---Summer 1994 in Nome, Alaska !---
Rommel Zulueta, being of sound, mind, and techno-nerd parts. This dude was in
charge of the day-to-day operations on and off the Pink Palace. Rommel was given
the charge of all of us charges in almost all aspects of the summer internship, and
despite all the seriousness of Carbon Flux and Photosynthetic Readings, he still
managed to keep a good sense of humor. Unfortunately for some of us, he was just
too humorous a guy when we went to Nome, and got me drunk more than usual !
Fritz Wohlwend was our trusty helicopter pilot. Almost all of the operations
and hops we took for flux readings and the diurnals were sent by this gentleman, who
earned every sense of the title. He used to be a pilot for the Army, and showed us
a thing or two about excellent 2-skid-point landings. While we got through 24-hour
readings, he was always preparing to bring us back to the ol' Palace.
Kelly [Mann], of which we know has already tied the knot, was the 5'10" amazon
woman in the tundra. She really sent some of us into Pink Floyd-land, and was the
major supporter of the Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffet, and a bunch of other 60s bands.
Rather the professional party-organizer, we had a crazy time storming into Nome and
staying up into the "night" because of her soirée initiatives.
Hélène [Migault] was the stick-to-it-iveness French woman of the trip. Often
times, when we needed someone to tow the line, Hélène was coming from the back and
leading the charge ! Besides myself, Hélène was one of the only persons that did NOT
get sick. She acted as our broadcaster to the outside world, and also spurred me into
looking towards Computer Science, since she was always working the Powerbooks !
Me, a fairly advanced and intelligent Russian want-to-be. I came on this trip
as a result of some other friend going to Kodiak the summer before. Was it something
to be proud of ? YES on the adventure level, and NO on the mosquito nets, Deet 100%,
lost Pilot Bread, and numerous bric-a-brac unbelieveables. Let's say I go back
again...would it be for Nursing or Systems Administration ?!! (Ho Ho)
Steve Holsenback was quite the gifted character of the party. Sometimes, at
the start, when we'd need a self-propelling guy, Steve led the way for many different
experiences, like the Helo school, the generators and the water tub retrievals. In
the later stages of the research, he joined lips with Jen, and our group was polarized
from then on. In retrospect, though we gave them a hard time with their lip-locking,
we definitely learned the advantages and disadvantages of office politics/romance, and
that relationships in the field don't necessarily result in team harmony.
Jennifer Smith takes the prize as Miss Photogenic ! Apart from this rather
extraordinary picturesque individual, Jennifer also showed us how flexible and
karate-skilled she was, impressing us judges on her gymnastic routines. Jennifer
shacked up with Steve in our research expedition, and sometimes caused us to
compromise trips to Nome and the diurnal assignments. Although sometimes aggravating
my train of thought, Jennifer was actually a real pleasure to work with when we had
to "sweat" through stormy weather.
Dave Clarke, the other team leader like Rommel Zulueta, was also teaching my
class in Mesa. I often called him Mr. Clarke and a host of other formal names which
made him annoyed (heh). Perhaps he was the first acquaintance (and my ex-Bio teacher)
that regarded me as standing on an equal, first-name basis, the likes of which I would
not know until then. Heh, I'm sure Dave thought himself as old every time I called him
Mr. Clarke ! Otherwise, Dave was just as skilled in Nome "nightlife" as Rommel was,
and was also a very good pool shark.
The rest of the pictures
Last updated: Wednesday, 08/01/18 @ 1609 Hrs