Myself, along with my wonderful wildlife technicians, relaxing after a days work.
Getting started:
During our first week in the field we experienced everything from smashed side view mirrors on the truck, getting stuck in the truck(and the only tow Clemson could authorize was 80 minutes away), losing power at the field station during an incredible thunderstorm, getting rain almost every day, losing and having to locate new field sites, and trekking down several near cliffs to reach streams.
Snakes (hopefully we will see a bear soon!):
One afternoon while going for a jog next to the Little Pigeon River in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GO VISIT IT'S AWESOME) I came across a rattlesnake that had just crossed the road and scared some people. Several wanted to kill the snake (within a national park) but after saying "I'm a biologist" the mood totally changed and I managed to get the crowd to leave the snake at a safe distance and come one at a time to take pictures. Several stayed to ask questions about the snake, and one women stayed and talked to me for about 30 minutes about wildlife encounters within the park she had had. All in all it was an amazing experience that I thank Clemson and my professors/former employers for helping me know how to handle it. I think we all left that situation in a positive mood.
Citizen Science:
We've also had the opportunity to bring volunteers into the field thanks to our friends at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. They broadcast an announcement of my their citizen science list serv. and several volunteers came out and helped us in the field on two days. Volunteers ranged from a 10 year old to an 8th grade science teacher! It's always awesome to have an opportunity to show the public what I do, and to engage students of all ages in the wonder of the great outdoors and in field biology. Citizen science is a great opportunity for anyone to have hands on involvement within a research project. The data I collected with these people is real data and will be used in my thesis. It is much more than public outreach or education, it is involvement, and that is going to be what gets people to care about preserving our natural world.
Things to see:
So, so much to see. Get out to the Smokies and flip over some logs and rocks. See what you find but watch for snakes! Walk down a quiet walkway and just listen, listen for the birds, the water rolling of the rocks, and the wind blowing in the trees. Take some time to sit still, even in a place without a view, and just look. Look for the small millipedes in the leaf litter that smell of cherries when picked up (arsenic secretion don't eat). Notice the little stuff. Become absorbed in what you see and realize that you are and have always been a part of this. No matter how hard you may try, you cannot be separated from this, even though it may seem so when you are buried in the concrete of the city. In just a month we've seen all kinds of snakes, about 14 different species of salamander, countless birds, synchronous fireflies, coyotes, waterfalls, several peaks over 6000 feet, and Tourons (tourist morons getting too close to wildlife). In this area I'd recommend you make it out to Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome, Alum Cave Bluffs, Mt. Leconte, and Ramsey Falls for starters. All are great highlights in the Smokies. And if you make it out to Highlands, NC, be sure to hit up Buck's Coffee and the Ugly Dog Tavern.
So, so much to see. Get out to the Smokies and flip over some logs and rocks. See what you find but watch for snakes! Walk down a quiet walkway and just listen, listen for the birds, the water rolling of the rocks, and the wind blowing in the trees. Take some time to sit still, even in a place without a view, and just look. Look for the small millipedes in the leaf litter that smell of cherries when picked up (arsenic secretion don't eat). Notice the little stuff. Become absorbed in what you see and realize that you are and have always been a part of this. No matter how hard you may try, you cannot be separated from this, even though it may seem so when you are buried in the concrete of the city. In just a month we've seen all kinds of snakes, about 14 different species of salamander, countless birds, synchronous fireflies, coyotes, waterfalls, several peaks over 6000 feet, and Tourons (tourist morons getting too close to wildlife). In this area I'd recommend you make it out to Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome, Alum Cave Bluffs, Mt. Leconte, and Ramsey Falls for starters. All are great highlights in the Smokies. And if you make it out to Highlands, NC, be sure to hit up Buck's Coffee and the Ugly Dog Tavern.
Ramsey Cascades, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
General Thoughts, and advice to my younger colleagues interested in obtaining graduate degrees:
In general to future biologists I would like to say a few things based on what I have experienced in my first few weeks of the field season. First, if you think you've planned and done enough to be ready for your first field season, you're wrong. Keep planning, keep preparing for the unexpected. Have a back up for all equipment (if affordable) and have a back up back up plan in case something goes wrong. Be sure to figure out logistical stuff like payment plans, access to sites, emergency plans, etc. well before the field season.
Don't be afraid to adapt, you will have to if you're doing field biology. We don't work in controlled environments. We work in harsh environments where nothing is the same, weather changes, droughts happen, land owners change their minds about letting you on their land, and who knows what else. Don't expect everything to be perfect, but do your best to make it that way. If you try to find sites that are all exactly the same (slope, aspect, size of stream, canopy cover, etc) you're going to go insane. That's why we get enough field sites to reach statistical significance, to rule out outliers and variation between sites.
All in all this first month has been a blessing and one of the most exciting months of my life. I look forward to what else this project has in store for me and to seeing what conclusions the data point to.
In general to future biologists I would like to say a few things based on what I have experienced in my first few weeks of the field season. First, if you think you've planned and done enough to be ready for your first field season, you're wrong. Keep planning, keep preparing for the unexpected. Have a back up for all equipment (if affordable) and have a back up back up plan in case something goes wrong. Be sure to figure out logistical stuff like payment plans, access to sites, emergency plans, etc. well before the field season.
Don't be afraid to adapt, you will have to if you're doing field biology. We don't work in controlled environments. We work in harsh environments where nothing is the same, weather changes, droughts happen, land owners change their minds about letting you on their land, and who knows what else. Don't expect everything to be perfect, but do your best to make it that way. If you try to find sites that are all exactly the same (slope, aspect, size of stream, canopy cover, etc) you're going to go insane. That's why we get enough field sites to reach statistical significance, to rule out outliers and variation between sites.
All in all this first month has been a blessing and one of the most exciting months of my life. I look forward to what else this project has in store for me and to seeing what conclusions the data point to.
