Science is like any great craft in that the amount of effort placed upon the object of desire is proportional to the quality of the yield. Finding my interests through literature and observation was a challenge (but an enjoyable one), but when compared to the difficulties of refining my product, seems trivial. I don’t think I could have ever understood the true complexity of addressing a scientific question regardless of how many papers I wrote or articles I read back at home. While it is easy to confuse my time here with vacation because of how beautiful my surroundings are, I am here for work, to produce something tangible from the fleeting, the flying, and the undescribed.

While the product of my science may be challenging, I have enjoyed every second of it. Coming into the field with only a gardener’s perspective on neotropical flora, I am awestruck by how much there is to learn about the plants here. I came to Nicaragua with the skeleton of an idea surrounding the biological systems supported by the pools of water that collect within bromeliads. I predicted that the link between human presence and community assemblage in these pools would be simple; more people, more selective logging, less diversity. Using local openness and closure of the canopy surrounding the bromeliad as a proxy for logged forest and unlogged forest, our results have been anything but simple. Each time I sample a bromeliad with my partner Michelle, we find untold treasures. And by treasures, I mean worms. And sometimes scorpions… Again, I am really just beginning to understand that nothing is simple in science and very rarely can anyone capture the infinite intricacies of a biological system with a preliminary prediction.

The same can be said for my behavior project on orchid bees. While bromeliads are kind enough to remain stationary during sampling, orchid bees seem spiteful in comparison. Shying away from further anthropomorphic musings, orchid bees are truly the most fascinating thing I’ve seen here. Try to imagine a study species that seems to change size and coloration every time you meet it. The permutations of color are enough to make sitting and observing for 40-50 minutes fly by—some deep sapphire blue, some marrying teal and green, others a rainbow of color (one, with a blue head, orange abdomen, and a green thorax we literally named rainbow). But as before, our research is complicated by the complexity of their behavior. Every trial, which we accomplish by eucalyptus oil lures, shows that these bees have a vast repertoire of behaviors when competing for the oils. Each new behavior we observe, while surprising and intriguing, means we must refine our question further for fear of generalizing the details.

In light of the difficulties, I am in love with my surroundings. I will surely miss digging bromeliad gunk from my nails at the end of the day. Well, maybe not.

Cheers,

Joey