Lindsay Knippenberg

September 8, 2011April 28, 2021

Lindsay Knippenberg: I Made It! September 3, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Lindsay Knippenberg
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
September 4 – 16, 2011

Mission: Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS)
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: September 3, 2011

Weather/Location Data for Unalaska, AK
Latitude: 53°54’0”N
Longitude: 166° 32′ 36″ W
Wind Speed: Calm
Air Temperature: mid 50’s°F

Personal Log

It was a long day of traveling. I flew from Washington DC to Seattle to Anchorage to Cold Bay to Dutch Harbor.

Whew…I made it to Unalaska. After an entire day of sitting on airplanes and running through airport terminals, I am finally here. I can’t believe how beautiful it is here. The surrounding mountains are a stunning green color and there have even been some sightings of blue sky between the normal grey clouds. I am also amazed at how warm it is. It almost got up to 60°F today, but I was told that the weather can change here pretty quickly. We have already heard of bad weather coming our way next week. The National Weather Service issued a Gale Warning with predictions of wind gusts of up to 50 knots and waves above 20 feet. I had better take my seasickness medications.

We don’t ship out until tomorrow, so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and explore Unalaska. Unalaska is much bigger than I thought that it would be. It is a major international fishing port and is one of the larger cities in Alaska with about 4,000 residents. Life in Unalaska revolves around fishing. Most residents are either commercial fishermen, work in the processing facilities, support the fishermen through stores and other services, or work in the ship yards where the seafood is shipped to all parts of the world. The name of the harbor where all of this is going on might be familiar to you. It is called Dutch Harbor and is where the show “Deadliest Catch” is filmed about the commercial crab fishermen. Crab is not the only type of commercial seafood coming out of Dutch Harbor. Pollock, Cod, Halibut, Rock Sole, and Mackerel are just a few of the other commercial fisheries in Dutch Harbor.

A World War II bunker on top of Bunker Hill in Unalaska (Photo Credit: Jillian Worssam).

For those of you interested in history, Dutch Harbor also has historical significance from World War II. Dutch Harbor was the only land in North America, besides Pearl Harbor, that was bombed by Japanese Zeros during World War II. In our exploring around the island today, we saw evidence of Armed Forces’ bunkers, Quonset huts, and barracks still visible amongst the green hills of Unalaska. The National Park System opened a WWII National Historic Area and Visitor Center in 2002 in Unalaska and I hope to have time to visit it either before or after my cruise.

Enjoying the beach at Summer Bay in Humpy Cove. In 1997 this was the site of a 47,000 gallon oil spill. — Enjoying the beach at Summer Bay in Humpy Cove. In 1997 this was the site of a 47,000 gallon oil spill

What’s the best place to go on a beautiful, sunny day in Unalaska? The beach, of course. We didn’t go to the beach to get sun tans or to go for a swim. We went to check out the tide pools. I love tide pools! It is amazing how resilient the little creatures are that live in the tide pools. When the tide is in they are completely submerged under water and then six hours later they are above the water level when the tide goes out. To make life even harder, they are also smashed by huge waves crashing on them as the tide goes in and out. It is a tough life, but there was such a diversity of life that they must be pretty tough and have some helpful adaptations. As I explored amongst the rocks, I found sea anemones, barnacles, mussels, and lots of different types of seaweeds. On our way back to the van, we also found a stream leading back to a brackish lake and the salmon were running. They are amazing creatures to watch too. The amount of energy that they exert and the sacrifice that they make to reproduce is incredible.

I am now a member of the female dominated science team onboard the Oscar Dyson.

Unfortunately we couldn’t spend our entire day exploring. The plan for the rest of the day is to get settled onboard the Dyson, have a science team meeting to discuss the science that we will be doing and the logistics associated with the different stations and sample sites, and have a safety meeting with the crew of Dyson to discuss life onboard the ship and emergency situations. I am so excited to go out to sea tomorrow and actually start fishing.

August 29, 2011April 28, 2021

Lindsay Knippenberg: An Introduction, August 28, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Lindsay Knippenberg
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
September 4 – 16, 2011

Mission: Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS)
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: August 28, 2011

Posing with the Albert Einstein statue on my first day as an Einstein Fellow in Washington DC. — Posing with the Albert Einstein statue on my first day as an Einstein Fellow in Washington DC

Before I begin my adventure, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Lindsay Knippenberg and I am currently an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington, D.C. You might be asking yourself, what is an Einstein Fellow? The Einstein Fellowship is a year-long professional development opportunity for K-12 teachers who teach science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Around 30 educators are placed within the federal government each year and our job is to inform our agency or office on matters related to education. Last year fellows were placed at the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy, Department of Education, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and some fellows were even placed within the offices of U.S. senators. To learn more about what I have been working on as an Einstein Fellow check out the video below, or you can go to the NOAA Education website to view some of the resource collections that my office has made for educators this year.

My Freshmen even have energy during 1st Hour.

Before I came to Washington, D.C., I was a high school science teacher in St. Clair Shores, MI. At South Lake High School I taught Biology, Environmental Science, and Aquatic Biology. As a teacher, one of my goals was to get my students to take risks and make goals that take them beyond the city bus lines. Through my previous teacher research experience as a PolarTREC teacher in Antarctica, moving to Washington, D.C. for a year-long fellowship, and now traveling to Alaska to board a ship for the Bering Sea I hope to show my students that you can challenge yourself and step outside of your comfort zones and get big rewards. I am very excited to join the crew aboard the Oscar Dyson to learn about the science that is conducted on board a NOAA vessel and the careers that are available to my students through NOAA.

The Oscar Dyson will be my home for 12 days — The Oscar Dyson will be my home for 13 days

So where am I going and what will I be doing? On Friday I will be leaving hot and humid Washington, D.C. for cool and breezy Dutch Harbor, Alaska. In Dutch Harbor I will board the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson. The Oscar Dyson is one of NOAA’s newer vessels and is one of the most technologically advanced fisheries survey vessels in the world. As a NOAA Teacher at Sea I will have the responsibility of learning about the science that is done onboard the ship, helping the variety of scientists that are onboard with their research projects, and then communicating what I learned through a blog and classroom lesson plans. The main research project that many of the scientists will be working on is called the Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS).

Chum Salmon and Walleye Pollock are two fish species that I will be seeing a lot of.

The BASIS survey was designed to improve our understanding of salmon ecology in the Bering Sea. We will be sampling the fish and the water in the Southeastern Bering Sea to better understand the community of fish, invertebrates, and other organisms that live there and the resources available to them. The survey has been divided up into two legs. The first leg is from August 19 – September 1 and Teacher at Sea, KC Sullivan, is onboard blogging about his experience. To learn more about BASIS and what lies ahead for me check out his blog. I will be sailing on the second leg of the “cruise” from September 4 – 16 and as a Teacher at Sea I will also be blogging about my experiences. I am very excited about lies ahead for me and I hope that you will follow my adventures as a NOAA Teacher at Sea.

May 7, 2011April 28, 2021

Lindsay Knippenberg: Hurricane Awareness Tour, May 5-6, 2011

NOAA Teacher in the Air
Lindsay Knippenberg
Aboard NOAA Aircraft Kermit
May 5 – 6, 2011

My adventure with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters started bright and early in Savannah, Georgia. I met the crew in the hotel lobby before the sun had even begun to rise and we were off to the airport. The crew of the aircraft were Aircraft Commander Carl Newman, Co-Pilot Cathy Martin, Flight Engineer Dewie Floyd, Crew Chief Wes Crouch, Flight Director Barry Damiano, Program Manager Jim McFadden, and Technicians Bill Olney and Todd Richards. Once we got to the airport the crew immediately got to work preparing our aircraft, a Lockheed WP-3D Orion, for departure.

Our Transportation for the Day — The Hurricane Hunter aircraft is a Lockheed WP-3D Orion

kermit — NOAA has two WP-3D's. We would be flying on Kermit today. The other plane is named Miss Piggy and is currently in Fairbanks, AK.

While they were working, Barry gave me a safety briefing and showed me where I would sit, how to put on my seat belt, and what to do in case of an emergency. During our preparations the rest of the passengers arrived. Besides myself, several people from the National Hurricane Center, and Rick Knabb from the Weather Channel would be accompanying us on our flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Once the crew had gone through their pre-flight checklists, we all gathered for a pre-brief. The Commander went over the flight plan and the flight director briefed us on the weather that we would encounter on our flight.

Everything looked good and we were ready to take off. I was so excited for takeoff. I have flown in airplanes before, but for this flight I would get to see what happens in the cockpit. I got to sit in the chief scientist’s seat and it was pretty amazing. I put on my headset so that I could hear the pilots communicate with each other and the tower.

It was amazing how many buttons and switches there were and how the pilots knew what each one did. When it was our turn to take off the propellers got louder and we raced down the runway until we lifted off the ground.

My favorite part was when we went through the clouds. It was surreal to watch them get closer and closer and then we cut through them effortlessly.

Our flight to Fort Lauderdale was just over an hour long and we flew along the Atlantic coastline. It was cloudy for the majority of the flight, so we didn’t see too much, but the clouds did open up as we flew over Cape Canaveral and we saw the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building and the shuttle landing strip.

VAB — The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral. The landing strip for the shuttles is also in the picture in the bottom right corner.

Watching the landing from the cockpit was also pretty cool. The plane lined up with the landing strip and we got closer and closer until we gently touched down.

As we pulled up to the tarmac we could see everyone waiting for us. Several emergency response professionals, local National Weather Service employees, and volunteers would be helping out with the Hurricane Awareness Tour today. Together we would educate school groups, the media, and the public on hurricanes, how they are studied, and what to do in the event of a hurricane.

firetruck — A firefighter telling students about his job during a hurricane and how they can prepare for hurricanes at home.

Our morning started out with over 500 students from 13 schools. My job was to talk to the students about the instruments on the outside of the plane while they waited for their turn to tour the inside of the plane. The students were a lot of fun and they had some really good questions and observations about what they saw on the outside of the plane.

kidsoutside — I got to teach the students about the outside of the plane before they went inside.

The students liked the stickers on the outside of the plane showing the hurricanes that the plane had flown through and the countries that it had visited.

Are those torpedoes? No, they are cloud physics probes that image individual cloud particles by using lasers (much cooler).

bellyradar — What is attached to the belly of the plane? It's a C-Band lower fuselage radar

In the afternoon we opened up the tours to the public. A long line formed and we slowly made sure that everyone got to see the inside of the plane. There were people of all ages and they were all very excited to see the plane and learn about hurricanes. I helped the meteorologists from the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center answer questions from the people waiting in line. I’m definitely not a hurricane expert, but after listening to the meteorologists all day I was beginning to feel like one.

vets — It was very rewarding for the crew to give tours of the plane to war veterans.

After everyone had seen the plane, the crew began to prepare the aircraft for the trip home. The crew had been to four different cities over the past week on the Hurricane Awareness Tour and they were ready to go home and see their families and get some much-needed rest.

MICrew — Two of the crew members were even from my home state of Michigan.

Kathy — The co-pilot, Cathy Martin, and I. It was an inspiration for many of the students to see a woman hurricane hunter pilot.

For the flight home I got to sit in the navigator’s seat. It wasn’t as exciting as sitting in the cockpit, but it was cool to be able to see our course and watch our changes in altitude. The flight home was pretty amazing because we flew below the clouds at 4,000ft. I had never seen the Everglades before and it was incredible to see them that closely. It took us about an hour to get to MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, FL where NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center is located.

When we landed, we unloaded our gear and put the plane to bed in the hanger. I really liked the hanger because there were several NOAA planes that are used for a variety of different observations and projects.

AOC Flag — The NOAA flag hanging in Hangar 5 at MacDill AFB. Home to NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center (AOC).

It was a very long day and when I finally made it to my hotel that night, I collapsed. It was an awesome day and I was so appreciative of the commander and crew of the hurricane hunter for welcoming me onto their aircraft and teaching me about hurricanes and about what they do.