"So, what the hell are you doing in Finland?"

On the relative eve of such an amazing time in our history as the 200th anniversary of the births of both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln (two of my favorite people, born on the same day - February 12, 1809 - mind you) and in light of my own birthday (February 2nd - mark your calendars!) AND the inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama, who may do wonders for Science in America, I felt it fitting to talk about evolution.

Yes, for the two of you who may be sincerely interested, I thought I would give a brief description of what it is that has brought me (us) to Scandanavia - my research.

I have begun my research in Evolutionary Genetics with the goal of getting a PhD in 3 short, busy years. I was selected along with eight other early stage researchers (ESRs) from across Europe and Asia under a Marie Curie grant, funded by the EU, to study the process of speciation. I am the only American in the group.

http://speciation.group.shef.ac.uk/itn/

Speciation is the process by which new species are formed. Typically, it involves some sort of barrier to gene flow - usually a geographical one - that allows two or more populations of a single species to diverge genetically as they evolve in habitats that differ ecologically. Different local ecologies means different selective pressures ("natural selection") and, thus, different local adaptations for each group. For instance, one population may be exposed to different predators, temperatures, or host plants (as is often the case in insects) than the other. This means that the two populations will evolve and adapt to the specific challenges they face.

You can also think about the African ancestor to modern humans, separated from other similar populations (which would become our ape relatives) by ecology (i.e., "apes" in the forest, "humans" on the savannah) or by sheer distance, as the human predecessors began to move out of Africa an inhabit every (expletive!) inch of the globe. (I read recently that the population size of our ancestors before leaving Africa was a mere 5,000 strong.)

Along with adaptation by natural selection, different mutations accumulate and genetic drift progresses in a different fashion in each population. With enough time - usually millions of years - substantial genetic differences build up until, at some point, the two populations are so far different from one another that they can no longer interbreed; this is the prerequisite for species formation and existence, according to the biological species concept, or BSC. The BSC defines a species as a group of interbreeding individuals which are fertile among themselves, but not with any other groups. (What about lions and tigers, right?)

Whereas my Master's work was on two desert Drosophila species, my work in Finland will focus on the boreal "fruit fly", Drosophila montana. This species has adapted to live in the cold of the northern latitudes and can be found near the arctic circle, close to 66ºN latitude, where temperatures can dip down to -50ºC. That's -58ºF - pretty amazing for an insect! It's range extends across the northern hemisphere throughout Europe, Asia, and North America and it is generally associated with water - beaver dams in particular. Populations in our lab include flies from Finland, Canada, and high elevation sites in Colorado.



These flies overwinter as adults. This means the few short months of warmth that they experience are vital to their survival. During the warmest parts of the year, adult flies emerge from "hibernation" (called "diapause" in insects) and look for mates. Mating season is short, typically only a few weeks, and the rest of the warm season is time enough for the larvae (maggots, you might call them) to feed, grow, form a pupal case, and emerge as winged adults. There is usually only one generation per year, which means the newly emerged adult flies that survive to see the onset of winter must go dormant and wait until the following spring to find a mate.

In the first phase of my research, I will be looking to see if sexual isolation has arisen between populations from Oulanka, Finland (in the north) and those from Vancouver, BC. In other words, are these populations in the early stages of speciation? I will run mating trials where mature, adult flies of each population will be allowed to choose between their own and foreign members of the opposite sex. If mating is non-random (in other words, if they choose their own type over members of the other populations) then it is an indication that they are indeed diverging and possibly becoming new species. The small amount of work that has been done already in our lab suggests that they are not sexually isolated, however, all mating trials performed up to this point have been "no-choice" by design. In other words females (who generally do the choosing in Drosophilids) are confined with either a similar or a foreign male, and then scored as to whether copulation (mating) occurs.

So a guy walks into a bar...and there's only one girl there. (Who do YOU think he'll choose?)

I should start my experiments within the next month or so and I am looking forward to the work. I will also do some genetic work with microsatellites to determine if female flies who have been multiply inseminated can "choose" whose sperm they use to produce offspring, and whether there is a connection between chromosomal inversions and sexual isolation (I can see your hand wafting over your head now).



One great thing about this study is that it will include fieldwork. As I learned at the University of Arkansas under the direction of Dave Stahle climbing ancient bald cypress in the swamps of south Arkansas and Bill Etges in the Sonoran desert collecting flies for my Master's work, fieldwork is one of my favorite things. Now, instead of going into pristine, undisturbed landscapes in search of old-growth trees and cactophilic fruit flies, I'll be going into pristine, undisturbed landscapes in the warm boreal spring in search of beaver dams and Drosophila montana, although I'm sure I'll pay plenty of attention to the trees too...

Onward,

Jackson

Here Comes the Sun

I've been told by a number of Finns that the winter can be depressing (really?). Apparently, when spring comes and the days get longer, people's moods noticeably change. Yesterday (Saturday) there was not a cloud in the sky. This was perfect, since we had plans to walk about 6 km across town to the home of one of my professors, so that our girls could play. Emily has two daughters: Evy, 5 and Lily, 3. The kids laughed and played and Janee and I got some actual human interaction and a taste of culture. Dr. Knott, who is a professor/researcher at the University, is originally from Alabama. She has been in Jyvaskyla for 8 years. By her accent now, one would think she was Finnish. Her drawl is long gone. She married a Finn, Ilare (pronounced like "Hillary" without the "H"), and has a beautiful home and family. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I made out with 12 CDs from their collection which inlcluded 4 Wilco CDs, Liz Phair, Rusted Root, and a Mexican band called "Ozomatli", among others. We took a break at McDonald's near Seppala to get some food and warmth on the way and had a great day in the sun, although the shadows remain long.
























Then today, during Edith's nap (about noon) Lillian and I went exploring (consequently, Janee got some well deserved "alone" time). About 1/2 km from our apartment is a trail leading of into the forest, mostly conifer and birch. The trail runs through the "wilderness" adjacent to the University and University apartments. Huge moss covered boulders, clearings under the pines and glistening frozen streams typify the the woods here. We walked for maybe 45 minutes, eventually arriving at the front door of my department at the University. We used the restroom, had some blueberry tea and Lily drew me some Tyrannosaurs for my office wall. On the way back home, we walked across the lake, where the Sunday crowd was out and about, ice skating and enjoying the day.

The days are growing noticeably longer, although it has been cold. We've had highs between -1 and -10 celcius for the past week or so. Yesterday morning it was -21 degrees Celcius! If the wind stays down, the days are definitely bearable, even enjoyable (and the sun doesn't hurt either).

Tervesin,

jackson

A Taste of Nostaglia

Frugality has been a way of life for us for what seems like forever. There is good and bad in the practice as the impulses to run and buy a half case of delicious beer are, unfortunately, kept to a minimum. At least this way of life has allowed us not to clutter our surroundings with all too many unnecessary things.

When we arrived in Finland, we found out that Jackson will not get paid until the end of the month - ouch! So we had to make our travel allowance not only stretch through our initial journey here, but carry us until the last week in January - food and all. This was such a funny thing for us to digest. Here we are, moving half way around the globe in efforts to not only secure our future financially by continuing Jackson's education, but to live a reasonably more lavish daily life (oh, and the living abroad experience is not too bad either). Not three days into our trip we find that we are yet still floating in the same boat that we thought we had abandoned. Isn't this how it works. Lesson learned. But darn it, we WILL be enjoying the luxuries of eating out and vacationing once Jackson begins getting a regular pay check. We are ready!

So our trips to the grocery store are with one thing in mind - economics. What can we buy that will satiate us and not break our wallet? I am happy to say that our creativity in making meals has been above par. The food we have enjoyed has been absolutely delicious! I am certain a part of that has to do with how much exercise we are getting daily. I told a friend of mine the other day, feeding the family lately is like feeding a pack of hungry wolves! Seems every time I turn around, Lillian is saying, "Momma, I'm hungry." You always love hearing those words from your child. When they eat and eat well, it gives a mom such a deep feeling of satisfaction. But I tell you, I am growing tired of my seemingly constant presence in the kitchen.

This entry is dedicated to my mom. I have realized that the meals we have been eating for the past few weeks are meals that I enjoyed as a small lady when my parents were living under conditions that forced them to fix food that was inexpensive yet healthy and appealing to Jess and I. Mom, our breakfast rice with milk, butter, and sugar has been yummy! We don't have cinnamon so I can't make us the cinnamon toast that you used to make but we are still enjoying the rice with toast, buttered and jellied. The egg sandwiches on toasted bread with ketchup is a favorite of ours, especially for Lily and I. Cornflakes with bananas and honey takes me right back to our kitchen table, sitting with you in the morning. Grilled cheese and canned pears for lunch. Homemade macaroni and cheese. Boiled eggs. Butter and honey sandwiches. I have decided that all we need now to make this a complete childhood experience for me is Coco-Wheats! I would just melt.

We are all healthy and happy. Today is colder than it has been the past four or five days. It has been warmer here than it has been in Arkansas, believe it or not! The snow has all melted away and the city is looking gray. This place looks a lot prettier with white covering its surface. I ran into a friend of ours, Mikko, yesterday. He said that he hates this warm weather and is ready for the snow to come back. I think all the Finns are wishing the same thing - the colder and whiter, the better.

I took the girls to the public library yesterday. Lillian and I both got our very own library cards. Lily got to sign hers on the back which was a highlight of my day. I am sure that thing will be in my wallet until I am an octogenarian. So great. We spent about an hour in the children's section, managed to find the small selection of books and music in English, looked at all the wonderful art and photographs they have from around the world, and then checked out about 15 books. I let Lillian go a bit crazy. After all, overindulgence at the library has never been discouraged! Last night Jackson read her, "The Book about Moomin, Mymble, and Little My," by Tove Jansson, the late, well known Finnish author and artist.

Today our place gets cleaned and momma is happy. I have never had a cleaning service; this is a first for me (a complimentary service from the university). Clean toilet, clean shower, clean floors(!), clean bedsheets, with no effort on my part. I think I can get used to this.

I am taking the girls to a coffee shop up the road while the ladies are here. We will be warm, enjoy a pastry, and come home to a clean house. Ahhh.

Sending love to all of you.
We miss you so.
Janee

You Only Live Once

So this entry is a bit dated - I wrote it nearly two weeks ago - but I think it sums up our trip quite nicely.

:) jackson

If you really want to test a marriage, try traveling to Finland. Go to Jyvaskyla with your dear wife (or husband) and two little girls, 5 and 1 ½ years old. Be sure to have your first flight out of Tulsa to Chicago canceled so you get rerouted through Denver and miss your flight from Chicago to Copenhagen so you are forced to spend the night at the Wyndham O'Hare in Chicago. Then wake up early to get your tickets reissued so that you are switched to Lufthansa (a great airline I should add) and go through Frankfurt, Germany on the way to Helsinki. Be sure to check in an exorbitant amount of baggage and carry the maximum number of carry-on bags possible – one of which should be packed so tightly that you are asked to rearrange your things to decrease its size before you board one of your flights. Also, get separated at the Helsinki airport so that your wife (or husband) has to be paged and sought by an airport employee in order to let her (or him) know that she will need to bring both girls and all carry-ons to the baggage claim area by her- (him) self, since her (his) partner accidentally passed the point of no return into the baggage claim while the rest of his (her) party was asleep at an empty terminal gate. (I simply wanted to locate baggage claim while the girls caught up on some much needed sleep). Pay 60 Euros for a private car, since your baggage is so colossal, and oh, and when leaving Helsinki for Jyvaskyla, find out at the last minute that you are only able to travel by train with luggage that you yourself can carry on. Then go pay 475 Euros for a VW Crafter (a transport van seemingly the size of a small school bus) so that you can arrive in Jyvaskyla one day later than your arrangements had suggested. Did I mention jet lag? There is an eight hour difference between here and home.

As I sigh now and fight off sleep, I sit drinking a premium Estonian lager overlooking the lake that will be the centerpiece of our new home for the next three years of our lives. After all of the traveling, bickering, kids’ crying, and money spent…. it has all been worth it.

I met some colleagues once we made it into town, Laura and Tiina, who provide me with the apartment keys to our temporary flat is on the fifth floor of a clean complex and has large picture windows and a spacious balcony. All the girls are asleep. An unknown blue haze covers this beautifully lit cityscape. Parts of the lake are frozen over, since it’s only December 30th, but by mid-January, the surface will be covered with ice-skaters and other cold connoisseurs.

We have our health, our happiness (usually), and our love for one another. I don’t think it gets any better than this. You only live once, and I want to make my one time a good one. Janee has been testy at times, Lillian has been a trooper, and Edith has remained surprisingly happy and uplifting for the entire trip. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Ice Skates

I took Lillian ice skating after the city had cleared a huge path in the snow on the lake. I loaded her on the sled, new ice skates on feet, and I pulled her across the lake to the clear ice. The evening was gorgeous-a waxing moon, almost full, white snow and black ice.
Lillian did a great job, fell many times, but continued to get right back up on her feet and press on. After a while she discovered that it was much easier to skate in the snow. It was still slick yet gave her a little more grip than the cleared ice. While we were out there, a little boy, no older than 3, got on the ice with his dad. He was pretty good. Kids around here skate so young. I guess Edith will be learning before we know it!

I also documented the girls' shower time here in the flat. I have yet to see a bathtub in Finland-only showers with detachable heads. Lily and Edie are very much missing their bath experience-for those of you who know how much they love a good bath! I am missing it as well. It was always a nice time for me to relax. Now, shower time gets old too quickly and the mess on the floor after wards is really fun to clean up daily. Let's just say we trek water throughout the house. At least the few kitchen utensils that are now being used for bath toys are prolonging their fun in the shower. As soon as we visit home, I know these girls will be in the tub for hours!

The pictures of the girls on the swings and slide were taken right outside our building. There are playgrounds everywhere. On this particular day a fresh layer of snow was just laid the night before so we were making clear paths of new footsteps. Lily's favorite part was eating the snow.

Bye for now,
Janee

The First Snow Day

Today, all day long, huge beautiful flakes fell from the sky. We stayed in doors for the morning. Got a little stir crazy by afternoon so decided to take a walk. We bundled up, which of course includes a complimentary fit from Edith (she just loves her bulky winter wear). We walked to some hills near the part of town we will be moving to at the beginning of February- about 3 km away from where we are living now.

Lillian doesn't know what to do with all of this snow! She eats it, throws it, body slides on it, rolls in it, tries to catch falling flakes in her mouth. We sled down a couple of big hills. Lily, surprisingly and bravely, hops on the sled and zips her way down the first hill without hesitation. The look of her eyes as she goes down these hills is indescribable. We must capture it on film for all to see. She loves it. On our way home we got to see some antique shops that we will be touring once we get settled into our new place to find some good cozy home items. I am very excited about nesting here.

I took my first big trip to the grocery store yesterday. My was it interesting. I went in, iPod in ears, and ended up having to turn the music off to concentrate on all the labels. I thought I was a good at multitasking until this point. The cheese section alone, which is one of the first things you encounter after walking through the doors, is shocking to say the least. It took me a good few minutes to find the cheddar, which I didn't really even want but it was all I could recognize. The excursion was exhausting yet exhilarating. I branched out on a couple of items, one being the salmon we cooked tonight which was delicious. I think each time I go to the store I am going to have to purchase at least one item that I don't know about so I can get a complete Finnish experience. Otherwise I feel I would just be buying the same old stuff.

I have posted a picture of some breakfast items that we have been enjoying. Notice the Rice Krispies in the background- a little taste of home. The coffee here is quite different. It is growing on me. The fruit spread you see in the picture is absolutely delicious!

We ended the day with a yummy meal of salmon, mashed potatoes, eggs and tomatoes, mixed vegetables, and bread. Lily kept saying how this was the best meal she had ever eaten and how we should literally eat this for every dinner from now until we leave. That makes a momma feel good!

Love to you all...
Janee

Alko

In Finland, you can buy beer at the "Siwa" grocery stores, but in order to get alcohol (whiskey, vodka, etc.) you have to go to an "Alko" store. We finally found one yesterday. The price for a fifth of Jack Daniels is about 32 euros (40 bucks or so) but Finnish Vodka (viina) is fairly cheap. I bought a 0.7 L bottle of Suomi (Finnish for "Finland") for about 12 euros. We are working on "finnishing" it now.












The snow is falling hard outside; I've never seen snowflakes so big. There are snowdrifts on our balcony. Today was a Finnish holiday celebrating the end of Christmas time, so most stores are closed and people are generally out enjoying the day. We walked into town and sledded down some hills with the girls on an old worn-out sled that we found on the lake. Lily will be a pro soon.

Every day is an adventure.

Oh, and if you haven't heard "This" - by Brian Eno - you should go ahead and do that. (Thanks Caroline...)

Signing off..... jackson

Reindeer With Red Onions

This afternoon, we had a lovely, traditional Finnish lunch at the Hoikkala residence. The snow fell heavy outside the windows and the menu went something like this:

Reindeer with red onions
Grilled salmon
Fresh cucumber, pineapple, spinach, tomato, and red bell peppers
Wild berry sauce
White mashed potatoes

This was followed by a dessert of raspberry cream "stuff" and coffee and cookies to finish it off - by far the best meal we've had since Christmas in Arkansas. I never thought I would say "could you pass the reindeer please?" Lillian decided quickly that eating Rudolph would not be appropriate. I must say it was delicious!

We learned some Finnish, talked maps and education, and fed their 70 year-old Russian tortoise "Arkiisk" ("Archie") lettuce and bell peppers by hand. The Hoikkalas are convinced that Archie has KGB ties, as he spent 15 or so years in Estonia under a different name.

Things have changed, but basically they stay the same....

:) jackson

The Lake

We stay busy around here, at least when the sun is out!

Next orders of business: ice skates, sleds, and more hot chocolate...

First Days

Wow.

Well, the first few days here have been tough. Not only am I busy with paperwork, bank accounts, Finnish ID numbers, and student issues, but the jet lag has been extreme. And with the sun shining only from about 10:00 to 4:00, it's been tough getting adjusted. On the upside, this place is beautiful. There are about 85,000 people in Jyvaskyla proper and we are now in an apartment that is about a 10 or 15 minute walk from both my host University (http://www.jyu.fi) and the city center. Between us and the city center, there is a large lake that is now frozen, so we simply walk across the ice. Yesterday, a thin layer of snow covered the ice and it feels like walking on clouds. To be on such a huge frozen body of water really is surreal. The girls are adjusting slowly, but all in all, our days have been quite satisfying and exciting. There is no written English in stores, etc. but generally, one can find an English-speaker for help in most situations. People are very reserved, but friendly when they become engaged in conversation.

Lillian and I walked down to the lake before the snow came and slid around on the ice for about an hour. She is having a ball in this winter wonderland. And Edith is growing by leaps and bounds. To spend so much time with her has been great for all of us; it's something that doesn't happen so much back home. We are all growing in lots of ways!

I will likely start working on my dissertation work within a month or so, but my advisor, Dr. Anneli Hoikkala, a Finn, has assured me that there is no rush at this point and the most important things to do are to jump through all the necessary, complicated hoops and to enjoy my family and this place. Tomorrow, she will pick us up around noon to take us to her home, where she and her husband will prepare us lunch.

Life is, of course, much different here than back home. We have our BBC news on TV, so we stay connected, but the excessive commercial advertising is mysteriously lacking - something I don't mind a bit. Bike and walking trails connect every part of the city. People don't lock their bikes up here either. We plan to buy bikes as soon as possible and will likely move across town soon so our rent will be lower and Lily will be closer to a good school. The ski slopes will be minutes away.

This first installment on the first blog I've ever made is introductory, but I will continue writing, even if only occasionally, exploring life here and keeping you up to speed with the lives of these Jenningses.

Tervesin (Regards),

Jackson