Some may say they've always known what they wanted to be. Since they were a child, they were fated to be a doctor or performer, but I wasn't always so sure. Growing up, I knew I loved animals - what kid doesn't? I even wanted to be a veterinarian for nearly a decade. But after watching a live surgery while touring the UC - Davis campus, I knew I was not cut out for it!
I decided to go to Texas State University because of its incredible theater program. Part of me was still interested in the natural world, so I began as a dual major in Performing Arts & Wildlife Biology. Once I began taking field classes, I knew that I would give anything to make this my career. All this background is to say that my path into this incredible field was not a linear one, and not one I foresaw myself being in, yet I could not be more grateful for where I am today. And to say, even if you grew up a city kid, you can still become a wildlife biologist!
Since beginning field classes, I have had a multitude of field experiences. All of it began with a herpetology field trip. The class was out in West Texas for a weekend catching herpetofauna (snakes, lizards, frogs, salamanders) when a friend and I turned over a massive rock to find a threadsnake underneath - something that hadn't been documented in that area! And we got to write up a note to 'spread the word'.
This critter may look like a worm, but it is actually a snake (Rena dulcis dulcis)!
From that weekend on, I sought out every opportunity to be involved with wildlife research. Didn't matter the organism; from audio surveys with toads, catching mammals to collect ticks, to hummingbird projects. But the opportunity I was most excited about was a study abroad trip to Ecuador...which I did not have the funds for at the time. In the meanwhile, I joined a conservation corp.
My former office!
Some weeks were spent maintaining trails in the Grand Canyon. As back-breaking as that work was, seeing California Condors fly over your head, and peering out at the stunning rock formations made it all worth it (even when several tourists would walk by and ask if we were finally building an elevator to the bottom). The other weeks were spent in New Mexico removing invasive plant species and replanting natives. Once you learn about the damaging effects some trees have, it is satisfying to remove them and encourage the native species to regrow (even as a 'tree-hugger').
After that year, I'd saved up the amount I needed to go on the Study Abroad trip to Ecuador. This trip is what jump-started my career as a tropical ecologist. Before departing, I approached Dr. Shawn McCracken about doing some undergraduate research. Since I had just completed a camera-trapping study with another professor at the university, he was happy to take me on.
Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) caught on camera in West Texas
Birding is better from a high vantage point.
We agreed on a project, examining the differences in beetle communities along a vertical tree gradient - and being honest, entomology was not my passion. I was convinced I would cry at some point out of pure terror, but I wanted to give it a try anyway. Shortly after, I packed my bags, and before I knew it I was in Ecuador.
The beauty of Ecuador was not something I was fully prepared for. In the first week of the study abroad, I was convinced I was in the Rainforest Cafe. All of the life around me seemed too beautiful to be real. Even still, it feels like a dream. One minute, I was taking buckets of beetles out of the canopy (and I am proud to report I never once cried processing a beetle, even though we kept them alive to record! Instead I have a newfound appreciation for them), and the next I was back in the United States...
Mindo, Ecuador
Processing beetles with a friend!
With an invitation to return! A Ph.D. student, Becca Brunner, invited me to join her for her field season only months later (learn more about her work here). I was set with a plan to go back to Ecuador just weeks after graduating. I would be helping her collected data on frog communities and acoustic spaces in different landscapes.
Eating a nice meal! (Trachycephalus jordani)
At this time I received an email from a new professor asking if I was interested in working in Borneo. My answer? ABSOLUTELY! Not only would I be returned to Ecuador for 2 months, but shortly after, I would be traveling to South East Asia to work with small mammals as a Master's project! It was difficult to convince myself I wasn't dreaming.
I wrapped up my final semester of college and reunited with Becca. It was another whirlwind adventure. I learned how to eyeshine for frogs (light reflects off of the membrane of their eyes giving them a sort of milky color - which also looks like water drops) and identify calls based on species in Jama-Coaque. I even learned how to survey bats during this trip to Ecuador. For those of you who may not care much for bats or are immediately worried about the exposure to rabies; A. I do have pre-exposure shots, B. they don't carry rabies as often as media would have you think. These animals are incredibly important to ecosystem functioning and reduce the number of agricultural pests, thanks bats!
A caecilian, an amphibian that looks like a worm, we discovered hiking at night (likely a Caecilia nigricans)
Anyways, once my second journey to Ecuador came to an end, I was off to the other side of the planet. And my goodness, it really felt like it, given the 30+ hours of travel it took to get there. But I was so happy to be there! While I was there, I surveyed small mammals. I fell in love with these really odd mammals known as treeshrews. They are not shrews, in fact, they are fairly closely related to primates, but they don't live in trees either. Their name is a huge misnomer. And they inspired some questions that would lead me to frantically apply to several grants (with a bit of success) to grow on the small data I had.
My new favorite plant! These plants (Rhizanthes lowii) can generate their own heat.
A tree shrew (Tupaia minor) was photographed before release. The striped background is a pillowcase to keep it calm
Unfortunately, not enough funds were raised to return for a new season. I still have a fully developed treeshrew movement study on the back burner, but I have kept pushing forward (as is the way with academia). Although my Master's has been a bit of a twisty road in its first year, I landed on a new project, back in (you guessed it) Ecuador! And working with my former mentor, too!
This blog narrated my journey back to Ecuador - the ups and the downs from the perspective of a perpetually stressed graduate student (what other mode is there, really?).
But now, I've taken yet another turn. I'm still working on publishing the results of my Master's but I've begun a Ph.D. now. On diseases on tortoises now, but I may just keep up this blogging thing!
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