Done and done

Witchita Mountains, near Lawton, OK


School's done! Grades aren't posted,but I feel okay about it. I neglected studying much for aerial photogrammetry and GIS in order to take care of ecology. oops. Its an easy class, but I still forget things. The library is closed until tomorrow ( i know, right?). I need to get cracking on my research for my seioe project down in Pushmataha Wildlife Management area. The site is located in an area which borders both southern pine species as well as crosstimbers species. Several different management treatents were preformed on ten acre plots, with several replications. Some were thinned for hardwoods and burned once, others are born every 1-4 years. The aesthetic differences alone are shocking.

I still don't know what I want to do with th study. Here are a few ideas:

soil density,temp min & max, pH
nutrient content compared with litter nutrient content
regeneration of tree species
organic and A horizon depth
invertebrate diversity

I can combine any of these anyway I want. But I was thinking of actually doing an old school clean study, with a hypothesis and everything. I'd like to do this in stead of just having a question, such as 'how are soils different in different fire return intervals? I've never done a study with expectations- more observational. Then I'd just mine the data to see what I get. It'll be an experiment in experiment design. Did I just blow your mind?

Here are a few job postings I'm responding to:

NATURALISTS: Several temporary, full-time positions. Pay: $1500 monthly plus housing. Dates: June – August 2008.
Location: The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Peterson Bay Field Station, 1 position. Wynn Nature Center, 1 FT and 1 PT position, Alaska.
Qual: Requires relevant knowledge base in forest ecology and in intertidal and marine ecology, and experience as an instructor or interpreter.
Duties: Leads interpretive hikes and activities for diverse groups and develops and co-leads educational programs for children. Designs and develops educational displays and interpretive programs. Assists with training and coaching of interns and volunteers and with routine maintenance of facilities and trails. The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies is a nonprofit, grassroots, education organization based in Homer, Alaska, one of Alaska's premier destinations for environmental education and cotourism. We provide school field trips, natural history educational tours, and educational programs at two locations. Wynn Nature Center is a 140-acre preserve approximately 5 miles from the city of Homer with a day-use cabin, trail system, and staff cabin. Peterson Bay Coastal Science Field Station is a semi-remote, rustic facility approximately 5 miles from Homer across Kachemak Bay, accessible only by boat. The Field Station serves as the base for guided natural history tours on a coastal forest trail system with access to several beaches. The Field Station has shared housing for staff and interns and a fully-equipped kitchen.
Appl: Send resume, cover letter, and 3 references to
Contact: The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Fax: 907-235-6668, Email: jobs@akcoastalstudies.org Website: www.akcoastalstudies.org
Filing Date: 02/15/08. (12/12/07-02/14/08)

I don't want to start work that soon, however. I'm going to start looking for jobs in other countries. I plan to wait a couple years for grad school...but I found an assistantship in New Zealand. It started in April...and I don't graduate until May. I would have sefinatey scrapped all my plans for that one.

This site is for some cool research going on in the Mojave Desert. They have what looks to be a huge grant for desert tortoise monitoring. There are a lot of positions, from GIS/GPS, coordinators, Veg surveyors & a lot more. The time line is all early 2008 until early summer. Bad timing for me, but maybe you can use it.