Dear Subscriber,
As this shortest month of the year winds down, many of us at the Sitka Sound Science Center can't help but think of where we were a year ago. In many ways, February of 2020 was the last time our world was "normal". We had just reopened the aquarium after some remodeling; our education programs were in full swing; our research team was preparing to receive visiting scientists and were planning for summer research work. Who could have predicted that in a few short weeks everything would change and, for a while at least, come to a standstill?
In many ways, the scientific world has exploded in the last 12 months. Doctors and researchers were faced with something beyond comprehension. And they rose to meet those challenges. Every day, we gain a better understanding of the virus that changed everything. In record time, a vaccine was created and distribution of said vaccine has begun. In Sitka, and Alaska in general, we have had a large percentage of the population vaccinated, which is one big step on the road towards our new "normal".
And, in the midst of all of this, climate scientists have been working hard to study climate change, geologists are still working to understand landslides and how to predict them, and fishery biologists are still working towards better understanding of our aquatic planet, all while having to navigate this new, contactless world we find ourselves in. All in all, we have seen some big wins for science.
Click here to read more about the science happening in our little slice of the world.
|
|
