Picture this scenario: You’ve been set down by floatplane in the middle of an Arctic tundra in a remote section of Alaska. The landscape is flat all the way to the horizon, as there are no trees or hills or mountains. You will spend the next two weeks in total daylight; the sun never sets at this time of year. You will have no access to your cell phone or the internet, no contact with friends or family. The weather will seesaw between freezing cold on some nights to temperatures into the 90s on some days. Smoke drifting up from a major fire in Anchorage will hamper your breathing. You will be the youngest person in a group of 14 strangers. You will be expected to design and implement your own research project, which you will present later at a major national academic conference in San Francisco. There will be no breaks on the weekends. 

Most people would pass up the opportunity to experience this scenario. Ani Williams, a Bowdoin College junior from Vermont, is not most people. She’s made of sterner stuff, never afraid to spread her wings and test her limits. Ani spent the summer after her freshman year in Lander, Wyoming working as a Research and Curriculum Intern for the National Outdoor Leadership School. She’s spent her last two winter breaks in Chilean Patagonia leading trips for Chulengo Expeditions. (“I love to share places that I love with other people.”) This past August she led a group of Bowdoin first-year students on an exhibition to climb Mount Katahadin. Last December, Ani and her mom each won their respective age-group divisions at the Millinocket Half Marathon. 

Ani’s summer experience in the Arctic tundra was part of the Polaris Project, which is funded by a National Science Foundation grant. The Polaris Project tackles one of humanities greatest challenges — global climate change — in one of Earth’s most remote and vulnerable environments: the Arctic. 

Ani was one of 10 outstanding college students selected to participate in the Polaris Project this past summer. The students were mentored by four faculty researchers. Each student designed and worked on his/her own project, although they assisted each other at times. 

Ani decided to study plant-mediated flux in burned and unburned fens. As she noted in her blog, “Flux is basically the rate of greenhouse gas released from a known area over time. Some plants have hollow stems that forge a direct link between soil and atmosphere, which facilitates the movement of methane that is produced in soil to the atmosphere. Methane gas contributes strongly to climate change and global warming, though it is often not considered as much as carbon dioxide.” 

Her research over the two weeks entailed spending 10-12 hours a day in the field or, rather, on the tundra followed by a break for dinner and some relaxing time with her fellow student researchers and then concluding with spending more time on her own analyzing the research and preparing for the next day. 

After their time at the Arctic tundra, the Polaris Project students spent two weeks at the Woods Hole Research Center compiling and analyzing the results of their research projects. 

Ani’s research revealed that burned areas produce more plant-mediated flux than unburned areas. She will be presenting the results of her project at the American Geophysical Conference in San Francisco in December. 

Ani’s summer discoveries extended well beyond the realm of plant-mediated flux. She learned about herself and her possible career and her place in the world. She was, put simply, transformed. “I re-energized my love of learning. Too often in school I’d been driven by grades. In Alaska, I had the freedom to explore without worrying about grades or making mistakes. I learned to ask questions. I worked harder than I’d ever work before because I loved doing what I was doing. I was so happy that I felt like a kid, but I became an adult.” 

Ani being Ani, she’s got clear plans for the future. A straight-A student, she’ll be studying in Bhutan in the spring. She hopes to return to the Arctic tundra in the future. 

Her excellent Bowdoin background (straight A’s while majoring in Biology and minoring in Earth and Oceanographic Science) position her well to pursue a PhD degree in Earth Science after graduation. Ultimately, she wants to be engaged in significant research related to the environment and, 

just as important, communicating her findings to the wider world. 

Ani Williams will go far in life, and it will be fascinating to watch her trajectory. For now, though, people at any age can learn from the lessons that transformed Ani, herself, in the Arctic tundra. Get off the web and outside your comfort zone. Savor the beauty of nature – far away and right in your own back yard. Ask good questions about the things that are important not just to you but to the world. Thanks, Ani Williams, for opening our eyes to what really matters. 

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” column. dtreadw575@aol.com.