NORMAN WELLS - Lead by Glen Guthrie, the Bosworth Creek monitoring project team recently braved -30C conditions to do some winter field work.

Each team member is a student at Mackenzie Mountain school in Norman Wells.

Braving -30C conditions around Norman Wells, Yvonne Meulenbroek and Nate Gregory stay bundled up during their winter field work. - photo courtesy of Glen Guthrie

"It's a big project," said Guthrie, adding it began more than a year ago.

"By the time they're done, they will have completed the equivalent of a university-level thesis."

All four of the students are focusing their efforts on different aspects of the project as they study the evolution of the creek since the removal of a weir from the water.

Nate Gregory is studying benthic invertebrates. Nigel Gregory is looking at physical geography and meteorology.

Yvonne Meulenbroek is the team leader and is responsible for fish, while her brother Mark Meulenbroek is responsible for soil and water chemistry and site mapping.

Yvonne and Nate are also in charge of terrestrial bugs and spiders.

In addition the team is investigating the vegetation of the Bosworth Creek habitat.

After the most recent trip out to the site, the students learned first-hand that there are some down sides to being research biologists in the North.

"We had collected some mud and samples from the creek and brought them back to my home office," explained Guthrie.

The mud and water were sitting in a bucket in the corner of the room when one of the students noticed several critters that hadn't been there before now wriggling about in the water.

"It was full of mosquito larvae that woke up because the mud was getting warm indoors," he said.

"I almost ended up with a house full of mosquitos in the middle of winter."