Think like an ecosystem Two long-term research projects enter their third decade, bringing new insights into ecological change Sarah Ruiz
Science Writer/Editor
Anya Suslova on an Arctic river
research trip. / photo by John Le Coq
Fall 2023
Climate Science for Change
It didn’t matter that she didn’t speak any English at the time, or that the American researchers who had chartered her father’s boat that summer didn’t speak any Russian, 14-year-old Anya Suslova was a quick learner. She watched them dip sample bottles into the Lena River, filter the water, and mark information down on the side of the bottle. By the end of the twoweek research expedition, Suslova had mastered the protocol and was helping Dr. Max Holmes and his fellow scientists collect water samples. When the scientists returned to the United States, they left behind some equipment, in case Suslova and her
father were interested in sampling throughout the winter. After a year without contact with Suslova, the researchers were delighted to return to the Lena the following summer to find months of samples and a neatly organized logbook she made. Twenty years later, Suslova is a Research Assistant at Woodwell Climate Research Center who continues to bring her expertise and unique perspective to the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory (ArcticGRO). Since 2003, participants of ArcticGRO—scientists and Arctic community members alike—have been sampling water from the six largest rivers in the Arctic: the Ob’, Yenisey,
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