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.

May 16: the threat of thunder.

 Unfortunately, I didn't do much today. With the weather app predicting thunder in the morning, I planned to do some simple definitional writing, clarifying any unusual terms in the dataset. So I did, but was annoyed to hear no thunder from my desk. Gotta love New England unpredictability, as the thunder came in the afternoon. So, I didn't go into the woods in the afternoon, and quickly lost steam on defining terms, although some are very entertaining (I'm looking at you, gorgeous, awesome, and hugging). Hopefully, I'll be able to sort through a methods of sorts, to help leave the research forest with a user's manual. And hopefully I'll see some forest for the trees tomorrow.

alright, see y'all soon!

May 15: Week One Reflection.

I, so far, have learned nothing new on my senior project. I’m ecstatic about that, because it means that I have built useful skills, as a field researcher, as a communicator, as a writer, and as a scientist. I’ve been prepared, and it’s been wonderful. This senior project feels like the capstone of my senior year. The practical knowledge of our methods and means to gather data is something that I’ve learned during Research Crew (check out Brian’s blog post) and as a part of FERn (Forest Ecology Research desigN). When it comes to writing, the precision and attention to detail of AP Computer Science and the papers of FERn let me define and specify, while Composition had me practice the structure and clarity required to not lose my voice in those details. In learning skills, I learned how to work with, instead of against, my neurodivergence, to trust myself with key items but not with anything replaceable or unimportant. I created a spreadsheet to track my hours, something I would have never done a year ago! 

I’m really enjoying spending all day in the woods. Turns out “taking a stupid walk for your stupid mental health” (to quote hank green) works. It’s been fun, and bird calls at 6 am seem to be my sleeper agent morning person activation code, as long as I have caffeine. I finished the reference flagging on the entirety of the plot grid, and I’ve started on data on the sites surrounding Mud Pond. I’ve explained what the research grid is all about to the entire school, and (somehow) made data (somewhat) interesting. It’s been a lot of up into the forest and down out onto campus and up and down and– you get the idea. When I started this project, I didn’t really expect anything unique, just more of the same. The sites we’re finishing up are the far ones, and with that just comes the inconveniences of being closer to the middle of nowhere: longer hikes, less connected and maintained trails, more difficult water access, exc. All I expected was for it to take time.

And as of right now, it has: with 5 days of work under my belt, I have worked 33.5 hours, or about 45% of the required 75 hours (that spreadsheet is coming in handy right now). I’m really excited for next week, where I’ll do a little bit of writing up methods and terms, and a bunch more data. Hey you. Yes, you reader. You’re cool.

May 13: Solo Data

     On May 13 I took data solo in the morning. Waking up at site A14 meant that my walk to the center of the site took 30 seconds, which was nice. It took way too long to do each site, as I had to manage every aspect of data collection myself: the 5 meter string which we use to find the edge of the plot, the diameter tape, the clipboard with the datasheet, the tree ID, and the not falling due to the treacherous footing. With A14 and A15 done, I packed up and went to campus for water. After unceremoniously walking into the proctor pond, I took the opportunity to lie in the sun. 

    Later in the afternoon, Laura, Isabel and I rode in the woodlands truck up meadowlark and took data on sites H14 and H15. We pulled plenty of ticks off of ourselves, and I practiced my tree ID. Black Cherry and Black Birch have similar bark, but I can now tell them apart from their leaves.

As of right now, I have worked 33.5 hours for senior project.

May 12: multiple extremes

 I started today by giving a presentation at assembly. I ended today up at A14, with no civilization in sight. I’m gonna ramble a little bit— right after that assembly I pretty much hiked for 4 and a half hours, did data for another 1 and a half, and then hiked all the way out to a14, which took another hour.

First, I have to thank John Bouton, my English teacher for two thirds of this year.  What I presented was the fusion of storytelling skills he helped me cultivate and the practical and scientific knowledge that Laura (who I will also sing the praises of) taught me. I heard in my head the night before in his voice “who’s your audience?”, and it helped me cut down on details, and focus more on purpose. 

Once I gave that talk, I walked off into the woods. I had reference flagging to finish. And finish I did. After that, I walked down to campus to refill on water, and then rode out to J11 and I11. Then after dinner, I hiked up and set up camp on the hemlock ridge that a14 is located on.

Photos tomorrow, toodle-do.

May 11: New England Weather is a Doozy.

    When I woke up today, it was 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrrrrrr. Yet 6 hours later, it was 75 and buggy. I suppose that's what New England does best. While I planned to get a super early start today, I didn't. I stayed nice and cozy in my sleeping bag until it had warmed up to a sensible 45 degrees at about 8:00 AM. After a breakfast of jerky and yesterday's Jakes, I hiked off to polish up more reference flagging behind mud pond. A12, A13, A14, A15, B12, B13, B14, B15, C15, D13, D14, and D15 to be specific. Then I returned to the shelter, had a lovely Suprise encounter with Drew (out on a run, I'm not in trouble), and hiked in for lunch.

    After a lazy lunch, I met back up with the dream team Laura and Isabel to take data. We drove up Meadowlark, to save an hour of hiking, and managed to do not one, not two, not three, but four sites of data. We saw some crazy regeneration, and a few early successional and a few wet loving species. Then we saw what has to be largest tree in the forest on our way back down.
    Then, this night I threw together google slides presentation that I'll give at assembly tomorrow. A little treat of data is after the pictures. Oh, and a correction: I stated that the grid covers 3.7 acres when it in fact covers 370 acres. I forgot to square my 100. Also, as of today, I have worked about 20.3 hours total, or 27% of the required hours. I think I'm going to go over.

Crazy condensation bed head

This is a good tree, please appreciate.

Reference flagging tragedy (don't worry, I fixed it.)

Thank you Drew! This one isn't a selfie.

These are the species of all trees in the forest, by percent! Data is cool.

May 10: The great sharpy fiasco

I'm writing this post from Mud Pond, both thankful and annoyed at my relatively good Internet connection. It's quite serene, with the sun just now dipping below the treeline to birdsong lullaby. today I added reference flagging numbers to a bunch of sites: all of row 11 and part of row 12. We use reference flagging for two reasons: it makes it easier to find the site in thick forest and allows us to replace the stake at the center if it goes missing. While it's not necessary for any research, it ensures robustness, and is hugely helpful to the researchers. many a time has the bright orange flagging signaled that a site was hiding behind a rock or tree nearby. However, the day did not start smoothly. I got into the forest at 9:03, and was up at my first site at about 9:30. Angle and distance to the stake were as routine as could be, only when I went to write them down on the flagging, my sharpy left no mark. At about 10:20, I was back at the site after a very disgruntled blitz to campus. That afternoon, I once again joined forces with Laura and Isabel, and we took data on another two sites, I10 and J10. J10 was a swamp, and I was very greatful for my waterproof sneakers, as well as the puns of my companions. Thank you for reading, and if you have questions feel free to reach out to my email: muellerma22@proctoracademy.org. Pictures will come tommorow, with better internet.

Welcome to the Woodlands!

 Welcome to Matthew's senior project blog!

    I've been suckered in by the woods at Proctor. I have to thank Laura Ostrowsky for getting me into forest ecology. It's not what I expected to do senior year of high school, but I'm glad I've been involved.

    Right, the woods. You might not know that Proctor manages 2500 acres of woodlands, and that about 3.7 of those acres are part of a research initiative. The fledgling Proctor Research Forest was born this year, as a grid of 150 in number, 5-meter in radius geolocated plots. 

    Between research crew and Forest Ecology Research desigN (FERN), I've spent a lot of time with this grid, to the point I remember certain remarkable trees in our dataset. Site G03 contains the first Beech Bark Disease resistant Beech that I noticed, and I still blame it for my love/hate relationship with beech trees. I lost my trowel digging for the stake at the center of I02 in the snow, and only found it again a month ago. I still remember making terrible puns about taking data on  B3 "before" B5. Well, all I'm trying to say is that I'm excited to get going on this senior project.

    Today was a day of filling in Plot holes (terrible pun intended). While the people on research crew are methodical, we weren't perfect. there was a very short list of missing data from the existing grid. So, I did what anyone with poor planning and a pre-planned list does-- I checked them off one by one. I went to, in order, E04, F05, A07, C08, H08, and I05, taking one large loop. After lunch, I took site notes on C14, which is in the mud of Mud Pond. I then closed the day out by meeting Laura and Isabel at G10, to take data on it and H10. After that, we fled the forest chased out by swarms of blackflies.

I worked 6 hours and 37 minuets today, of the at least 75 hours for a full project. I'll see y'all tomorrow and ask any questions!

 (front to back): Tsuga, Laura and Isabel at G10, while we were doing site notes

Me at Mud Pond, and directly behind me is the mud where site C14 would be.