Riffenburg Teacher's Arctic Tales

Riffenburgh teacher part of research team in Greenland

A Riffenburgh Elementary teacher recently returned from a 10-day trip to Greenland where he studied microorganisms and how changes in their communities may relate to global warming.

“We took soil samples and surveyed the micro organisms in the soil,” said Bob Faris, fifth-grade teacher. “We are looking at how the changing earth may affect the soil and the micro organisms in the soil.”

Faris Part of 5-Member Team that Traveled 800 Miles North of Arctic to do Research

 Faris was part of a five-member team from Colorado State University that recently traveled to the northern coast of Greenland, located 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle, to study the soil and survey microorganism life in low-carbon environments. Faris’ participation on the trip was made possible through the Research Experience for Teachers program, as a part of the National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 education (NSF GK-12) program.

Families Will Hear About Greenland Adventure Nov. 10

Faris will give a presentation about his Greenland research experience during a Family Science Night at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Riffenburgh, 1320 E. Stuart. The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

During the trip, Faris, who has been a part of the NSF GK-12 program for three years, enjoyed putting into action the protocols and what they’ve learned over the years. Now, he’s looking forward to analyzing the data they collected.

“We will be using the data collected from the high arctic, as well as the data from the lower arctic in northern Alaska, to look at how our changing earth has an effect on the micro organisms in our soils,” he said.

Faris said the vastness of Greenland and seeing the large landscapes were one of the best parts of the trip.

“I also enjoyed coming to grips with working in the cold where -10 was normal and a zero degree day felt warm,” he said.

While on his trip, Faris kept a daily blog about his trip (http://arcticroadrunner.blogspot.com). The blog gave his fifth-grade students at Riffenburgh the opportunity to follow along with his adventures. Students also asked him questions and communicated with him by e-mail.