Sponsor a Nest Site Help save black guillemots nestlings and allow George and the Friends of Cooper Island to continue this long-term
research. Find out more.
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COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — While at lower latitudes seasonal transitions occur slowly with weeks or months between what one considers winter and summer conditions, in the Arctic this transition is abrupt — taking only a few days. The mainland tundra and offshore islands can be snow-covered one day and then virtually snow-free the next with [...]
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George and Penelope get their first view of Cooper Island from the air.
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — While the start of every field season is always an exciting (and frequently stressful) time, this year the start of the Cooper Island field season had more excitement than most. Preparations began earlier than normal as March and [...]
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Posted by Penelope Chilton
In Barrow, Penelope stands next to "palm trees" made of baleen whale teeth.
George and I arrived in Barrow, Alaska, seven days ago and luckily for me due to some permitting issues and a head cold we were delayed in Barrow for a few extra days. The delay gave me a chance [...]
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Posted by Lori
Here’s your chance to get involved in the work being done on Cooper Island:
Friends of Cooper Island is initiating a “Nest-Site Sponsorship” program to help pay for nest replacement and our ongoing research on Arctic seabirds. A minimum $100 tax-deductible donation will sponsor a nest site for one year and bring you (or [...]
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Posted by Lori
George is back from Cooper Island (for now) after having delivered 150 plastic cases to the island for use as new guillemot nest sites. (More information about these cases and how you can sponsor a nest site coming soon.) George will be returning to Cooper Island in May and will stay for 3 [...]
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Posted by Lori
George has left for Cooper Island on a short trip to get ready for the season that will begin in May. He’s a little swamped right now, so I’ll be posting updates to kick things off.
George left his home in Seattle for Barrow, Alaska, the first stop on the way to Cooper Island. [...]
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Here’s a short trailer of Greenland, a play about climate change. If you missed the full story take a look at An Interview with the writer of Greenland, The BBC: Climate change and art, and Watching the world melt away on the London stage.
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Shouting warming in a crowded theater
London, England, March 14, 2011 — Working in a rapidly changing environment for over 35 years has provided me with a number of “I never thought I would see this!” moments, especially in the last decade. Spending my summers on an island at the northern edge of Alaska since 1975 has [...]
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Posted by Lori
The BBC takes a look at the play Greenland and talks to the individuals involved in its creation.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
For more BBC podcasts about the environmental, development and agriculture, dealing with the impact of humankind on the natural world visit BBC One Planet.
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Guillemot Chicks
Dec. 28, 2010 — We want to wish our friends a happy holiday season and thank you for your support and interest over the past year. 2011 promises to be a busy and exciting time for us as we hope to replace most of the wooden nest sites on Cooper Island with [...]
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Sponsor a Black Guillemot Nest Site Help save black guillemot nestlings and allow us to continue our long-term research. Find out how.
Meet George 
For nearly 40 years Dr. George Divoky has traveled to remote Cooper Island in the Arctic. Braving the elements and the occasional polar bear, his mission is to study the Black Guillemots — research which is contributing to the understanding of climate change on wildlife in Arctic.
Audio Slide Show: Interview with George
Meet Penelope 
Penelope, originally from the landlocked state of Utah, somehow found her way to the Pacific coast and the unlikely world of seabird research. Her interest in seabirds began during her yearlong stint as a janitor at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Penelope graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Environmental Science and Resource Management and she has worked for the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) project. During her time at COASST she also worked for the Friends of Cooper Island, seeing the numerical changes of the Arctic as she entered over 30 years of George Divoky’s data into Excel Spreadsheets.
In October of 2010 she made her way back to Antarctica, this time she left her mop and bucket behind, and worked as a Field Technician on a long-term penguin monitoring study. Currently she is working for Friends of Cooper Island and will, for the first time, be on Cooper Island putting in Polar Bear proof nest boxes and banding adult breeding birds.
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