Radio Script
2000

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Farthest North Scientist
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STORY: At the end of a bouncy, dusty, dirt road, six miles across the tundra from Barrow, a remote community on the north coast of Alaska, is the Point Barrow Observatory. Each summer, scientists from all over the world come to this remote outpost to study the Arctic.

ENDRES: "This place has got to be one of the most studied areas in the world. Everything goes on here, from wildlife biology to plant physiology to atmospheric physics and chemistry, permafrost studies. Almost anything you can think of—marine mammals, fish, caribou, birds. People are up here studying everything."

It's here that they inevitably meet Dan Endres. As the observatory's station chief, Endres helps researchers set up their experiments. And after the researchers go home in the fall, it's Endres' job to watch over the experiments throughout the cold, dark winter months that follow. It's a job he's had since 1984, and he says he wouldn't trade places with anyone.

ENDRES: "Everything around us is open. It's all just natural tundra with no housing, no development. We can look out the back window here just about any given day of the year and see wildlife of some sort, whether it be snowy owls or foxes. There are a pair of ravens that live here year-round. We'll see caribou sometimes. It's just nice to be able to look out back and not be looking into somebody else's office window."

Since the observatory opened in 1973, it's been one of just four research stations around the world operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study the earth's climate. At the moment he oversees some 40 separate projects, all aimed at understanding how the climate is warming.

ENDRES: "The last time we counted there were running over 40 projects here, that we run directly or are responsible for. Everything from measuring C02 (carbon dioxide) and methane, to measuring the chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) and the replacement halocarbons (HFCs) to aerosols and solar radiation. Basically everything we measure are constituents that may force climate change."

The home office, which he visits just once a year, is in Boulder, Colorado. But Endres doesn't feel like he's in exile, that he got the short end of the stick.

ENDRES: "It's the best end of the stick. You have some degree of freedom. The boss is 3,000 miles away."

Over the years, Endres has amassed a number of stories about his experiences in the high Arctic. There was the time a researcher brought golf clubs to the station. Then there were the scientists who were so taken aback by the high cost of food that they boycotted the town's grocery stores.

ENDRES: "The Arctic is a different place. It sort of gets into your blood once you've been here for a while. Most people will either love it or hate it. There's no middle ground. You rarely find people who say, 'eh, it's okay.' They either say it's really nice or it's horrid."

If there's a down side, Endres says it would have to be the winters. Minus 40 degree days and ground blizzards can make getting to and from work an adventure.

ENDRES: "The downside is that sometimes that last half mile to work can be a long half mile. One time we got out here to work and a blizzard kicked up and visibility was only about 20 feet or less. To get home, we let the dog outside and followed him. He knew exactly where he was going. He made a beeline like there was nothing going on. It might as well have been in the middle of summer."

Still, the thought of having your boss 3,000 miles away might make even blizzards bearable.

OUTRO: This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I'm Doug Schneider.

Thanks to the following individual for help preparing this script:

Dan Endres, Station Chief
Point Barrow Observatory
P.O. Box 888
Barrow, AK 99723
Phone: 907-852-6500
Email: dendres@cmdl.noaa.gov

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