner table - talking, playing cards, reading, eating cookies, eating more cookies.

The next evening a helicopter came to get the limno team. Mt. Rae towered majestically in the background. Sunlight glinted off Canada Glacier, fire on ice. And the limno team took off in a swirl of metal and dust. For a moment the helicopter hovered high above the base camp. Then it turned west towards the Labyrinth and headed into the circling sun. It was pretty much the last time we saw the limno team. They've finished their work in the valleys and left the continent. I must admit that I miss them - and their conniving ways. But I can't get too sad. I know that the limno team will be back next year, as will ours. Because although the Case of Limnoir has been closed, our efforts to understand this polar desert ecosystem are far from finished. The long-term monitoring and research will go on.

- Karen

2003-2004 Limno Team
John Priscu, Jill Mikucki, Joel Moore, Kerry McKenna, Christine Foreman