Friday, May 24, 2013

Summer Plans and Such

I wanted to start a blog so that I could keep friends, family and coworkers informed about what I am up to all summer without making 50 phone calls a day (I hate the phone..) Honestly, I don't even know if I will have access to a phone. 

There a TON planned for this summer, it will be memorable.  First there is Puerto Rico and a day after I get back, I'll be off with Worm to Peru to explore the Western coast of South America from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile during their winter.  Hopefully we will both be brushing up on our spanish in the next few months..  

I am heading to Puerto Rico (no, not Costa Rica as everyone likes to mistake it) on Monday morning June 3, 2013 at roughly 5:30am.  It's so early, I will probably skip the coffee and take a nap instead.  I have been so excited about the trip lately, I have all my gear ready except for a few items. (knife, travel towel, rain boots etc.)  I am going to Puerto Rico because I was accepted for an REU, Research Experience for Undergraduates, after applying to about 10 different locations.  These programs are all across the United States and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  The point is to learn something about science, specifically here, tropical ecosystem ecology while experiencing a new place outside of my comfort zone.  I will be staying in the Luquillo Forest, which is a Long Term Ecological Research Site (LTER).  These LTER's, which are in numerous places about the US and the Arctic are dedicated to research in Ecology across large spatial and temporal scales.  

Another name for the Luquillo Forest is the El Yunque National Forest (same exact boundary) and within that, The University of Puerto Rico's El Verde Field Station. At the field station, where I will be housed I will be working on a project with my mentor, Sofia Burgos-Caraballo.  I am so excited to meet her but have only been in contact by email thus far.  We are designing a project based upon the effects humans can have on aquatic ecosystem function.  Our focus is the biofilm (algae, the slippery stuff and lots of other microbes, silt, fungi detritus, etc.) that forms on surfaces in rivers and streams.  This REU is perfect for me for because I am interested in river and stream (riparian) ecology and also, anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems.  In Puerto Rico, our project will combine the two.

I am super duper excited, my trip is only a week away.  More than anything, I am happy to get the chance to experience something that will teach me something about field biology and my own budding interests in ecology.    

I'll miss you guys!