22 days until I return to the field. I'm planning on leaving NH on the 16th. Arriving in Sarasota on the 18th, and spending a few days visiting with my grandparents before driving the final hour or so out to Archbold. I will be living in Lynx cabin, which apparently gets wireless. Insane. Luxury. It really does sound plush (which is how Travis, one of the grad students I'll be working with, put it.)And I'll have a mailing address... you can send me fun things at this address. (non-fun things will not be accepted.)
My name (duuh)
Schoech Lab
Archbold Biological Station
123 Main Drive
Venus, FL 33960
And I finally got my Limmers! No more hiking boot failure. Now to just finish breaking them in...
Michelle
January 30, 2008
November 25, 2007
an update
So I had a complaint that my blog needed to be updated.
I haven't been out in the field since I came home from Sheldon, at least not long term. I've been working in the lab of Normandeau Associates, an environmental consultation firm with it's national headquarters in Bedford NH. We did however head out to Hampton NH for about a week to dig for clams in the tidal flats in front of seabrook. It was great to get back out in the field again.
I particularly enjoyed watching the cormorants that liked to gather on the pilings at lunch to dry their wings.
I had been searching for a while for another field job before I was offered a position in Florida on Archbold Biological Station. I'll be a field assistant on a Florida Scrub Jay breeding physiology and nutritional ecology study. So according to the job announcement I'll be "spending time censusing the population, nest-finding and monitoring, and helping with logistical support of the project." According to the grad students who hired me I'll be helping capture birds to take blood samples for DNA as well. I'll be down there for the months of March and April. Then I have one week with which I plan to drive across the country back to SHELDON!
I'm wicked excited to be heading back to Sheldon for another season. This season I'll be there for the full three months, May through the end of July. I'll be based at Badger Cabin and be a nest searcher. I wanted to do something a bit different from point counting. Aaron told me in an e-mail that Matt and Berti are planning on coming back to Badger at this point as well. So that is just an added bonus to the return to the sagebrush.
I'm hoping that when the Sheldon season ends I'll have another field job lined up. If not, or even if I do, and have some time between jobs, I'm planning on taking my time out west, driving around, and seeing what there is to see.
So until I return to the field I'm getting in as much bouldering, skiing, and visiting with friends from home as possible. Because soon enough I'll be off again!
I haven't been out in the field since I came home from Sheldon, at least not long term. I've been working in the lab of Normandeau Associates, an environmental consultation firm with it's national headquarters in Bedford NH. We did however head out to Hampton NH for about a week to dig for clams in the tidal flats in front of seabrook. It was great to get back out in the field again.
I particularly enjoyed watching the cormorants that liked to gather on the pilings at lunch to dry their wings.
I had been searching for a while for another field job before I was offered a position in Florida on Archbold Biological Station. I'll be a field assistant on a Florida Scrub Jay breeding physiology and nutritional ecology study. So according to the job announcement I'll be "spending time censusing the population, nest-finding and monitoring, and helping with logistical support of the project." According to the grad students who hired me I'll be helping capture birds to take blood samples for DNA as well. I'll be down there for the months of March and April. Then I have one week with which I plan to drive across the country back to SHELDON!
I'm wicked excited to be heading back to Sheldon for another season. This season I'll be there for the full three months, May through the end of July. I'll be based at Badger Cabin and be a nest searcher. I wanted to do something a bit different from point counting. Aaron told me in an e-mail that Matt and Berti are planning on coming back to Badger at this point as well. So that is just an added bonus to the return to the sagebrush.
I'm hoping that when the Sheldon season ends I'll have another field job lined up. If not, or even if I do, and have some time between jobs, I'm planning on taking my time out west, driving around, and seeing what there is to see.
So until I return to the field I'm getting in as much bouldering, skiing, and visiting with friends from home as possible. Because soon enough I'll be off again!
July 21, 2007
I'm going home?
So it's nearly the end of the season. And I am sad. This has been a ton of fun. I'm definately on for coming back next year. I think the whole Badger crew is in on that boat.
Only 10 more vegs left to do... out of 87. Not too shabby. Now that the nest searchers are done with their vegs and obviously there are no more nests for the season, they've been coming out and helping us PCers finish our stuff up on the harder, especially unburned points. Patty came out with me once in the evening, and Viddy has twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. The evening we went out we were planning on getting two done, about 3 hours of work, but then it started thundering and pouring on us. Which was ridiculous, as it has only rained about 3 or 4 times in the whole time I've been here, and only once for the whole day. The other times were all just showers. We sat under a mahogany for a while, seeing if the storm would pass (the bulk of it was to our left), and plotting a possible bike tour of the Oregon coast next late summer/ fall.
So I'm glad veg. is almost done, but sad that it means it's the end of the season... here's some shots of Viddy and I doing veg. (I was slacking for about 2.2 seconds to take these pictures...)
Sometimes when I'm out doing veg I have to pinch myself. It's insane that I have been getting paid to work in such an awesome and beautiful place.
I've beeen working on the job search for the past few weeks sporadically when I come into town. When I get home on the 27th it will be in full swing until I find something for the fall/ winter. Who knows where I'll be at the end of August? I guess I'll just have to wait and see...
~me
some parting pronghorn that were checking me out as I hiked back from veg for the day:
Only 10 more vegs left to do... out of 87. Not too shabby. Now that the nest searchers are done with their vegs and obviously there are no more nests for the season, they've been coming out and helping us PCers finish our stuff up on the harder, especially unburned points. Patty came out with me once in the evening, and Viddy has twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. The evening we went out we were planning on getting two done, about 3 hours of work, but then it started thundering and pouring on us. Which was ridiculous, as it has only rained about 3 or 4 times in the whole time I've been here, and only once for the whole day. The other times were all just showers. We sat under a mahogany for a while, seeing if the storm would pass (the bulk of it was to our left), and plotting a possible bike tour of the Oregon coast next late summer/ fall.
So I'm glad veg. is almost done, but sad that it means it's the end of the season... here's some shots of Viddy and I doing veg. (I was slacking for about 2.2 seconds to take these pictures...)
Sometimes when I'm out doing veg I have to pinch myself. It's insane that I have been getting paid to work in such an awesome and beautiful place.
I've beeen working on the job search for the past few weeks sporadically when I come into town. When I get home on the 27th it will be in full swing until I find something for the fall/ winter. Who knows where I'll be at the end of August? I guess I'll just have to wait and see...
~me
some parting pronghorn that were checking me out as I hiked back from veg for the day:
It's Hot.
Today I made the hike back up to that point just below the rocky bluff to do the veg. transects on it. The second time was significantly faster... only took 25 minutes. I timed myself. Then it was up over the summit to the ridge behind, into the wind for more veg.
here's the view from the bottom...
and from the top...
This has been a very dry year in Sheldon and out west in general. As a result, there has been a lot of wildfires. Yesterday a portion of Catnip actually caught fire. Luckily it wasn't anywhere near our study site there. As I was doing my first transect on my last point yesterday I could see the plume rising up behind and to the left of Blowout Mountain. It was eerie. The cloud almost had an irridescent quality to it, like that of oil floating in water. Aaron saw the plume while driving between Bald and Badger and reported it. Viddy also saw it from his '94 burn plot and when he got back to the cabin he called it in on the satellite phone. By the time I had finished my second transect on that last veg. it was under control. You could tell because the plume of smoke had significantly diminished.
In other news, the last time Jutin and I were at Catnip they were conducting horse counts via helicopter before they do the yearly roundup. Horses are invasive on the refuge and are wreaking havoc on the vegetation and landscape. Every year they do a roundup to try and keep the population under control. The evnetual goal is to remove all the horses from the refuge... If you want a horse, adopt one from Sheldon! Anyways, the helicopter was flying low over terrain. At points Justin and I were standing higher than the helicopter on the sides of the hills. Aaron said that they were trying to give Justin and I some room. Apparantly at one point the helicopter scared up some pronghorn and horses, and they all ran by Justin in a huge herd. He said he felt like he was in some wildlife film from Africa. I'm definately going to miss this crazy landscape. It took some getting used to, but I love it now.
~me
here's the view from the bottom...
and from the top...
This has been a very dry year in Sheldon and out west in general. As a result, there has been a lot of wildfires. Yesterday a portion of Catnip actually caught fire. Luckily it wasn't anywhere near our study site there. As I was doing my first transect on my last point yesterday I could see the plume rising up behind and to the left of Blowout Mountain. It was eerie. The cloud almost had an irridescent quality to it, like that of oil floating in water. Aaron saw the plume while driving between Bald and Badger and reported it. Viddy also saw it from his '94 burn plot and when he got back to the cabin he called it in on the satellite phone. By the time I had finished my second transect on that last veg. it was under control. You could tell because the plume of smoke had significantly diminished.
In other news, the last time Jutin and I were at Catnip they were conducting horse counts via helicopter before they do the yearly roundup. Horses are invasive on the refuge and are wreaking havoc on the vegetation and landscape. Every year they do a roundup to try and keep the population under control. The evnetual goal is to remove all the horses from the refuge... If you want a horse, adopt one from Sheldon! Anyways, the helicopter was flying low over terrain. At points Justin and I were standing higher than the helicopter on the sides of the hills. Aaron said that they were trying to give Justin and I some room. Apparantly at one point the helicopter scared up some pronghorn and horses, and they all ran by Justin in a huge herd. He said he felt like he was in some wildlife film from Africa. I'm definately going to miss this crazy landscape. It took some getting used to, but I love it now.
~me
July 14, 2007
Vacation? Vacation!!!
7/14/2007
So busy. It’s veg full time now. 4 points a day at two hours each, plus data entry makes for a very busy Michelle. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about work… You want more Badger crew tales.
So we did have that soccer rematch at the barbeque on the 4th. Viddy, Matt, Scott the intern, and I were on one team, Patty, Justin, Berti and Jason were on the other team. My team won of course. And I scored one of our goals, knocking over the “goal nalgene” with a well aimed kick. I also hit the ground a few times… once having my feet kicked out from under me by Jason, the other in a collision with Berti/ a trailer. It was a good time. I’ve got the bruises to prove it. The food at the barbeque was excellent. Aaron had just taken his first two days off in over a month and he made a trip to Corvallis/ the coast to take care of business on campus, and to go fishing. He brought back fresh tuna, salmon, and crab. So we feasted on freshly caught grilled seafood. The morning after the barbeque the PCers and the Badger crew took off for Modoc National Forest in California for our two day vacation. The trip started with us driving to Cedarville to drop off the PC truck to have its oil changed and pick up a few groceries. While waiting for people to finish up in town Matt decided it would be fun to ride the mechanical horse ride out front of the grocery store. And so vacation started.
When we arrived at Pepperdine campground we unpacked, ate a snack, then began the 3 mile hike to Patterson Lake, which is a mountain lake located at over 9,000 feet. About 2 and a half hours later we arrived, hot, sweaty, and thirsty. Matt and Viddy arrived first, I arrived second, followed about 20 minutes later by Justin, Berti and Patty. When I got there Viddy and Matt had already jumped in and were sunning themselves on the rocks. I located them on the other side of the lake by their whoops and hollering and made my way towards the sounds. When I got to them I immediately stripped and jumped in. I didn’t stay in long. Viddy particularly enjoyed my reaction. Patterson lake was the coldest water that I have ever been in in my life, way colder than the ocean. I dove under, and quickly popped up gasping for air. I expected this feeling to pass, as it usually does when you jump into the ocean… but it didn’t. I swore, and began furiously swimming for the shore again. Viddy was in stitches on the shore. He did tell me it was cold. I just wasn’t expecting it to be that cold. After I had warmed up a bit Viddy and I coordinated a second dive into the lake, with Matt filming us on my camera. We dove in, popped up, made eye contact and Viddy said “we’re good…..” treading water for approximately 2 seconds, then “Nope! AAAAHHHH!” As we made the mad sprint for the shore, grasping at the rocks and grassy shore trying to pull ourselves out of the water as quickly as possible. When Berti, Justin and Patty arrived I got to watch their initial reactions as they hit the water. Justin won for the longest swim. He must have been in there for about a minute. At one point Berti asked if he was cold and Justin’s gasping squeaked reply was “Nope… I’m fine… I just can’t breathe…”
After our chilling dip we were ready for the 2 hour hike back into the setting sun.
That night we had a camp fire, Matt pulled out the Banjo, and later we all slept under the stars lined up in a row. Before falling asleep Justin pulled out his iPod and called in an owl. He, Matt and Viddy were chasing it around the campsite in their boxers and hiking boots, trying to get a look at it. The next day we all did our own thing. I went on a little walk and hung out by a reservoir, sitting on a huge blowdown and watching the ducks on the water for a few hours. Then I made my way back to the campsite for lunch, after which I taught Viddy how to play cribbage, and he, Patty and I played some rallyball with our newly bought balls and paddles. That night we had another campfire, then had tent party 2K7. Viddy, Berti, Matt and I in one tent, Justin and Patty in the other… as it looked like it was threatening to rain. All in all it was a good vacation. There’s been talk of some of us returning next year, and all staying at Badger. We already know we all work well together, and it would be good for Aaron too, as he would have half of his crew already set for next year. We shall see….
~me
Rally Ball and other such nonsense.
7/1/2007
So I’m sitting here, on the ground (0299855, 4633740 if you’re interested) at Catnip, where I’m camping for the night. It’s 7:30 pm and it’s still sweltering hot in the sun. I just got back from doing my last veg of the day. (3 today, 3 tomorrow) Only 2 more days of point counts for the rest of the summer. Then I can get up when I want to from then on during veg. I’ll prolly still get up around 5 or 5:30, just because I’m used to that now, and to escape the July heat. On the 4th we’re having a BBQ at Bald and it should be a lot of fun. It’s interesting how the point counters, or PCers as the Badger crew calls us, have bonded more with them than the Bald crew. The last time I was at Badger (alone, which never happens, except in our crazy shuffle to balance treatments, not get repeats, and space 2 weeks between route counts) they had a new game called raly ball. Essentially, just 2 balsa wood paddles and a hard rubber ball. You try and keep the ball volleyed between 2 people. Viddy and I must have played that for 2 hours yesterday. We were getting pretty good at it. Or there’s Berti’s version of the game, if you’re playing alone you hit it up onto the roof of Badger, let it roll down, bounce off of one of Aaron’s newly built awesome picnic tables, the paddle it back up there again. When I first got to Badger that day the first thing Berti wanted to do was show me his new game. So I was watching… and the result was humorous. He explained the premise, like I did above, then went to demonstrate. He took the blue ball in one hand, paddle in the other, and sent the ball straight over the top of the cabin. I laughed, but Berti let out a howl of dismay and sprinted around the the back of the house while yelling back to me that that was how they lost all 3 other balls… in the tall wild rye, or down Cletus holes. We never did find the blue ball, but when Viddy returned from a camera battery run he helped find a yellow ball, complete with drawn on eyes and a Badger mustache to boot.
The night before, after Justin and Matt had dropped me off at Badger, and before heading to Catnip we played a 3 on 3 game of fast paced soccer in the dirt road by Badger camp. Berti, Justin and I on one team, Viddy, Matt, and Patty on the other. It was a close game (we only played to 2, and the final score was 2-1 since Matt and Justin had to leave in time to set up camp at Catnip before dark.) I’m sure there will be a rematch at the barbeque… and this time there will be a wider road and less hazardous shoulders. Justin almost ended up hurting himself as he stumbled backwards off the shoulder at one point and kept on tripping over clumps of rye as tall as him while trying to catch his balance. We all were bent over in two breathing hard and laughing at Justin as his chorus of “whoa… whoa! WHOA!” continued until he ended on his butt in the grass.
A lot of times at badger they all make group meals and everyone throws something in… like noodles, or sauce, or cheese… you get the idea. Well, they felt bad that a lot of the time I couldn’t eat with them, so Viddy specially bought a spaghetti squash in town the last time they went so we could all make a meal together. So yesterday for lunch Viddy had the spaghetti squash and an onion, and I threw in some squash that I had leftover as well, and Berti threw in a pepper and cheese. We sautéed the onion and pepper, put it on the squash with oregano, basil, and freshly ground pepper, the added the garlic spaghetti sauce. It was a phenomenal lunch. And I think I may have converted (or at least made people aware) of how awesome spaghetti squash is.
Ah, 8 pm and it’s finally beginning to cool down. I think I’m gonna get my ducks in a row for tomorrow and hit the sack. And I even get to sleep in a little since I’m so close to my first point! Woohooo!
~me
So I’m sitting here, on the ground (0299855, 4633740 if you’re interested) at Catnip, where I’m camping for the night. It’s 7:30 pm and it’s still sweltering hot in the sun. I just got back from doing my last veg of the day. (3 today, 3 tomorrow) Only 2 more days of point counts for the rest of the summer. Then I can get up when I want to from then on during veg. I’ll prolly still get up around 5 or 5:30, just because I’m used to that now, and to escape the July heat. On the 4th we’re having a BBQ at Bald and it should be a lot of fun. It’s interesting how the point counters, or PCers as the Badger crew calls us, have bonded more with them than the Bald crew. The last time I was at Badger (alone, which never happens, except in our crazy shuffle to balance treatments, not get repeats, and space 2 weeks between route counts) they had a new game called raly ball. Essentially, just 2 balsa wood paddles and a hard rubber ball. You try and keep the ball volleyed between 2 people. Viddy and I must have played that for 2 hours yesterday. We were getting pretty good at it. Or there’s Berti’s version of the game, if you’re playing alone you hit it up onto the roof of Badger, let it roll down, bounce off of one of Aaron’s newly built awesome picnic tables, the paddle it back up there again. When I first got to Badger that day the first thing Berti wanted to do was show me his new game. So I was watching… and the result was humorous. He explained the premise, like I did above, then went to demonstrate. He took the blue ball in one hand, paddle in the other, and sent the ball straight over the top of the cabin. I laughed, but Berti let out a howl of dismay and sprinted around the the back of the house while yelling back to me that that was how they lost all 3 other balls… in the tall wild rye, or down Cletus holes. We never did find the blue ball, but when Viddy returned from a camera battery run he helped find a yellow ball, complete with drawn on eyes and a Badger mustache to boot.
The night before, after Justin and Matt had dropped me off at Badger, and before heading to Catnip we played a 3 on 3 game of fast paced soccer in the dirt road by Badger camp. Berti, Justin and I on one team, Viddy, Matt, and Patty on the other. It was a close game (we only played to 2, and the final score was 2-1 since Matt and Justin had to leave in time to set up camp at Catnip before dark.) I’m sure there will be a rematch at the barbeque… and this time there will be a wider road and less hazardous shoulders. Justin almost ended up hurting himself as he stumbled backwards off the shoulder at one point and kept on tripping over clumps of rye as tall as him while trying to catch his balance. We all were bent over in two breathing hard and laughing at Justin as his chorus of “whoa… whoa! WHOA!” continued until he ended on his butt in the grass.
A lot of times at badger they all make group meals and everyone throws something in… like noodles, or sauce, or cheese… you get the idea. Well, they felt bad that a lot of the time I couldn’t eat with them, so Viddy specially bought a spaghetti squash in town the last time they went so we could all make a meal together. So yesterday for lunch Viddy had the spaghetti squash and an onion, and I threw in some squash that I had leftover as well, and Berti threw in a pepper and cheese. We sautéed the onion and pepper, put it on the squash with oregano, basil, and freshly ground pepper, the added the garlic spaghetti sauce. It was a phenomenal lunch. And I think I may have converted (or at least made people aware) of how awesome spaghetti squash is.
Ah, 8 pm and it’s finally beginning to cool down. I think I’m gonna get my ducks in a row for tomorrow and hit the sack. And I even get to sleep in a little since I’m so close to my first point! Woohooo!
~me
June 22, 2007
Cadger Babin goodness
06/21/2007
The nest searchers at Badger just finished their first round of mammal trapping so they had the day off today… so last night was a celebration. We planned on going to bog hot in the evening after Matt finished his veg. and Viddy and Berti had switched out batteries on their nest cameras. So, naturally, while Justin, Patty, and then later, Berti and I were waiting for Matt’s and Viddy’s return we broke out the beer and whiskey. What ensued was antics with pronghorn antlers, the naming of our resident Belding’s Ground Squirrel “Cletus,” and later yelling at the inanimate hills for Viddy to return, we wanted to go swimming. We debated for a while sending Matt to go look for him. But decided against it. We should have, because a few minutes later Viddy came strolling down the hill through the sagebrush towards Badger Cabin with the battery pack strapped to his back… and no ATV. It wouldn’t start. He had just walked about an hour back to the cabin.
After about 10 minutes of hurried packing we all piled into the truck, and with Matt at the wheel we drove to Bog Hot with the setting sun behind us. Viddy, Patty, and I had an impromptu dance party in the backseat to MIA as we sped along the dirt road out of Sheldon. We arrived at Bog Hot just as it was getting dark, washed up with some lavender Dr. Bronners, and watched the stars for a while. I thought I saw 3 sattelites moving through the sky, but no one else did.
We left sooner than the previous visit because it was getting late and Justin, Matt and I still had to do point counts this morning, which meant getting up at 4. We arrived back at Badger Cabin at around 11. We promptly piled out of the truck, and into our tent for the night.
When I got back from my point counts this morning I entered my data right away, ate a snack, then took a nap. It was glorious.
The point counters drove back to Bald this afternoon, and after dinner I headed out to do another round of veg. When I returned Matt and Justin were making a late dinner. While I was waiting for some water to boil for tea, and they were cooking we were joking around in the kitchen. We decided that we’re going to write another Sheldon related song, besides “Badger Mountain.” This one will be to the tune of Ludacris’ “Move b****” and will include the lyrics “Move sagebrush, get out the way… I’ve gotta be at my first point at 5:48!” We’re special. Tomorrow’s my birthday… and a day off. Excellent.
~me
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