This summer, I got the wonderful opportunity to travel from Abilene, Texas, to Colorado, Iowa, and South Dakota! During this trip, I saw Monarchs and milkweed galore and got to identify milkweed species I hadn’t yet seen at Dyess AFB. From ditches and roadsides to...
partially arid and brown I’m officially back in the field for three weeks now and currently doing another round of IMMP Fall surveys. The second and third weeks were fairly exhausting sometimes because of the changing heat and humidity – like it still the peak of...
To live in Texas, you have to be able to withstand periods of intense heat and no rain. For humans, that is not impossible since we have swimming pools and other ways to cool off- but for everyone else, it can be a bit of...
bby's first jubata This month has had a theme: perseverance. Yes, we're taking it there. End of August into now has had lots and lots of tedious invasive removal. Any method you've thought of, we've done. Hand pulling? Did that. Chainsaw? Did that too. Herbicide? Loppers?...
For one of the last major field tasks of my internship, I have been assisting in quarterly wildlife camera maintenance checks for Marin Wildlife Watch. This community science program, organized by One Tam, surveys Marin County’s wildlife population through photos taken by motion-activated cameras. About...
Do you ever feel,like a black turban snail,exposed by the low tide,waiting for the water to rise again - to be sung to the tune of Katy Perry's 'Firework' In expecting a fabulous low tide season, it is only natural we first endure the sweltering heat. Here...
Sorry to interrupt my normally scheduled programming full of wildlife awesomeness but last week I had the opportunity to spend 5 days camping in Yosemite and conduct seed collection of 3 native grass species: timber oatgrass (Danthonia intermedia), western needlegrass (Eriocoma occidentalis), and tufted hairgrass...
HEPE. Helichrysum petiolare. A strangely soft, flimsy plant that requires extreme smushing to access the roots (which are also surprisingly flimsy given the mass of the vegetation they support). It grows tendril-like over anything in its path (including up through the canopy of small trees)...
One minuet it was May, I blinked and now I am over halfway through and approaching the end of my 2026 season. This summer has flown by and I have gone from pushing up hill through new challenges and experiences, to feeling like I am running...
No internship is complete without a few challenges, and this one has certainly had its fair share. While I expected to learn new technical skills, I didn't anticipate how much I would grow personally throughout the experience.One of my biggest challenges was learning to trust...