Part improv, part educational outreach, Pop-Up Science Street Smarts Series are live, impromptu demonstrations by local scientists that appear in very unconventional places. They represent a new, experimental form of science education and outreach aimed at opening up “surprising scenes of science” for public interaction and discussion.
On September 13, 2015, Pop-Up Science, a Seattle-based pop-up museum, brought “ocean science to the ocean.”
Founder, Nina Arens, along with oceanographers Rachel Vander Giessen, Allison Lee, and film crew extraordinaire Alex Ellis, Darcy Moynahan and William Pierce, stormed the unsuspecting passengers of Washington State Ferries with microscopes, maps, and regional oceanographers.
“It’s easy to think of the ocean as a big vast body of empty water that doesn’t need much attention. The ocean naturally acts as Earth’s sink for carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, helping to keep the balance of carbon that has existed in the ecosystem in flux for over millions of years. But over the last 250 years, that CO2 balance has gotten really out of whack—and the ocean needs our help….We wanted to give Seattle an opportunity to learn about ocean acidification and phytoplankton so that they might consider how they can best help the Puget Sound.”
This event was a great success with passengers on the ferry and got quick press with the Bainbridge Island residents as well as tweets from the Washington State Ferries Twitter feed.
Pop-Up Science is planning for more impromptu Street Smarts events so be sure to follow them on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @popupsci.
For more in-depth information on the ocean acidification issue, the science, and educational resources, check out these external websites:
To read more about who the awesome contributors to this video were, click here and you can also check out an interview done with Nina for this website here.
I wanted experience. I wanted adventure. I wanted to be a field biologist.
I had gotten a taste for that life during two previous jobs I had worked: one season tracking squirrels in Eastern Washington, and one season tracking song birds in urbanized areas within Seattle. I had been filling the in-between-season field jobs baking for a friend’s start up Swedish Bakery and I found that I loved using my hands, baking, and eating my failed experiments, but it wasn’t my passion. It wasn’t field biology.
I had subscribed to a bird jobs list serve and constantly weeded through all the advertised opportunities as soon as they rolled in. There seemed to be so many out there, yet I was coming up short on ideas. Some were in states I didn’t want to live in. Some were studying animals I didn’t care to study. None seemed to be at all lucrative. At that time, age 26, I was married and that also limited my range of exploration. I felt I needed to stay ‘close to home’ for the sake of having a relationship. Requiring a wanna-be-field-biologist to limit the range of stomping ground to urban Seattle proved very tricky. Not to mention, I was born with the wanderlust bone.
If I was going to spend a couple months doing a seasonal job I might as well go big and go international! I started to look through those bird job postings that were short-term in other countries. I came upon one position in Peru. The woman wanted help during the season mist-netting birds and I thought it sounded fantastic. I applied AND interviewed. It turns out the graduate student in charge of hiring decided upon someone who already had previous extensive bird experience. I had experience mist-netting songbirds in Seattle but she wanted someone more familiar with her particular bird species.
I felt frustrated. Not to mention inadequate! It seemed that everyone wanted someone who was trained, but no one wanted to train anyone! Understandably, some projects are on tight deadlines and taking time to train people does detract from the progress of the research. I had seen workshop opportunities come through the list serve which taught the skills for bird research but those typically charged $400-500 and as a poor field-biologist-wanna-be there was no way I could afford that. What was I to do?!
Keep Looking
I came upon a job posting for field biologists to go to Mexico and study the Maroon-fronted parrot. Camping in the mountains? Learning Spanish? Hanging out with parrots? Sign me up! Only one problem… it was volunteer. So I would get no money AND I would have to pay my way there. But once in country, I wouldn’t have to pay for food or lodging. Interesting. I applied despite this not being a paid-position and was ecstatic when asked to come down for two months (if you ever want to feel worthy and needed, apply to as many volunteer gigs that ask for your money. They will always want you, naturally, and it will wash away the pain of rejections from any other opportunity you tried for and didn’t get.). This time frame would span halloween and my birthday, but I jumped on the opportunity. This was my first experience with international field biology and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
How Could I Afford an Un-Paid Volunteer Position
As excited as I was, I’m honestly not sure if I would have taken the opportunity had I not been married with the financial support of my at-that-time husband. How do people make this contract field biologist thing happen when so many of the opportunities are volunteer based?! (Disclaimer: I’ve done a lot of volunteer jobs over the last 9 years since graduating undergrad, paying with my own money. Even though I agree with this man’s thoughts that volunteer wildlife “jobs” are a bit on the exploitive side, I do not regret any of them. They do count as experience on a resume and I can at least feel good knowing I’ve given back my time and dollars to help other researchers in wildlife/conservation field (its notorious for being tight on funding). I just keep telling myself that some day it will all count for something.)
None-the-less, I was feeling so stagnant and agitated not being able to gain experiences in field biology that I figured, “What the heck, I’ll just go for this even though its volunteer and hopefully I won’t be shooting myself in the foot or setting myself back career-wise.”
Off to Mexico
I didn’t know a lick of Spanish before going, so I brought a pocket dictionary and Spanish for Dummies. I also started listening to Pimsleur Spanish Language CDs from the library, which I highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn any language.
I arrived in Monterrey, Mexico, alone, with three days to kill before I met my team. The lodging I stayed in had been rented out to a Peace Corps kid and it was hot and muggy. The kind of muggy that clings to you throughout the night. The other field biologists I would be working with, Sarah Brown and el jefe Rene Valdes, had already been on the job out in the field for a month before I arrived.
We would be working on a project in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park studying the breeding behavior of the Maroon-fronted parrot (Cotorra serrana oriental (Rhynchopsitta terrisi)) run by scientists at The ITESM Campus Monterrey.
My Field Partner
Sarah and I hit it off immediately. I remember many things about our time together but there are three main stories I like to tell:
Story 1: Sarah had a passion of hunting down and eating every single junk food item we had stashed on days it was too foggy and cloudy to see any nesting cliffs. We would plug in the laptop, huddle under blankets, and eat snack bar after snack bar, cookie pack after cookie pack. Until there was no junk food left. Rationing was not in her vocabulary.
Story 2: When we were back in the city refueling from our 1-2 weeks out in the field Sarah loved watching scary movies…while eating junk food, obviously. Once, we attempted to bake a box of brownies in a skillet that we put in a brand new oven we weren’t even sure turned on. After watching this brownie slowly cook for over two hours we realized the best the oven did was reach preheat and we devoured the crusted edges and left the gooey middle. I discovered gooey brownie batter is not as delicious as cookie batter and I discovered that horror movies are really not as scary as you believed they were when you were a child.
Story 3: I suppose with all that junk food eating you won’t be surprised to hear the last story. Sarah also ran. A lot. Every. Single. Day. In fact. You have to understand that the areas of Mexico we were in only gave way to bumpy roads full of rocks and roots waiting to twist your ankle. She would put in her headphones and set off for about an hour running along these mountain roads. I thought she was crazy. At that time I wasn’t a “runner”. She kept trying to convince me that I could do it but I just shook my head no. Sure I’d go for a jog with her in the city on the pavement for a mile or two. It wasn’t until she convinced me to sign up for a 10k race with her that I started thinking maybe I could give running a try. You can never understand why a runner does the things they do until you also become a runner.
I had no idea what to expect and I hadn’t brought running shoes with me to Mexico. This didn’t stop Sarah from reeling me in. We promptly went to a shoe store and I had to use my pocket dictionary to communicate my desires to try on and purchase a pair of shoes. I walked out with a pair of Nike Pegasus Running Shoes. And socks.
The race was hard for me. Brutal. I cramped. I stalled. I held in a bit of Montezzumas revenge. Ultimately I had a blast. I was amazed at the organization of the event, and the fact that they were handing out beer at the finish line. I was also amazed that running 6 miles could feel so brutal yet rewarding.
(For your information, six years later, I am now a marathon maniac, having run multiple marathons in places such as Antarctica, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, 50ks, and ultra-marathons including the completion of 95 miles in 4 days. I am proud to say my race running career got its start in Mexico. I blame Sarah for all of it ;))
A Typical Day
Any field adventure has to start with a good trip to the grocery store. Shopping in a foreign language is an incredibly entertaining experience like a kid on a scavenger hunt. We lived off of ‘avena’ oatmeal, ‘aguacate’ avocado, ‘atun’ tuna, and carrots. Items that won’t perish easily. We started our meals with tasty things like shrimp ceviche, then move on to chicken dishes, and by the week’s end we were eating canned food and rice. We usually never had desserts around, as they quickly got consumed early in the week, especially on foggy days.
Our boss, Rene, knew all the nesting sights and each day we would camp together near a cluster of sites then split up during the day to individually observe a specific cliff.
We woke before sunrise. Standard practice for field biologists. We threw on warm clothes and began our 45 minute hike up the rocky desert slopes. It was important to avoid brushing up against the spines of the agave cactus as a tiny scratch could leave a wound for weeks. We reached our cliff site panting and sweating. Not only was the terrain steep, we were also at elevation which made any athletic person feel out of shape.
Sarah and I had walkie-talkies which allowed us to communicate the couple of meters we were separated. The days sometimes felt long. Some days were blistering hot, other days were freezing cold. We had come ill-prepared and went into town to purchase more warm layers.
After a 12 hour day we began our hike back down to base camp, just in time to make dinner before dark. I did my best to take that down time to study Spanish but at night there wasn’t much to do, so we would drink cup after cup of chamomile tea in an effort to put ourselves to sleep. Field days = early to bed, early to rise!
Set up before we realized our tent leaked during rainstorms
Relocation of the leaky tent, erected in its splendor within the empty cement building.
Boys, Guns, and Pecans
One day, observing a nesting cliff up a dried river bed, two young boys with guns emerged from the bushes. I was nervous. What was a gringa, attempting to tan in a sports bra, knowing no Spanish, doing in the middle of nowhere. “How is this going to go?” I worried. They seemed just as bewildered to see me there and stood next to me for 20 minutes as we awkwardly tried to communicate. I tried to explain that I was there to observando las cotteras por el institut tecnologico de Monterrey and all I could manage to understand from them was something about being afraid. Afraid of what? Oh please don’t let me be afraid of you and the guns! I gathered from the word ‘oso’ that they were chasing after bears. I didn’t even consider bears in the area! They soon left and I thought I’d remain alone. A few hours later they came back and handed me ‘un regalo’, a gift, of hand-picked pecans from their farm.
They were the best pecans I’ve ever eaten.
Mountain Folk
Since we were in the mountains we ended up staying with a number of mountain farmers. Young couples, old couples. One young girl would come visit us and we would say nothing to each other. We’d just sit in silence pantomiming a gift offering of tangerines or chamomile tea while she smiled and waved us off. One day she came to us and showed us her skills in embroidery. She had been stitching colorful parrots onto napkin cloth and wanted to sell it to us. We, being broke volunteers, had absolutely no money on us and couldn’t help her out in that way.
One of the older couples, whom we called abuelita, made us cups of chocolate milk, nescafe, stovetop beans, and to-dye-for salsa verde. We asked for her secret recipe but weren’t convinced she told us the whole secret. All she mentioned was the need to boil tomatillos. One night we watched her and realized she was adding at least a half cup of oil and a dash of salt and pepper. It all made sense then.
The Parrots
The Maroon-fronted parrot is native to Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range in Nuevo León, northeastern Mexico. There are only 2,500-3,000 in the wild and their conservation status is Endangered due to overgrazing and habitat loss. Sitting in front of one of the largest nest sites, El Taray, felt like being in the front row of the movie theater. The parrots were most active during the morning and evening, but during the middle of the day the whole flock would take off and disappear. I have no idea where they went or what they were doing. I also think GPS-collaring parrots and macaws can be expensive and difficult because they are constantly preening themselves and each other.
The goal each day was to match up a hole in the cliff (a nest sight) with its location on a marked map of the cliff (each hole had a number). We would scan back and forth with binoculars and count how many parrots we saw at each hole. Over time more voices started to echo out of the holes. Chicks! Once nesting sites were marked with chicks we watched the entrance like a hawk. Literally. The biggest threat to these chicks upon emerging is being swooped up by a Red-tailed hawk. Inevitably we would miss the event because the chicks were smart enough to wait until it was foggy to fledge. Too foggy for us to see, too foggy for the hawks to see.
Celebrations
While I was in Mexico we celebrated Halloween, and my birthday. We were in the mountains with no costumes so to make the best of it we used what we had. Sarah dressed as a caterpillar using a sleeping bag and I dressed as a trash mummy using toilet paper and garbage. For my birthday Rene and Sarah were really sweet to surprise me with a mini-cake from a delicious bakery in the city.
Yes this trip happened in 2009 and I’m just now writing about it 6 years later!
The Aftermath
When I got back to Seattle in November I started looking for jobs. By January, only “suffering” two months of unemployment, I found employment at a Seattle-based non-profit called the Institute for Systems Biology where I’ve been the last 5.5 years studying the response of algae to climate change scenarios. How did all my background in field biology ever land me a job in oceanography?! Turns out that worry about shooting myself in the foot by taking a break from lab science to do field biology worked in my favor as it was exactly that field experience that convinced my current boss I wouldn’t be just another lab tech; I was a person who actually cared about the environment.
Moral
You never know what experiences you will gain or when they will work in your favor. The important thing is that when you take a little leap and try something seemingly risky or adventurous and new, you will never regret the experience. You will never regret the time you spend outside. You will never regret wildlife. You will never regret travel. And you will never be as lucky as you are on the days you wake up surrounded by nature.
Want to see even more photos from this trip? Check them all out by clicking this link here.
Word from the author: Back in 2006 Facebook was still just a thing for college students. Blogging was also just emerging to become more mainstream. I guess that is why I never ended up writing about the time I spent on my first international field biology trip studying parrots in Mexico. Today I give you that story. Its a long one, so I hope you had enough coffee to make it through. Thanks for reading!
How do I even begin to tell all of the stories from 4.5 weeks observing Big Cats in Kruger National Park, South Africa?! I came back with over 68 GB of photos, videos and a mind full of memories.
Do I first tell you about the time we watched a young male leopard attempt to kill a ground hornbill and fail?
Do I tell you about the white lion cub we saw fighting its brothers in the pride for a piece of freshly killed zebra?
Do I tell you about the day we followed a wild dog pack and got caught in the middle of their napping session, or about the evening we sat on the top of a hyena den watching baby hyenas explore close to their sleeping parents?
What about the morning a lioness disappeared behind a rock outcrop only to reappear with a tiny cub in her mouth.
Do I tell you about how funny long-necked giraffes look when they bend down to get a sip of water or about the absurdity of a leopard attempting to kill three porcupines stuck in a drainage tube?
How about the five bull elephants we sat ten meters from, or the bush walk we took with park rangers that brought us twenty-five meters from white rhinoceros?
I could go on! Do you see my predicament in recounting everything? I wish I could go back there and take you with me.
100% of the time that my eyes were open during that month, I reflected on how amazing it was to be able to wake up with every morning sunrise, see all of these wild animals up close and personal, camp under the starry skies, and come away with so much knowledge of African wildlife.
Every animal encounter triggered a rapid fire photo shoot followed by awe-filled observations and furious journal entry writing. This could last for hours and you never wanted to be caught on a lion kill with a full bladder!
So who were we and what were we doing down there?
We spent a full month in Kruger National Park observing the behavior of the three big cats: lion, leopard, and cheetah. Students gained hands-on experience in observational field work, animal behavior research, and conservation photography/videography.
As far as amazing educational african wildlife adventures go, the price of this trip was extremely reasonable. For a 2-week trip, participants paid $3,995 which included airfare from JFK, food, lodging, tents, and transport. There was an additional Kruger Park conservation fee of $290 and additional guided night drives or bush walks were $45 and $65, respectively. Every penny was worth this access to Nature’s african gems.
During the month of June, two groups experienced camping in the park:
Trip 1 – Four students: Marilyn, Emily, Ren, Priscilla
Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves on the entire african continent and was established in 1926. Comparable to the size of Israel at 7,523 mi², it looks dwarfed compared to the entire country of South Africa.
For each 10-day trip, we only managed to cover the lower portion of the reserve. Every two to three nights, we would relocate camps beginning the trip at camp Berg-en-Dal, moving on to Lower Sabie, then Skukuza, Satara and finally, Pretorioskop.
Our days were spent from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. sitting in an awesome Volkswagon Synchro van driving around the dusty bumpy dirt roads scanning the tall grasses, thorn-veld, or savannah for any clues of big cats.
Cars have been coming to the park for 100 years and because humans have never hunted the animals from vehicles, the animals have become habituated to the engine noise and vehicle presence. This allows tourists to get remarkably close and the animals who don’t seem to mind (until the humans start talking too loudly). Some predators have even learned to use the cars as shields in their hunting schemes.
A couple of times during the month we took morning bush walks. I was expecting every animal to be out to get us and was very surprised to witness that once we got on foot we became the top predators and every species that caught our scent fled: elephants, giraffes, rhinos, even a pack of lions! Because humans have been hunting these animals for over 2 million years, they are all very aware of the danger our recognizable human form poses.
The Nature of the Park
When I arrived, the first thing I did was gobble up all the knowledge I could about the park: the geological history, the vegetation and landscapes, the animals. Acting as co-leader for the month, I personally took on a set of responsibilities and had a lot to learn before the students showed up! I used old guide books from the park to give myself a crash course of the area.
One of the most important aspects of the park is actually it’s diverse geological makeup. The park’s main living attractions are dictated by the entire geology hidden under the vegetation.
It started long long ago, when the super continent Gondwanaland still existed, before Antarctica split off from Africa. Layers and layers of rock types were laid down through earth’s dynamic tectonic activities. As Gondwanaland broke apart, ancient rock was exposed and slowly eroded over time leaving the area as we know it today:
Due to the various type of rock and soil exposed at the surface, there is an incredible diversity of flora in this tiny slice of land. This creates unique eco-zones which dictate where you’ll most likely find certain species of animal.
Meet the Herbivores
Just like you have your favorite food preferences, so do the herbivores. Different grasses and bushes attract different types of herbivores. Impala are the chicken nugget of the park, abundant every where you turn. Others such as Kudu, Waterbuck, Cape buffalo and Wildebeest roam about following their flora of choice. I expected these prey animals to be more timid than they were but the zebra were the only species on a whole that were the most skittish.
Cape Buffalo. One of the Big Five and most dangerous to hunt.
Male Kudu. Each twist of its horn takes about 7 years to form. This Kudu is about 15 years old.
Waterbuck have distinct bulls-eye rings on their behinds. When they get stressed they release a nasty tasting hormone which deters predators from attacking.
A Typical Day
We woke at 4:45 a.m. every morning to be first to the gates. At 5:15 a.m. my alarm clock would go off and I would debate hitting snooze for two more minutes before finally getting out of the tent and making the wake-up call to the others.
With sleepy eyes, we brushed our teeth and put on our warm layers–hats and gloves–as some mornings were a chilly 47F. At 6:00 a.m. sharp, the ranger would open the doors and we’d be on our way spotlighting the road-side looking for lingering nocturnal animals.
My favorite time of day was sunrise. It always felt like you had a secret the rest of the world wasn’t yet in on.
There was never a day we went without and animal sighting. When we did find the animals, it became a photographers dream. Click click click. We’d shoot and swap lenses and duck under and above each other to get the best look at the animals.
Some days we had permits to get out of the van and investigate old bleached bones on the ground. One day we found this elephant skull and it became an excellent education opportunity to learn how one can build a story of a particular elephant’s life by looking at distinct features on the skull.
We also paid attention to how to read tracks. Through close observation one could tell the mood and direction the animal was traveling. He talked about identifying the age of the track based on erosion patterns. Below you can see the footprints of hyena, jackal and a large bird (perhaps a korhaan).
Through patient observations, we gained vast knowledge of animal behavior.
One day we spent at least three hours watching a family of hippos eat, sleep, procreate, and play in an algae covered pond. This baby hippo (pictured below) crawled out of the lagoon and actually fell asleep near this crocodile! Hippos seem to have a great understanding of respectful cohabitation, but eventually this hippo’s mom came and chased the croc back into the water.
Two types of rhino exist in the park: the white rhino (or wide-lipped) and the critically endangered black rhino (or hook-lipped). White rhinos are grazers and use their square lip to graze the grasslands. Black rhino, are browsers and use their hooked lip to browse each leaf off of thorny bushes.
This black rhino has ulcers on his skin.
White rhino gets a friend to clean out his eyelashes.
Our bush-walk ranger, Matwell, explains the size and impact of the bullets used in his protection gun.
Sadly, we saw three poached rhino bodies. Poaching is still a huge problem in the park, as I suppose there is much corruption around the issue.
We got rumor that in April alone, 28 rhinos had been poached. Kruger National Park is the most prominent target for poachers and if you want to know more about the ivory trade National Geographic did an excellent article you have to read.
Between January 2014 and 6 August 2014, the Department of Environmental Affairs announced that out of the 631 rhinos that had been killed by poachers, a shocking 408 were killed in Kruger.
Unexpected delights
I did not realize how adorable hyenas would be. Mainstream movies make them out to be vicious scavengers but it turns out they hunt 90% of what they eat and lions are more scavenger than hyenas!
We found two drainage ditches in the road that had denning families which allowed us to literally be on top of their home. Their big eyes, big ears and curious faces made them seem like they could be cuddly stuffed toys.
Baby hyenas. Only a couple weeks old Sight seeing sometimes got pretty tiring. This is how most of the students spent their day:
Blackmail! Just kidding, this was actually the day we picked them up from the airport so they were jet – lagged and sleeping on the five hour drive from Johannesburg to Kruger.
Even if some days held sparse animal sightings, we always managed to behold other goodies like this giant millipede.
Bird watching was also plentiful: Lilac-breasted roller, Cape starling, Goliath king fisher, Crested barbet, Walberg’s eagle (white morph), Saddle-billed stork, Ostrich, Lappet-faced vulture, Helmeted guinea fowl, Southern yellow bill hornbill.
My all time favorite: the critically endangered, cross between what looks like a turkey and a toucan, the largest of the hornbills: Ground hornbill. Check out those eyelashes!!
And of course, there were the Big Cats
In the one-minute clip below, you will see three lion brothers and a collared mistress. The female of this group is collared with a GPS tracker for research purposes. Keep watching until the end of the clip as that’s when you’ll see really nice shots of the female! Best when viewed in HD. Pardon the blurriness of auto-focus around second 30.
What Happens When We See the Big Cats?
We pull out maps to locate our position.
We record all pertinent observations on data sheets.
And we keep our eyes locked on the target animal!
Cheetah looks up from its kill.
In total for the month of June we had 101 lion sightings, 33 leopard sightings and 7 cheetah sightings.
The Day Comes to a Close:
Inevitably, the sunset would come earlier than we wanted and we’d catch ourselves racing back to the camp in time for the electric gates to close for the night.
We would promptly begin dinner prep.
Chat about the day’s high lights.
Photo Identify the big cats we saw and either match them up with the catalogue or enter in new individuals!
We also each took turns blogging every night. Writing a narrative gave the day’s data sheets context and flavor!
Each day was full but they all seemed to end too early. Everyone was in bed around 8:30 p.m. and rarely did we stay up past 11 p.m. We were rocked to sleep by the chirp of cicadas, the roars of lions in the distance, of hippos grunting their disputes, and of bush babies screaming their all too human-like cries.
This was a grounding and unforgettable experience. Each group bonded in their own unique ways. Colin did a great job passing on his vast knowledge, mentoring us in the ways of the wild, and I am grateful to also have had the opportunity to play a mentoring role to the young adults as well.
We were all definitely spoiled with the gems of African wildlife.
I would go back in a heartbeat.
If you would like to see more photos from the trip, visit the photo album here.
One day Lauren came over for a dinner where the discussion had turned to nerdy science topics, as most dinners with curious people do. We had a giant spread of butcher paper over the kitchen table and we turned to Lauren and asked her to share something nerdy with us.
Little did we expect she would be armed and ready for us; Off she went capturing our attention with explanations of the biology and evolution of jellies.
I distinctly remember making a mental note that often times people call them jellyfish when in fact they should just be referred to as “jellies”. From that day on, I always call them by their proper term.
Lauren is incredibly enthusiastic and passionate about her marine invertebrates from jellies, to nautilus, to all the vast array of deep sea creatures. She contradicts all stereotypes of scientists being dull and boring, which you can see immediately by her bright red hair and refreshingly quirky style. She is down to dress up and strut her stuff in every aspect of life blending friends, family, fun and science!
At the time of this posting Lauren is currently working her way through graduate school studying evolutionary marine biology. I wanted to capture this time in her life as she continues to carve her niche in her career. She has great perspective and solid advice for those of us figuring out our way in the life sciences, so without further adieu, I give you Ms. Lauren Vandepas.
American Samoa, a few miles offshore. Taking pictures with a nautilus we caught before divers returned the nautilus to a depth about 70 feet and released it. We took tissue samples for DNA and RNA, weighed, measured, sexed, and x-rayed the nautiluses. Photo by Tom Tobin
1. What did you study during undergrad? Did you know at the time you wanted to study jellies and ctenophores?
I double majored in Biology and Marine Science at the University of Miami with a minor in Chemistry. Deep sea animals and ecosystems were especially fascinating (we didn’t talk about them nearly enough in my classes!). I always loved jellies and thought that ctenophores were the most alien things I’d ever seen. I was interested in how these awesome animals evolved, why deep sea critters look so strange, and how animals make their own light.
Ctenophore Bolinopsis infundibulum at Friday Harbor Laboratories, WA.
Developing tunicate tadpole larvae (Ciona) at the Misaki Marine Labs.
2. What type of job opportunities have you had over the years during college and after college?
When I was in college, I was eligible for a Federal Work-Study. That allowed me to get a paying job working in a coral research lab. The skills I learned there really helped with my job hunt after college. I graduated in 2008, when the economy was still “free-falling”, and I was living in a job market that was one of the hardest hit from the crash. It took me a year after graduating to find full time work in science. I was exploring research technician jobs at universities and colleges in my area, as well as looking into government jobs. I eventually got a position in a medical research lab. It initially bummed me out what I wasn’t able to find a job in marine science, but I learned so much by switching disciplines.
Doing something completely different allowed me to build on the skill set I had in genetic work and learn a ton of other techniques that I wouldn’t have necessarily been exposed to. My mentor, Dr. Suzy Bianco, was awesome and my time in her lab allowed me to become a stronger applicant for graduate school and a better scientist.
I was worried for a while that working in another field might reflect negatively on me down the road (not sticking with just one thing), but it turned out to be the opposite!
Paris – Scientists vacation sometimes! Photo by Diego Valdes.
Bit of an aside… A lot of people end up volunteering in labs to get research experience, and it’s really critical to have that experience under your belt (one year commitment is minimum to get a lot of skills down) when applying for jobs post-undergrad or for graduate studies (med school, etc). So to anyone hoping to go into life sciences as a career, I’d highly recommend joining a lab during undergrad to get some experience!
Lauren showing off Ctenophore wound healing assays at Friday Harbor Laboratories in the San Juan Islands.
Sonicating tissue at the Misaki Marine Labs
3. Where have your studies and work taken you?
One of the awesome things about science as a career in general, and marine science in particular, is that there’s a lot of opportunity for travel. It’s one of the rewards of the job! There’s data to collect, collaborators to visit, conferences to attend, courses to take. Many universities (and marine laboratories) offer graduate-level courses for specific disciplines. Because there’s such a large international network of scientists in any field, a lot of conferences rotate between countries.
Here are some of the places where my studies have brought me, whether for collecting samples, having the chance to learn from others, or attending conferences:
Bocas del Toro, Panama – I took a course on larval invertebrate (mostly plankton!) diversity, form and function at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Pago Pago, American Samoa – I got to join collaborators on an expedition to collect nautilus. We used the tissue we obtained on a project examining the relationships of separate nautilus populations
Eilat, Israel – The Coelenterate Biology meetings were held in Israel (“coelenterate” is a term that used to be more commonly used to describe comb jellies and cnidarians.).
Misaki, Japan – As part of the E. S. Morse Institute (a scholarly exchange between marine biologists at the University of Washington and University of Tokyo). I attended an invertebrate embryology course at the University of Tokyo’s marine labs.
Pago Pago, American Samoa
It’s been fantastic to be able to connect with and learn from scientists around the world, as well as see some amazing nature first hand (the Red Sea! the amazing diversity of Indo-Pacific coral reefs!).
4. What kind of scientist do you consider yourself?
Biology is a huge discipline! I think cases where scientists are completely encompassed in one field are pretty rare. Usually research is spread across several sub-disciplines and the science is under a few different headings simultaneously. Broadly, I would say I’m a marine biologist – I study marine invertebrates. But what do I study about them? I’m interested in why the life we see is so diverse in form and color. How did all of this biodiversity evolve? So I’m an evolutionary biologist, but the way I study evolution is to look at the development of different animal groups (which genes are involved, etc.).
Sharing research with other students at the Misaki Marine Labs
In the lab, x-ray of a live nautilus (the animals are unharmed during this process). Pago Pago, American Samoa
5. Did you have any preconceived notions about science, or scientists, and did that change once you explored your career in it or do some of them remain?
Originally, I thought there would be a lot more outdoor exposure. It turns out field work makes up a small amount of the actual time I spend doing science. A majority of the efforts are actually spent analyzing the samples or data collected in the field. Also, you get very, very attached to your set of pipettes.
One great thing about marine biology, and something that was always attractive to me, was that I didn’t associate working in this field with the (often negative) stereotypical image of a stuffy scientist in a lab coat working in a stuffy acrid-smelling lab. Although, I did make the lab smell pretty awful just the other day when I was working with chemicals. I mean, does β-Mercaptoethanol have any olfactory equivalent? Smelly chemicals aside, I’ve come to discover that science is not stuffy.
Tidepooling at the Misaki Marine Labs.
Live crinoid! Misaki Marine Labs.
6. What led you to get a higher degree? How did you decide between staying at a Bachelor’s vs getting a Masters, or PhD?
I really wanted to be a scientist, as my career. I wanted to do research in marine science and after talking to people in the field and exploring job postings online, realized that to be able to have the career I wanted, I’d need a PhD.
Snorkeling in American Samoa. Photo by Tom Tobin
7. What were/are some big compromises or struggles you’ve experienced trying to make a career for yourself in the science world?
One of the biggest struggles that I’ve faced and witnessed friends deal with is balancing a career in science while still paying attention to other aspects of life (family, hobbies, friends). There’s a perception that if you’re going to be a successful scientist, you have to work 80 hours per week, to the detriment of spouses, family, health…
It seems like that paradigm may be slowly changing and that there’s a pretty recent, more active, conversation about work-life balance. There are many articles on the subject by people who are way more eloquent than I! I think that’s probably the largest functional challenge I have made or will have to make.
It’s something that I’m still struggling with and thinking about as I look to what my career might be like after I finish my PhD. Doing research is so satisfying, challenging, fun, and often dirty/salty/muddy (in short, awesome), and I’m not sure I’d be happy in another field. However, I don’t want the work to make up 100% of my day-to-day either. Everyone deals with it differently and I haven’t figured out what the best path forward for me would be yet.
Chilling next to a whale vertebra, Misaki Marine Labs
8. Did you get hooked by science immediately or was in more of a natural progression?
I grew up in South Florida and we have some awesome nature there. Coral reefs! The Everglades! Mangroves!
Spending time in this environment and exploring was such a joyful and comforting experience that I wanted to figure out a way to be around and think about the ocean all the time. I took advanced science classes whenever I could in school and was fortunate enough to have parents and family who signed me up for marine biology summer camps or took me to the beach, or snorkeling, or tide-pooling. I’ve always wanted to remain immersed in this field, and if I can even get paid to do it, hot damn!
Snorkeling in American Samoa. Photo by Tom Tobin
9. What keeps you motivated when you’re feeling the drudgery? What keeps science FUN for you?
I go outside! I head to the rocky intertidal here in Seattle, or make a point to go snorkeling when I visit my family in Florida.
Volunteering and outreach really keeps things fun, too. Working with kids and the public, I remember why I’m so jazzed about plankton and volcanoes and all things science. I get re-energized showing others how awesome our world is. Having a 2nd grader exclaim, “THAT’S SO COOL!” at a big green isopod you just handed them is a real pick-me-up.
Upper: Sorting fish caught in a trawl on the R/V Centennial. Friday Harbor Laboratories, WAl; Lower: Snorkeling in American Samoa
10. Advice you would tell youngsters; Some key points you wish you knew before you set out.
This is going to sound hugely cliché, but… do what makes you happy. If science classes are your favorite, keep at it! Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too hard or there’s MATH or that you have to have perfect standardized test scores. There are a lot of opportunities out there at any level (bachelor’s degrees, PhDs, whatever!) to do what makes you happy.
No one goes into this field for the money, it’s not exactly the most well paying gig, but I do science because I love it and wouldn’t be as satisfied with any other career.
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. – Les Brown
Want more?
Make sure you check out more photos from Lauren’s scientific adventures in the Woman Scientist Facebook album.
All photos courtesy of Lauren Vandepas.
(Featured Image Thumbnail: Selfie with a turtle at the aquarium in Eilat, Israel)
This month I heard about two young ladies who have created brilliant ‘why-didn’t-I-think-of-that-already‘ ideas (yes, I’m holding back envy while simultaneously full of admiration).
Kina McAllister used Kickstarter to developed “Stem Box”
Cindy Wu developed “Experiment” to be the new Kickstarter-like platform for science projects
The interesting thing is that both stories involve crowd-source funding platforms.
I wanted to share these two stories with you in hopes that they inspire YOU to feel confident about your ideas and find ways to speak up about them!
Kina McAllister created Stem Box – kits you can order that are filled with cool and gross science experiments. She used the crowd-source funding platform Kickstarter to raise $22,943 and funded her campaign to disseminate kits around the country with the hope that they will attract more girls into science. Kina is in her twenties and is a research technician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle Washington.
Read the full story about how she started her idea.
Cindy Wu and Experiment
Photo source: NY Times – Women in the World
Cindy Wu, in her early twenties, created a crowd-source funding platform called Experiment specifically designed for funding scientific research. A recent college graduate from University of Washington, Cindy wanted to take her research further. She was frustrated this wasn’t a possibility because of the restrictions from government agencies: she was young, didn’t have a PhD and she wanted less than $25,000. She wondered why a crowd-funding platform like Kickstarter or Kiva didn’t exist specifically for scientific research, so she dropped out of graduate school to create it herself. With a quick pitch of her idea she raised $1.2 million dollars.
These ladies had some fantastic ideas they executed and made into realities.
We all have good ideas (even if you think you don’t)! Truth moment: For whatever psychological reasons, I am the type of person who constantly feels inspired to have ideas, but then gets frustrated that they never seem to arrive; Alternatively, I feel like everything has already been thought of so what genius ideas could possibly be left for me to think.
I’m not telling you this to get you to join my pity party, I’m telling you this because 1) I know I’m probably not alone in these thoughts and 2) I want you to feel supported and confident with your ideas, because we can additionally think, “Holy cow! These women had ideas that they might have thought weren’t worth pursuing, and yet, they created resources they wanted simply because they needed them and wouldn’t accept that they just didn’t exist.”
What do I wish existed and can I do something today that might make the slightest change in what I think is important for the world?
They didn’t give up on their ideas or put them aside. They played with them until they created their reality.
Self-promoting scientists? Usually, strategic marketing and promotion skills are reserved for the business world, for businesses and entrepreneurs. Not for scientists. They don’t have a brand, they aren’t selling anything for consumers to buy, so they have no reason to self-promote.
… Or do they?
Many people are doing amazing research. I personally love hearing about it, I’m sure the public would love to know about it as well as other aspiring scientists, and government and philanthropic funding agencies should know about it. Government funding is becoming more scarce nowadays and scientists are forced to think more creatively about getting noticed. We can no longer hide behind our beakers and stick to our solitary interests expecting fame and wealth to come from only NSF or NIH. We have to embrace the attitude and spirit of promotion and marketing and we can learn a lot from those in the business world.
As an example, Bill Nye The Science Guy, recently put out a Kickstarter Campaign asking for $200,000 from the public to create a solar sailing space craft. What’s a scientist doing asking the general public for money?! If you watch his videos you realize he is embracing his inner nerd, putting out a message he thinks is important to research and he is asking citizens to help fund it because government funding isn’t enough. I admire that he did this! He understands that ultimately to further research possibilities, exposing yourself on social media, blogs, and other news sources may help those goals by tapping into additional funding sources from philanthropic agencies and even the general public.
But Self-Promotion Seems so Slimy and is Not My Style.
There are many reasons a scientist may not be interested or even good at self-promotion: These could include wanting to avoid harsh scrutiny, having insecurities about being exposed, not knowing how to make a presence outside of the lab, being too busy writing grants to do so, being too lazy to care about this aspect of outreach, or feeling silly exposing your passion and nerdiness.
If you are of the latter, then I want you to watch this video by Marie Forleo, a self-made multi-million dollar business woman who I take advice from:
The question is: How do you speak well of your brand (or your science) and let the passion shine through? How do you unabashedly blow your own trumpet? How do you do this without feeling like you’re bragging?
“Shameless self-promotion implies there should be shame in self-promotion. [… ] Where did we learn that self-promotion is bad? And why do we accept that as the truth? […] If we speak about something we do or have done, why is that a bad thing? Is joy and confidence and pride something to be shameful about?”
Marie Forleo brings in a great perspective on this issue. She is speaking to entrepreneurs in the business world and I think it can translate to us scientists in our world.
I summarize her points below, but don’t short-change yourself: Go watch the video!
If you do something great focus on what you can give, not what you can get. The world needs that special gift that only you have and if you hold back from self-promoting you hold back from those who need you most. You never know if someone needs to hear about what you do.
Stop caring about what other people think. We are afraid people wont like us, they’ll judge us, we’ll be scrutinized as being poor scientists. People already judge you, so just ask yourself who are you living your life for? Who are you doing your science for?
Do not be a broken record when you promote yourself. Have other things to talk about. Have variety in different topics. And make sure you celebrate other people!
The world needs more scientists to get out there. Do you think Bill Nye felt shameful about promoting his idea and asking citizens for their help in funding it? No! His ultimate goal goes beyond his ego. He’s doing it for the science!
If you’re in science, and you love what you do, then share it with the world!
How does a scientist choose a project or a scientific problem?
In E O Wilson’s auto-biography Naturalist he reveals his motivation in becoming a myrmecologist (specialist in ants): As a young boy he blinded himself with the spine of a poisonous fish and after surgery and treatment he was left with 20/10. He lost his stereoscopic vision but was able to see fine print and small hairs on the bodies of insects.
“I noticed butterflies and ants more than other kids did, and took an interest in them automatically.”
His reduced ability to observe mammals and birds led him to concentrate on insects ultimately leading him down the path to becoming the world’s leading expert on ants (among many other topics including biodiversity and sociobiology).
If he had not blinded himself, would he had chosen these same scientific problems to research? Perhaps not.
“The projects that a particular researcher finds interesting are an expression of a personal filter, a way of perceiving the world. This filter is associated with a set of values: the beliefs of what is good, beautiful, and true versus what is bad, ugly, and false. Our unique filter is what we bring to the table as scientists.” -Uri Alon
Uri Alon, a Professor and Systems Biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, gives us his perspective on the matter in this excellent article which you can read here:
Samantha amidst a field of carcasses in Cordova, Alaska. Prince William Sound Science Center Wild-Hatchery Salmon Project. Photo by Kate Ruck
Meet Samantha Goebel: hiker enthusiast, wildlife field biologist, and self proclaimed fish geek.
Her love for the outdoors and willingness to travel has allowed her to work during and post college in a variety of locations ranging from North Dakota to Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. During her undergraduate, she spent time as an intern at Shenandoah National Park participating with a fish monitoring project conducting electrofishing sampling surveys, collecting morphological data, and assessing riparian stream habitats. Immediately after graduation, she flew to North Dakota to begin her first field technician position working with the USGS on a study looking at the impact of oil activity on prairie bird distributions. This summer, Samantha is heading back out for her second field season with the Prince William Sound Science Center’s Hatchery-Wild Salmon Research Project in Cordova, Alaska. To bridge her time in between jobs, Samantha works at an outdoor gear and apparel company where she gleans the thoughts of similarly minded outdoor junkies.
She doesn’t stop there! Next summer, she has grand plans to hike the Appalachian Trail and she eventually plans to return to school to complete a graduate degree in Fisheries Science.
Samantha has some great stories and great advice for those who wish to follow in similar footsteps. Let’s find out what she has to say!
Brown Bear Tracks photo credit: Samantha Goebel
What was your Bachelor’s degree in and at what point in life did you know what you wanted to do?
For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a scientist. As a child I was drawn to marine science. During family trips to the Outerbanks and the Chesapeake Bay, I enjoyed listening to environmental educators talk about protecting our waterways from pollution and liter. Marine life, especially dolphins, fascinated me.
When beginning college, I was torn between art and science. During high school I found art as an outlet. I highly respect professional artists but it was a hobby for me not a career. Naturally, I followed the path of science. I began college with an emphasis in Environmental Science at New England College. My sophomore year, I decided to transfer to Juniata College, another small liberal arts school with extremely strong academics. At Juniata College, I changed my major to Wildlife Conservation. I was not interested in working an office job and most Environmental Science majors become consultants, lawyers, or engineers. I wanted to be in the field researching and implementing conservation strategies. I graduated from Juniata College in May 2014 with an emphasis in Wildlife Conservation.
Orca Whale. Photo credit: Samantha Goebel
What type of related job opportunities have you had over the years during and post college? Were they difficult to find? How did you decide which ones to go after?
I had a variety of seasonal field technician positions mostly related to bird and fish research. A field technician is a researcher who collects data to be analyzed by the head biologist of a larger agency. A bachelor degree in a related field of science is require for most technician positions.
Searching for technician positions is fairly easy but the jobs are extremely competitive as they receive many applicants. The best search engine I have used is the Texas A&M Job Board. I found that applying to as many jobs that interest you is the best strategy to ensure you have a summer field position, especially for your first job. My first job out of college, I found on the Texas A&M Job Board. After applying to about thirty positions I landed a job working with USGS as a prairie bird research technician in North Dakota. Be persistent and apply to as many jobs that you can. Once you have some experience under your belt, you become more competitive in the job market and job hunting becomes easier.
The second most important way to obtain a job is by maintaining connections. Three jobs I obtained by having connections with professors and friends who informed me about job openings. My first internship during college was at Shenandoah National Park as a fisheries monitoring and management intern. The position was advertised on USAJOBS and SCA job boards but I missed the posting. I heard about the position through a friend and called to see if there was still an opening. Sure enough, they had a person bail last minute and I was hired. USAJOBS is a great resource for government positions. SCA is a good resource for summer internships. Also, stay in contact with your professors. Through my connections with my professor, I was able to volunteer with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and work as a fisheries technician in Alaska. Maintain your connections and job opportunities will open up to you.
Lastly, be willing to travel. I never thought I would end up in North Dakota but it was a great experience to work with USGS. I have worked in North Dakota, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In this career field, you have the opportunity to travel and see places most people never see in their lifetime.
Working on an Eastern Wild Turkey research project with Pennsylvania Game Commission. Photo Credit: Talia Valencia and Rex
Did you have any preconceived notions about science, or scientists, and has that changed once you explored your career in it?
I had a preconceived notion that scientists spent a majority of their time in the field researching but that is not true. A full time biologist spends the majority of their time analyzing data in the lab, writing research papers and completing paperwork. The field technicians do the majority of the field work and collecting data.
Collecting every crucial piece of data. Photo by DJanka www.auklet.com
What kind of scientist do you consider yourself?
I consider myself a seasonal field technician. I take seasonal full-time research positions and collect data for biologists who work for government and/or private agencies. I enjoy what I do because I like to get outside and collect data for research projects that have important implications to future conservation and management plans.
Electrofishing riparian streams in Shenandoah National Park for the fish monitoring internship. Photo Credit: Matt Lippy
You said you eventually want to get a graduate degree in Fisheries Science. What do you personally see as the pros and cons of either staying in the work force or getting a higher academic degree like a masters or PhD immediately? What were your reasons for not going directly into a graduate program?
I have discovered that a graduate degree is necessary to obtain permanent positions in the career field today. I did not go into a graduate program immediately after graduating college because I wanted to explore my career field more. I wanted to gain a better understanding of what I would like to focus my research on. A bachelors degree in Wildlife Conservation gives a person the opportunity to focus on many fields including: botany, fisheries, birds, reptiles, mammals, and more. When graduating from Juniata College, I thought I wanted to study birds. However, after working a few bird-related jobs, I have decided that is not the path for me. Then I thought about working with fish. After working a few field jobs with fish, I believe this is the path I want to follow for graduate school. I really enjoy the high activity involved with fish research and the many implications to fisheries management. I am not in a rush to go to graduate school. I want to spend the next two years traveling and working field positions across the nation. Plus I plan on hiking the Appalachian trail next summer. My current plan is begin applying for graduate programs in 2016 after hiking the Appalachian trail.
Hogan Bay. Photo credit: Samantha Goebel
Have you had to make any big compromises or had struggles trying to make a career for yourself in the science world?
Yes, I believe every scientist struggles with balancing personal life and career life. Post-graduation I immediately flew to North Dakota and started working for USGS as a prairie bird technician. I had three days to move out of my off-campus house, take all my things home, visit family, and pack for North Dakota. I worked in North Dakota from May to July.
After completing the job, I was offered another position in Alaska working for Prince William Sound and Science Center. I had two weeks to book flights, fly home, unpack from North Dakota, pack for Alaska, visit family in Virginia, visit my boyfriend in Pennsylvania, and fly to Alaska. I worked in Alaska as a fisheries technician seven days a week from July to September with limited internet and phone connection. I was able to use my phone once a day for about five minutes. This was stressful for my family and my boyfriend because they would rarely hear from me and would never know when I was going to call.
After finishing the job in Alaska, I took some personal time to visit my cousin in California and I took a trip to Sicily with my family. I traveled until the end of October and I had not visited my boyfriend much. In November, I was offered a job with an observing company to work as a scientist aboard a fishing boat in the Bering Sea. I badly want to take the position but this would mean being away from my family and my boyfriend for another three months with limited phone connection. I knew my relationships would suffer so I declined the position and moved to Pennsylvania to be close to my boyfriend. Currently, I am working at an outdoor retail store in State College called Appalachian Outdoors. Yes I would rather be working on the Bering Sea but sometimes in the field of science you have to make sacrifices to maintain your relationships. There will always be positions available once I have enjoyed some time at home.
It’s the small things that keep life fun. Photo credit: Alex Witter
Who inspired (or currently inspires) you to go down the path of science?
My parents were my largest inspiration. Growing up we spent most of our free time outdoors hiking, biking, skiing, and kayaking. They took me to environmental education programs for kids where I listened to different science talks. I was encouraged as a young child to protect our environment and respect nature. My passion for the outdoors nourished a passion for science. My parents encouraged me to do what makes me happy. They always said, “Money does not pay for happiness”. They supported my decisions to study science at the college of my choosing. I didn’t make the right decision at first. But I found my path along the way and I am a proud alumni of Juniata College.
Growing up in the outdoors: Me as a little girl at Shenandoah River Outfitters, my family’s canoe company in Luray, VA. Photo credit: Andrea Goebel
Who do you aspire to be like?
I aspire to be me. I aspire to live a life that inspires others, to accomplish impossible things, and to achieve many goals.
Galapagos Tortoise. Photo credit: Ashley Foguel
What keeps you motivated when you’re feeling the drudgery? What keeps science FUN for you?
Good humor keeps me motivated. Sometimes the sky will unleash a terrible storm but you must work on to collect the data. I simply make light of the difficult situation and remember that I am doing this to make a difference. I am working towards a goal to preserve wildlife for future generations; each project has an important goal and it is my job to achieve that goal.
Strictly for bear protection. Photo Credit: Kate Ruck
Advice you would tell youngsters (high school/college age); Some key points you wish you knew or that you keep in mind as you go forward in your career.
I would recommend youngsters in any career to try and gain career-related experience through volunteer opportunities or internships before graduating college. Also, I recommend them to maintain good connections and to apply to any job that interests them even if they do not think their qualified. Do not get discouraged, just keep applying to as many jobs as possible and the hard work will pay off.
Starfish Stomach. Photo credit: Samantha Goebel
What is your favorite job thus far?
My favorite job was working for Prince William Sound Science Center in Alaska. Not many women would be willing to jump aboard a vessel to collect bone and tissue samples from rotting salmon carcasses. But the job absolutely fascinated me. I enjoyed hiking through wild salmon streams where I had more contact with fish than people. Further, I was excited to work on a project of such importance. The results of this project will help determine whether more hatcheries are built in Prince William Sound, affecting the local economy and fisheries management strategies. If you would like to read more about my time in Alaska or other travels visit my blog. I will be returning to Alaska this summer and I will continue to blog about my journeys.
Me holding rotting chum salmon, YUM! photo credit: Kate Ruck
In 2014 Allison Lee volunteered with the Tambopata Macaw Project lead by Dr. Donald Brightsmith and Rainforest Expeditions at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru.
Almost a year and a half later, she has finally managed to turn some of the video footage she took into time-lapse movies to share with you all. This is a glimpse into how biologists keep tabs on the growth and development of macaw chicks in the wild.
The first time-lapse video (2x-4x speed) shows Allison reaching in to a natural nesting cavity 80 feet off the ground. The 15 day old macaw chick is naked and very unstable. The time-lapse accentuates this motion and makes it look even more so but she swears she was actually slow and gentle with him!
The second time-lapse video shows Allison returning two scarlet macaw chicks, nearly ready to fledge at about 45 days, back to their artificial wooden nest 60 feet off the ground just as a downpour of rain strikes.
Now, some words from Allison:
Long long ago, in 2007 to be exact, I had heard about Tambopata Research Center through a coworker who was obsessed with birds. He had just gone on an eco-tourism trip to the jungle and suggested I do the same. I looked into the pricing and decided that spending $250/night to be whisked away deep into the Amazon Jungle was worth the adventure.
Tambopata Research Center is one of three beautiful lodges managed by Rainforest Expeditions, a Peruvian operated eco-tourism business. It is located along the Tambopata River near Puerto Maldonado in the heart of one of the world’s best ornithological hotspots for viewing macaws, parrots and other animals in the wild.
In 2008, I set off for my first visit into the jungle. It was beautiful. My inner shaman squealed at seeing all the peruvian delights and the sweeping rainforest canopy that you only see in aerial shots on nature TV. Here I was seeing it all live in person.
One evening at the lodge, a biology researcher gave the “tourists” a presentation about the Macaw Project. He explained the importance of these beautiful birds and explained the research led by Dr. Donald Brightsmith. At that moment I knew I had to find a way to come back as a volunteer scientist and get involved in jungle conservation.
…Years passed…
Fast forward five years to 2013. One day an email came to my inbox from the Ornithological Societies of North America (OSNA) listserv that I subscribed to detailing various volunteer positions available at the Tambopata Research Center working with biologists on the Macaw Project.
Macaws at TRC?! This was my long lost desire! No questions. I had to do it. The best part was, that as a volunteer you got to stay in the same lodge interacting with the wildlife at a mere $20 a day! Why did I ever come as a tourist?!
I spent three-awesome-filled weeks during the wet season mucking through flooded jungle trails, carrying a machete, swinging high in the tree tops anywhere from 40-100 feet off the ground, and handling the most gorgeous baby macaws. I also met a great group of people and even met the lovely young lady, Annie Hawkison, a biologist whose interview you can read if you click her name.
I thought the jungle would be a place I could relax and commune with nature. Quite the opposite. I was surrounded by a number of flesh eating bugs, stinging wasps and inch long ants that pack the punch of a bullet shot should you be unlucky enough to get stung. I was on edge the entire time.
Peru was generous enough to send me home with a gift; I managed to come back with parasites! Not just any parasites, but three bot fly larval parasites. You can read about that entire story here.
Bot fly larva head removed from my back. Look at those vicious hooks!
To read more about Allison Lee’s experiences doing research in the jungles of Peru see her website here.
Remember that glowing night scene in Avatar when the two blue aliens bonded under Pandora’s magical forest? I was hypnotized. I wanted it to exist on Earth. I wanted to be there. It reminds me of my childhood: sitting under the glowing blue Christmas tree lights, chasing after fireflies with my grandparents in New York, carrying around my Glo Worm doll (please tell me you had one too.). I’ve started to compile a list of places and things that exist on Earth which glow in the same magical Pandora-esque way. To please the child within.
TURTLES
Newest discovery, by David Gruber, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, shows that hawksbill sea turtles bio-fluoresce! Read more.
SCORPIONS
ARX3PR Scorpion (Hadruus arizonensis) under a black light. Image shot 2004.
During an entomology class in college I discovered scorpions glow in the dark under UV light. Overturn any number of rocks and see what you find! Why would scorpions glow? Apparently David Gaffin has figured out some answers. “Gaffin and co-workers have tested scorpion activity under different light wavelengths (including UV-light) with eyes covered or not. The results suggest that scorpion cuticular fluorescence actually may be involved in their perception of light and contributes to orientation and light-avoidance behavior (e.g. helps the decision to stay in their burrow until outside light conditions are optimal for avoiding predators etc.).” Take a look at the article in Discover Magazine.
When I was a field biologist studying birds, I was told owl wing feathers glow under UV light. I didn’t believe it, so I looked it up and sure enough it is a novel technique scientists use to age juvenile owls. You an also read about it in this scientific publication.
“You can imagine that trying to assess the quality of feathers under dim light from headlamps, incandescent or fluorescent bulbs is something of a challenge, but until the mid 1990’s, this was simply how it was done. In 1982, researcher, Bruce A. Colvin discovered that porphyrin in the newly molted feathers of Barn Owls fluoresced under UV light. This organic compound fades over time and with exposure to light, making different generations of feathers easily identified using a UV light.” -Ann Nightingale
CORAL REEFS
I recently watched a PBS documentary showing coral reefs fluorescing under UV light! “There are several theories provided by scientists, and perhaps the most likely reason is that it acts as a kind of “sun block” for the coral protecting the zooxanthallae inside the coral from the harmful rays of the sun . Marine Biologists say that this property could perhaps protect shallow coral from bleaching or provide deeper coral the ability to absorb the UV light from the sun and reflect it back to the zooxanthallae allowing them to photosynthesize in the absence of sufficient sunlight.” Being a diver, this makes me want to go night diving immediately. Who is with me?
FLOWERS
From R-L: The same flower with human vision, only UV vision (bright = UV), simulated bee vision (UV+G+B), simulated bird vision (tetrachromatcic: UV+R+G+B). (Photos: (c) Dr Klaus Schmitt, Weinheim, Germany, uvir.eu ) See more photos here.
Bees see flowers in a much different cloak than our human eye can detect. The guide patterns are caused by UV-absorbing substances and provide visual pollinating clues directing the bees to the center where they can find the flower’s pollen.
BIOLUMINESCENCE
To see more beautiful photos, click the squid above.
National Geographic did an awesome article about bioluminescence, called Luminous Life in their March 2015 issue. “Evolving to make light seems to be relatively easy—it has happened independently in at least 40 different lineages.” -Olivia Judson
If you ever get a chance to go out on the water during a new moon and look at the bioluminescence, you will be blown away. It truly is a magical experience.
There are way more fluorescing treasures I did not highlight here, so be sure to take a look. With all this glowing talk I feel inspired to throw a black light party for the humans!
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