Stories from someone just fumbling through
Gull Point is a new wetland complex this year because some of the old complexes are now closed due to nesting swans. My partner and I helped out the other crew on this one and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The day started out with us being dorm-bound due to rain… Continue reading Yellowstone: Gull Point & Utah Dorm Life
Fern Cascade is a notorious nightmare from hell so I was absolutely dreading it and so was my field partner. My 2006 field experience is one I remember like it was yesterday and if I could have those memories erased I sure the heck would. It requires two days of intense off-trail hiking through non-stop… Continue reading Yellowstone: Fern Cascade
A robin made the not-so-brilliant decision to make a nest right above the front door to the dorm. Normally, both female and male robins take part in the child-rearing process. The couple will even stay with their young for a few weeks after fledging to teach them how to survive on their own. Then they either use the same nest or build… Continue reading Yellowstone: My Peeps
Surveying the periphery of Blacktail Pond (aka. Shaky Lakes) is like surveying the moon. It feels very much like you're bopping around on unknown, untested terrain. It takes hours of navigating through quicksand shorelines, animal bones (some sun-bleached and some too fresh for comfort), a bounty of sunning snakes, aggressive nesting birds, thousands of trout fry and… Continue reading Yellowstone: Blacktail Pond
This is another experience that must be shared... Today, I was in the midst of surveying this large wet meadow when to my delight I dipped into this forested alcove and hit the spotted frog tadpole jackpot. I was so engrossed in catching tads that I wasn't paying any attention to my surroundings or to… Continue reading Yellowstone: Tanager Lake
I realize that I'm about 1.5 weeks behind in the whole blogging thang, I've just been so busy trying to bust out this field season before it busts me. Plus, to complicate matters, my computer broke while I'm out here so I'm having to hen-peck these words on my tablet which takes forever and a… Continue reading Yellowstone: Gibbon Meadows
Week two consisted of surveying Blacktail Plateau, Fern Cascade and Gull Point. There were spotted frogs, chorus frogs and lots of salamanders seen and enjoyed. Severe storms just missed us on several occasions until our luck ran out yesterday when we had to postpone our surveys due to rain. I think that worked out for… Continue reading Yellowstone: Blacktail Plateau
If you don't remember the disaster that is Nez Perce, just note that it was by far the worst site of last year that nearly crippled both Andrew and I. It's a 7.5 mile hike each way on flat terrain (a few miles are sandy so imagine hiking in sand all geared up) and two to… Continue reading Yellowstone: Nez Perce off the Mary Mountain Trail
Well, having completed my first week of the 2014 field season, I can say that it's started out in a very unexpected way. First, I swiftly came down with a pretty severe head cold about a week ago, which has seemingly reinvigorated itself today. I think it was a combination of the dust in the… Continue reading Yellowstone: Week 1
Hold on to your hats, kiddos! This is a long one! I was always really interested in risk assessment in grad school. I even wrote a paper on it soon after Hurricane Katrina because I was interested in why-- in the face of massive destruction, environmental pollution, lack of infrastructure, and an increase in violent… Continue reading Yellowstone: Risk Assessment
The Unmaker 