Carbon Research in the Arctic in the YK Delta

The Yukon Kuskokwim Delta, home to Yup'ik and Cup'ik people, provides a perfect location to study how soil microbial communities and geese are influencing CO2 and methane emissions from salt marshes.
As part of this National Science Foundation project, lead principal investigator, Trisha Atwood, spent the last three summers in the YK Delta with fellow scientists sorting out the potential answers to the question: How do geese change CO2 and Methane emissions?
In the video you will see Atwood and scientists perform their experiments in real time despite constantly changing, potentially dangerous weather conditions. The mud, wind, hazardous weather, and basic living conditions didn't deter the scientists. As Lindsay Miller, Masters student said, "I was nervous about living out of a tent with no running water for 2 1/2 months, but it hasn't been that bad."
The summer of 2023 was the end of the three-year field research for this National Science Foundation project. The scientists, back in their labs and institutions, are analyzing the data that may give insight into the relationship geese have with soil microbes.