May 24. one final blog post

 7 sites in a day, and then I was done.

D13 was a little midslope with a fallen hemlock.

E13 was on Johnson Road, and had plenty of regeneration, alongside two pines.

F13 was on a bend in Johnson Road, and was surprisingly quick.

F14 reunited me with a long-lost hiking stick.

E14 was in a ditch. 

F15 was a nightmare to get to, but to the west there was a throne of a tree.

C11 was a wrap, a little hole in our grid filled in, and the little trickled out of mud pond.

I'm done, and tired. hope you liked my little fieldwork poem

May 23. Failing words.

 I did sites A11 and A12 today, finishing up the a transect. After that, I headed back to campus for a little spreadsheet wrangling and data sheet design. Honestly, I’m beginning to tire out, but there’s only 19 more sites left. This always was greater than a senior project for me. English is failing me here, as I’m searching for a possessive that does not alienate others. This is my project, even as the purpose of its completion is not to own it, or even though it’s architecture is not of my design. I don’t know, there’s a certain group individualism that’s striking a contradiction. 

One more tomorrow, as I have 4.2 hours left to meet requirements.

May 22: what now.

Well, another week, another reflection. Unfortunately for me, I have a certain lack of material to reflect on. In science, replication is key, but unfortunately it means that I have little more to reflect on the process itself, my opinion clouded by over a hundred repetitions. I suppose I can wax philosophical on the value of a highly refined system, or I can share little unheeded optimizations I’ve made to the process. It matters how you put the string on the stake, with one handedness allowing the string to slip clockwise, the direction we sweep from the site from north, and the other will clam up and wind around the stake. The reference flagging can orient you to north, saving a single moment of looking down at a compass. When assessing forest structure, don’t immediately look up into the leafy sky, but first around the understory, where visibility is greater. I guess I’m trying to point out the subtle power of changing repetition, where every site is different, and how I’ve learned how to give every little detail conscious thought. Heck, I even avoid stepping on rarer regeneration as I’m hiking, identifying seedlings before my foot falls. Beech still gets trampled. 

I think again I’m running into the problem that I haven’t learned much substantial new for this senior project, but rather I’m solidifying skills I already tentatively had. Most of the insight I’ve had this week falls into one of three categories: sounds dumb is smart, sounds smart is dumb, or sounds dumb is dumb. For example, in no specific order, Red Oak regeneration is present in most sites by Mud Pond, New England Spring nights are cold, and I should tie my pencil to my string. I’ll let you sort out which ones are which. 

But, overall, I wouldn’t change what I’m doing for my senior project. It's a worthwhile use of my acquired skills, and I am having fun doing it. At this rate, I plan to keep helping Laura after senior project, and technically after I graduate, because I’ve realized that the Proctor research forest is greater than any one person’s aspirations, but rests on the backs of a few individuals’ motivation. And I’m one of them, and all we need is 21 more repetitions of the exact thing that we’ve been doing to get all 150 sites done. As of writing this, we have 1762 trees in the dataset, and 21 sites to go. The end is in sight. Site I13 or D13 most likely.

May 20: 3 sites and professionals(kinda)

 I started today with getting lost on my way to B13. Don’t worry, I found it, but not after fighting 3 separate beech trees (I won all three, cry about it beeches) and one wet boulder (I don’t want to talk about it, OK?). Of note, red oak regeneration is at B13!  I then returned to campus for lunch, and after attended the exclusive proctor academy triannual forest ecology conference (FERn final presentations). Shirley and Lagan both studied disturbances in the woodlands, and presented their research. Shirley specifically looked at the differences between the anthropogenic fire and logging in the research forest, while Lagan looked at the influences of pasture and plow farming has even years down the line on a new growth forest. They both did excellent work.

After that, I went to go finish up the B transect with Alan, and we finished B11 and B12. B11 had four hop hornbeams in the canopy around and in the site, which is very unusual, as it’s usually in the midstory and understory. Alan got to see some birds and got a little more practical field experience.

After that, we hiked down, got dinner, and then I hiked all the way back up, to camp at mud pond shelter. The weather app claims a low of 56 degrees, but we’ll see how that goes. I’ve done a total of 59.1 hours of work so far, and pictures will come tomorrow. Toodle do!

May 19: A Birthday well spent.

 I started today with two full sites of data, with a measuring tape ribbon as my finish line for a sprint out of the rain. B14 and B13 crossed off the list. After that mad dash up and down Johnson Road, I had a light lunch of 4 bowls of cereal (the cons of making your own schedule and missing the scheduled lunch). Then, due to dreary weather, I met up with Isabel and Alan to work on a ".readme" of sorts for the research forest, which once complete, should help future stewards to keep our same methods. After that, I had a minor existential crisis about turning 20, and then went to go see Shrek. it was hilarious.

shorter blog today, as I'm all tired out. I've done 54.3 hours, or 73% of the 75 required hours.

May 18: Cold night lovely day

     I woke up shivering today, at 3:45 AM, to a monster gust of 40-degree air that blew through my sleeping bag. Let's just say that the weather app lies. I rolled over and waited for the day to warm up. After a cold night, I bushwhacked (literally, I use my walking stick like a machete) up to site B15, which had a crazy 4 stem canopy red maple, and a lot of beech. Beech sites are a menace because dense regeneration is difficult to move through, and managing a measuring tape, the string for the site radius, and a clipboard is a bit much.

    Afterwards, I headed back for lunch, and then drove up Meadowlark to tackle two sites with crazy regeneration with Laura and Isabel. Walking to the sites, we encountered textbook exit holes for Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive that is decimating ash trees. Photos are below. In total, I15 and I14 had over 100 trees combined as result of previous logging. Notably, there were some notable species regenerating, like red oak and bigtooth aspen, as well as a few doomed ash trees. 

    Tomorow, I'm going back up to B14 and B13, working my way down from the top of the grid. So far, I've worked 50 hours, or 2/3 of my hours. Oh right, pictures:

The incredible four stem red oak. This photo was taken using my fisheye lens.

Textbook Emerald Ash Borer exit hole

This is blonding, or dead bark as a result of Emerald Ash Borer

This is not Emerald Ash Borer. It's just a cool bug.

I appreciate the meme, Laura. Now everyone will see it.

May 17: oak regeneration!

I started today a little later, to squeeze in one last advisory Dunks run. After a latte that my health conscious father would disapprove of, I felt ready to take on the days challenges (dad it was only five total shots of espresso). I headed up to I08 and I09 to take site data on public property, and found red oak regeneration! Red oak is a very good indicator of Forest health, and is a valuable lumber tree, so it gets cut down often, so it’s good to see some little saplings. After that, I prepped some field gear on campus, specifically 5 meter strings we use to find which trees are in our sites. After that, Laura, Isabel, and I headed up to sites G15 and G14 to take data, only stopping to admire some beautiful bigtooth aspen trees. 

So far I have done 43.4 hours of work on my senior project, and look forward to tomorrow, when I can post photos.