This summer I will be traveling to the Kenai Peninsula to learn about changes in oceans and marine organisms, and to Denali Park to observe and learn first-hand about the Alpine Taiga biome. In particular, I  plan to visit glacier areas where regression of the ice over the past 100 years is documented.

The Kenai Refuge is a Congressionally-designated wilderness area. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, often called “Alaska in miniature”, is home to a wide diversity of wildlife including moose, eagles, brown and black bears, lynx, wolves, and trumpeter swans.  The area includes ice fields and glaciers, with their own particular plant and animal species. The diverse area also includes tundra, boreal forests, lake and wetlands. This is a small area to include so many biomes. One purpose of the refuge is to maintain the treaty conditions set forth by Native American people and International law. The Western Kenai Peninsula, was occupied by Athabascan Indians called Dena’ina. The Dena’ina migrated south from the Upper Susitna River region, gradually displacing an established Eskimo culture on the Kenai Peninsula. The National Wildlife Refuge provides educational programs and materials to teachers. I will be kayaking and camping on the Fjords.

Denali Park is comprised of six million acres of wild land. The entrance to the park is within low-elevation taiga forest and ascends to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains. Denali’s peak is North America’s tallest.  The park is filled with free roaming wildlife, and is a great place to study birds. I will stay within the park for three days.

It is one thing to read about how the world’s biomes are clustered around the planet (for example desert-grassland-jungle-forest), but quite another to observe the changes for oneself as you slowly travel from one latitude/longitude/altitude to another. The experience will add a priceless authenticity to my teaching practice.