Arctic Investigations: Exploring the Frozen Ocean by Karen Romano Young

The ocean, R.V. (research vessel) ships, parking lots full of giant orange buoys, offices full of weird looking instruments and maps in rainbow shades, tanks holding starfish and tiny crustaceans, computer programs showing possible future climates for the world should the Arctic ice melt, a gorgeous cliffy road with a lighthouse, and a bakery so good it’s called Pie in the Sky -- that’s Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where I went to interview the scientists who are in this book. All of this would have been great even without people -- but add the people, and, well, let me give you a few examples:

• There’s Keith von der Heydt, whose tent was invaded by a polar bear, and who tracked the bear back to its den to find out more about it. That’s just one of his escapades.
• There’s Rindy Ostermann, who spends part of her year off Iceland and the other off Oman, tracking microscopic clams that help her detemine what the ocean temperature was thousands of years ago -- as well as just a few days ago.
• There’s Al Plueddemann, who can’t describe his work without using his hands. You couldn’t either; he’s working to figure out what causes ocean waves.
• There’s Carin Ashjian, who got frozen into the white Arctic ice in a big red ship wearing bright yellow clothes, in order to study what lives under the ice all winter long.

Did I get to go the Arctic? Not yet. But I will someday!