Kickstarter

The Goal: We want to create a booklet to put on the shelf of the library at Alderleaf Wilderness College, the school we work for in Washington state.  We will be taking a trip to Alaska and the Arctic in the summer, and would like the booklet to contain information, photographs, and observations on the wildlife and ecology from our trip. This book will be unique to our library in a couple ways; first, we do not have a book on the shelf that deals specifically with that area of North America, and second, this will be written by former students of, and current educators at, the school!  The booklet will also contain stories from our trip to offer a little adventure and fun to the readers, and information on various plants in the ecologies we document. The main purpose of putting a booklet like this in the library of our school is to inspire the students who read it while also being educational. 

How we will do it: The field-work portion of this project will take up the last week of June into the first three weeks of July. We will be driving north through British Columbia and the Yukon, and into Alaska. While in Alaska we will be dividing our time among these locations: the tundra, the brooks range, central AK & Denali, and SE Alaska. Of course, we will be making a few stops while in BC and the Yukon, but the real meat of this trip will be focused in Alaska. Armed with our cameras and tape measures, we will be exploring these places for animal tracks & sign and plant-life to document. We have also arranged to meet with someone from Fish and Wildlife in Fairbanks, a grad student from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and a couple of other folks, to discuss Alaskan and Arctic wildlife. 

How the funds will be used: The funds will be used to help finance the gasoline cost, cover the cost of Sandy (who will be our guide for 4 weeks), and fully pay for the production of the booklets.  

How far along is the project: As of now Michelle and I are journaling and researching some of the species that we will see up there to prepare ourselves. We are also still talking to the Fish and Wildlife folks up there and the biologists in Fairbanks about a more exact time to meet up (because the schedule of our trip will be very much dependent on when they are available to speak with us). Aside from that we have the route we are taking planned, and have our methods of recording information pretty planned out as well. 

People on the team: There are four of us all together.  There is Michelle Peziol and I (Alexandra Vita), who were originally the ones inspired and determined to create this booklet. Then there is Jamie Weaver (aka Funsize) who  joined the team (and also recorded the kickstarter video for us), and who will be making Michelle and me laugh the whole way to the arctic. And lastly, there is Sandy the guide, who will be leading us through this journey.