October 31, 2015

Zoe Kelvin High School ‘16

        We started the day off with breakfast on the train after we

traveled overnight. We arrived in Churchill around 9 am on Saturday morning. Once everyone loaded their luggage into the back of the truck we were fortunate to visit two museums. The first one was the museum at the Churchill train station; there were many exhibits on the Churchill culture and history. The second was the Eskimo museum, this was an art museum, which also included Churchill’s past and culture. Later that morning we all piled into a bus and drove to CNSC. We had a quick introduction and went off in a hike in the tundra. We had another quick meeting that consisted of permafrost and thermology. After supper we headed out to trick-or-treat! This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. After the candy we joined the junior rangers party at the complex, which included of bowling, dancing and of course candy. Our fantastic day and we can’t wait for tomorrow out on the tundra buggies!

Bunmi Osias The Park School of Baltimore ‘17

Today was a great day. In the morning we ate a delicious breakfast on the train and prepared to leave the train. Once we arrived in Churchill we were greeted by falling snow, which was a nice surprise. We went to the Parks Canada Visitors Centre where we learned about the history of Churchill, which was pretty neat. We got to see pelts, clothing and learn more about the culture of Churchill before and after the Europeans came to Canada. After we learned about the history of Churchill we went to the trading post where we got souvenirs and we ended our time in town at the Eskimo Museum. Once we got to the CNSC we had a short meeting where we went over rules for living in the CNSC and other good things to know. Once we were settled into our rooms our group went on a walk while Leah Hicks and I organized the soil samples and added on to the DNA extraction protocol. Tomorrow Leah, Dania, and I will extract DNA from the soil samples we collected on the 2014 and 2015 summer trips. After eating dinner with the rest of ISAMR we got into a CNSC van and went trick or treating. Trick or treating was really fun and very different than in Baltimore. The police and bear patrol cars gave us candy. Another interesting thing that happened when we went trick or treating was that we got quite a few freezy pops as well as soda. We regrouped at Jill’s house and from there we went to a Halloween party. The party was great; we bowled, played cards, and had a great time. At 10:00 as we were leaving the party, out of nowhere; a giant siren started blasting out of nowhere. Since none of us knew what to do most people ran inside while a few us stayed in one place. Aliyah, the only person from Churchill in our group told us that the siren signified the start of curfew. Today was a great way to start off our time in Churchill and I can’t wait to see what other fun things we will do while we are here.

Aliyah Dingwall Duke of Marlborough ’20 Junior Ranger

The day started out pretty good, we woke up and had breakfast on the train and arrived in Churchill at about 9:30/10:00. When we got to the station I went home to see my family and pack a bag for the CNSC and everyone else toured around town. When we got to the study center we went for a walk and learned about some plants in the area, then we set up our rooms and had dinner. In the evening we had a short presentation about thermology, and whisker printing. At night we got our costumes on and went trick or treating! Then we joined the rest of the junior rangers for a party. Everyone danced, bowled, and got to know each other better. Dania and Antonina joined us to stay at the CNSC. Tomorrow we are going on Tundra Buggies to take pictures of polar bears; I am excited because I haven’t been on a buggy since I was little. I had a great day and this trip has been very fun so far. Check in tomorrow for another entry about our day!