Category Archives: from the field

from the field, Lindsey, Week 3

The Orangutans are Coming

Seeing as I’ve spent the past three weeks in a rainforest with three species of primates, none of which are orangutans, my title does not make any sense. But that didn’t occur to me in the middle of the night when I was frantically trying to find my shoes and headlamp to get away from said orangutans. It has happened before where I wake up in the middle of the night disoriented and thinking I’m still in my dream, but to the dismay of my roommates it has happened nearly every night since half way through my trip. I often wake up, confused and terrified, as I fully believe I’m in the rainforest at night either trying to find leaf cutter ants or scared that there are large bugs and spiders surrounding me. When I finally locate my headlamp and turn it on I realize I’m in the safety of my mosquito net in bed. The other night, after three hours of collecting data on leaf cutter ants past sundown, I woke up thinking I was back in the field and my professor walked by screaming “the orangutans are coming we must get out of here quickly” and it was quite frightening. I jumped over a fallen tree and couldn’t find my shoes or headlamp, luckily my friend Emily came up to me and I told her how we must leave soon but I couldn’t find my things, so she helped me by turning on her headlamp. At that moment I realized I was standing on the floor of my room facing Emily lying in her bed and it was a very strange situation I found myself in. I also realized that the tree I had jumped over must have been me jumping out of my bunk bed (I am impressed with my lack of falling off my bed completely). I had woken up my roommates, but the first thing Kaylee said (having just woken up and not sure what was happening) was simply “did you find the cake we left you?” because I had missed the cake they handed out after dinner. It was a comical ending and I went back to bed still slightly weirded out.

It’s funny because during the day I feel perfectly safe wondering the trails of Refugio Bartola, even taking hikes by myself. It is beautiful here, everything is green and constantly full of sounds I haven’t ever heard before. I enjoy the freedom of choosing a trail and hiking wherever you desire for seven hours of the day. All of that, and the food, and the new experiences I happen upon every day, I will miss. But I definitely wont miss the night terrors.

Emily, from the field, Week 3

Live and Learn

At the beginning of the trip, I told myself that I would make it a point to learn at least 1 thing from every single person on this trip. Being true to my word, here is the list. Thank you to all my new friends, TA’s, professors, and even the kids for all you’ve taught me!

  1. Vivien: Getting bitten by a gecko is much more adrenaline filled when your best friend is by your side screaming bloody murder.
  2. Kaylee: You can use a razor to remove all the little clumps on your leggings. (Major tip for the ladies!!) Another thing…you only need two iPhones to become a true DJ.
  3. Lindsey: One can never have too many animated dreams. Also, salt is key!
  4. Juan: He is Juan-of-a-kind. When everyJuan is pissing you off, he can make sure to make you feel better. There’s noJuan quite like him.
  5. Tinh: One can never make too many puns…no matter how dreadful they are. Also, there’s a planetarium show everyone Wednesday on top of the LS building, who knew!
  6. Callan: When you make a situation extremely awkward, break out into a dance to make it even more awkward.
  7. Michelle: A simple smile goes a long way! Michelle’s actually the queen. From being the greatest singer to becoming a yogi in .10 seconds, she has a heart of gold and will always be there offering a helping hand.
  8. Joey: Sass is not an option, it’s a necessity.
  9. Ben: When in doubt, “I’m down”.
  10. Brigit: She’s taught me too many things. But the most important one has been to always remember how empowering it is to have full control of every part of your body and spirit.
  11. Kathleen: Memories last a lifetime…and so do Kathleen’s uber high def pics. Can’t wait to see all of them!
  12. Caleb: A gnarly beard takes 2 years to grow. Also, it’s a great feeling when you find that one person who is “perceptive of [your] being.”
  13. Jeff: Sliding down a trail is a bad idea. Your ear might get injured.
  14. Paria: When boys make you angry you can’t hit them because then you get in trouble and get sent to the principal’s office. (Very important.)
  15. Wiley: You don’t need to speak the same language to make a new friend.
  16. Adrea: Butterflies are pretty rad. Headbands can be rocked with every outfit. Travel as much as you can.
  17. Rachel: There’s a fruit called crescentia. It’s only seed disperser is thought to be a gomphothere, an elephant like animal that is now extinct and no other animal is able to spread its seeds. Now, the only way it continues to exist is when a human plants it. Also, juice is amazing, especially pineapple juice. (Note: buy a juicer)
  18. Dr. Shier: In order to trap an agouti you will need a whole pineapple, 30 bananas, 20 coconuts, a fully furnished cage, hot water for showers, and Wi-Fi connection.
  19. Dr. Grether: Catching a toad single handedly is no biggie. Same applies to a caiman.
  20. Becky: Sometimes the best teachers are actually family members. Literally.
  21. Don: Light doesn’t follow a linear pattern with distance. Light intensity is 1/distance2.
Brigit, from the field, Week 3

At the Breaking Point

21 days here. To my memory it doesn’t seem so but, to my body, it does. I have had quite the journey. Many nights I have gone to bed either frustrated or…elated. I feel as though I have hit the breaking point.

If I have to experience just one more mosquito in my rice, one more pair of 3-day wet pants, one more spider web to the face, one more spiny palm spine in my hand, one more bug bite on the arch of my foot, one more inconvenient rainy day that makes it impossible to go out and collect data just four days before we have to leave, one more time the suctioning of the shin-deep mud removes the boot from my foot causing me to fall over, one more cut from a terrestrial bromeliad, one more venomous snake to nearly step on, one more cluster of harvestmen spiders to fall in my hair, one more fish-hook vine that snags my hair and prevents me from getting home on time for dinner, one more butt-slide down a muddy hill caking my pants and backpack with mud…

Just one more breathtaking vibrant streak of color from the fluttering wings of a morpho butterfly, one staring contest between me and a caiman floating below the surface of the water, one more canoe trip with a river otter, one more game of hide and seek with a troop of capuchins, one more game of tag with a very aggravated male howler monkey, one more rainy morning sitting under a tarp with my partner marking over 200 spiders with paint, one more chorus of the Montezuma’s Oropendola up in the canopy that makes me feel like I am in an underwater casino, one more army ant swarm to burst from the forest beside me that is accompanied by the blue-faced ant birds waiting to catch a meal from the small insects fleeing the ants, one more moment of hysterical laughter in the middle of the forest with my partner, one more blood-chilling moment, bent over, removing soil from a leaf cutter ant nest, only to hear a low growl and turning around to see the bold looming presence of a jet-black jaguarundi watching over me, one more endless moment of eye contact with that predator, one more quiet moment beneath all of the diverse leaves of the canopy, just one more pink sunset on the river…

I am at the breaking point between insanity and discovery. Being here has made me realize that I love every moment that I have out in the forest, even the ones involving mud. However, I have also realized that science is very much like art, fantastic and wonderful to create, but as a profession, the need of money causes the passion for the work to diminish. I still find that I have much to learn before a decision is made, and I am looking forward to what my decision is.

from the field, Juan, Week 3

Life Changing

As I sit alone, staring over the Rio San Juan, I contemplate my experience during this Field Biology Quarter. After 21 days at Refugio Bartola in Nicaragua, I will be returning home a changed person with a new view of the world and a new mentality. I have learned things about myself that I would have never learned sitting at home. I learned about some of my limits and I learned that I can push past them in order to succeed in achieving the goals I have set for myself. I also realized the value of family, friendships, and significant others and how much I need them in my life. However, the most important lesson I feel I have learned, and it ties everything together, is to never take anything for granted. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Having been isolated from the normal routine that I am accustomed to and having caught a glimpse of what field research is like, has also allowed me to take time to think about what I want for myself in life and what my true goals are. As I sit here, I am convinced that in order to pursue field research, it would have to be with a focus on mammals. Monkeys and primates in particular are what I find fascinating and something I can see myself studying as a career. If this presents itself as an option, I will not hesitate in pursuing it. If this is out of the picture, then I will seek a career in medicine. This field research experience has provided me with the insight that I was looking for and the awareness I felt I needed in order to help sort some plans in life. All one can do is accumulate different experiences in order to help guide the decisions they make to find the best path for themselves. I definitely feel proud of myself and I feel accomplished for having completed this milestone step in my life. This whole experience was life changing and I would not change anything about it.

from the field, Tinh, Week 2

Take one, Take two, Take…Seven?

My first experience with field research is something I will never forget. My conservation project will forever be in my memories… all seven revisions, actually. Working up-close with nature allows me to understand the limitations of fieldwork outside of a lab, yet there are wonders here that a lab can never contain. For anyone who wants to do research in ecology, experience in both the lab and field are essential to understanding both these worlds. I thought I had ample experience in the lab that will serve me well in the field, yet I was shocked by how many holes my projects had, but even more astounded by how much I learned from those mistakes.

I entered the forest fully energized with ideas in hand on how to carry them out. Two minutes later I was covered in sweat and felt the first inkling that this conservation project will be more difficult than I had imagined. My focus had always been to look at how anthropogenic effects in once-natural environments will affect wildlife and their behavior. My first project dealt with manmade lights and how it affected nocturnal moths, except I got nothing but tons of mosquitoes, and a cricket. My partner and I spent a day scouting for humming birds to test for effects of noise on feeding, finding none. We ended up spending the afternoon chasing damselflies. The point is, field conservation work is filled with unexpected events that you cannot control for, which is both a pain yet humbling realization. Here I am with nature, poised to use what I have learned in lab to present an experiment that both respects nature’s changing faces while applying the best controls I can devise.

After many insightful revisions, I am excited to carry out a conservation project looking into the effects of foot traffic on leaf-cutter ants. Although small at the individual scale, their collective efforts make them a dramatic component of the rainforest ecosystem. This warrants a look into how our usage of trails can affect their livelihood. My final days in Refugio Bartola will involve a frenzy of experiments from the break of morning to the start of dusk. As I hike up the many hills to my site knowing there is a long return journey later, I am filled with only excitement to know that those hours in between will use the methods we’ve spent so long refining. Looking back I realize how my previous set ups misinterpreted the questions I wanted to test. It took many field trials and a lot of feedback before our project tested the question at hand while staying true to our vision. Overall, every revision taught me far more than any success would have. Conservation field work has given me a greater appreciation for nature and research, combining wonders, challenges, and lessons with every passing day.

Caleb, from the field, Week 2

Sticks: the Secret to Science

Not having enough questions is not usually my problem – and after a day or two of utilizing the quintessential sampling method known as poking things with a stick, it began to become clear that a head too full of them would be a distraction from gaining traction, much to my dissatisfaction. My investigative companion and I slowly whittled away at the long list of potential problems to attack, both through intense discussion and abject failure in our pilot experiments – underestimating by an order of magnitude or several how many species we would find in the cavities of the buttress trees, or being thwarted by agouti too ungrateful to accept our offers of food/trap bait. We finally realized we’d have to stop beating around the bush and get down to business.

After throwing around a few ideas about agouti foraging for our conservation project, we eventually settled on looking into the foraging preferences of agouti. We’re interested in finding out whether they selectively forage in areas with open or closed understory cover, and whether they choose differently between them depending on the time of day, which is an interesting question for a few reasons. First, we know that they alter their foraging behavior depending on predation pressure, which understory cover may effect – either it could provide protection when it’s thicker, or it may likewise provide cover for potential predators (like the mountain lion we caught on one of our camera traps). There’s some suggestion that they like to feed in open areas, but it doesn’t seem to have been quantified yet. If predation is a factor, then we might expect the difference in preferences between open and closed areas to vary when predation is strongest, in the very early morning and later in the evening after dusk. Anthropogenic factors, such as logging activity, are likely to affect the level of and heterogeneity in cover, so the project is potentially interesting from a conservation point of view as well as from a purely behavioral standpoint. To do this, we’ve set up several sites where agouti have been spotted, in each of which we have a matched pair of open and closed patches with bait and a camera trap. It sounds simple enough, but when you factor in camera malfunction, human error (a nice euphemism for my carelessness), rebaiting, opossum, paca, and spiny rats eating all our fruit, and of course Murphy’s law, it’s actually ended up being a pretty challenging project to maintain.

However, in both projects, even all of the failures we’re experiencing aren’t all that bad. I was once told that reading papers, it can seem that every research project is a perfectly executed sequence, but that failure is one of the most important steps to reaching a better answer and finding the right methods. Like every bit of wisdom you get, it’s just a string of words until it’s illuminated by experience, and I’m starting to appreciate the truth in it. Even with the occasional panics over not being able to answer our questions to the fullest extent in the time we’re here, I’m starting to realize how much I enjoy doing this.

from the field, Michelle, Week 2

Bee-ing and Staying Positive

Our time in Nicaragua is winding down and fairly soon, I’ll be able to count our days left in the rainforest on both hands. Everything here is so beautiful and unique. From the little intricacies of spider webs to the fascinating dynamics between calling birds, everything has captured my attention. To say that picking one project was difficult would be an understatement. Before leaving for Nicaragua, both Joey (my partner) and I had project ideas of what we might want to focus on. While Joey was far more prepared for our study on epiphytic bromeliad community assemblage, I only knew that I wanted to focus on some sort of animal-plant mutualism like pollination. In our lectures back at UCLA, Dr. Grether mentioned the possibility of working with orchid bees.

Our first couple days in the rainforest were used for exploration, but on our hikes, I would look around at all of the different organisms – overwhelmed, but still hoping to find a bee. When Dr. Grether arrived with the floral and tree oils, Joey and I took them out for a test run. The first few trials were incredibly unsuccessful. We had zero bee sightings. While it was disappointing, I was still convinced that we just needed a few more trials and a little more optimism. When we finally had our first sighting, it was un-bee-lievable. The bee, a medium metallic green morph, came out of the vegetation, buzzing and pausing as it came closer to inspect our scented filter paper. In that moment, I was relieved, amazed, and inspired. I knew that I would stick with this project and I knew that whatever came out of the experience would be incredible.

Over time, our trials have gotten more successful and more informative. As we’ve observed more morphospecies and interactions, I’ve learned so much. Having little previous information about the bees’ bee-hive-ior, our observations really guided the questions and hypotheses that we’ve formulated. At times, it’s been frustrating to observe so many fascinating and subtle behaviors and only focus on a few quantifiable variables. The bees move so fast and their interactions are so numerous. The more we talk amongst ourselves and with our TAs and professors, the clearer our study has become. My experience in creating this project has taught me a lot about realistic expectations, optimism, and patience. At times, it’s been unclear where our behavior project was headed. But when I close my eyes and see the vibrant swarms of orchid bees – sparkling shades of emerald, turquoise, blue, and orange – I know that everything is going to bee alright.

Love, hugs, beans, and rice,

Michelle

from the field, Jeff, Week 2

So this is science?

The past few weeks have been a very unique experience. This has been the first time I have ever had to design an experiment from scratch, and to make things more challenging, we have been assigned two projects to do. Even before leaving for Nicaragua, I always had a nervous feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about finding a project to do, and when I finally arrived, the feeling only got stronger. There were so many different animals that we saw, but the ones I found particularly interesting were very difficult to find.

The first of the projects my partner Lindsey and I decided on was the strawberry poison frog. We saw many along the trails, and it is honestly very fun to watch and hold. We wanted to design an experiment involving the capture and release of an individual to examine its stress, but despite seeing many frogs the first few days, we could not for the life of us spot any when we specifically looked for them. We turned our attention to hiker noise, which still proved to be difficult because we have to wait for the frogs call. We have gotten very skilled at recognizing its call. Whenever I hear the frog make its sort of quacking call, I just smile and think to myself, “Yup, that’s my frog!” This has been a test of patience so far, but we are getting some good data!

The second project is a bit more… tedious. We are studying the directionality of leaf cutter ants while they are walking on their trails, and in order to test this we are setting blockades to clear a path, moving an ant into that cleared trail, and watching what direction it moves. The setup is actually very fun. We basically spend ten minutes picking up ants and throwing them over a wall. I have never felt more powerful in my life! The actual experiment is very long and tedious, and involves a lot of yelling at ants to run a certain direction. I never thought I would spend an afternoon throwing and yelling at ants, but this is all in the name of science!

When I think of science, I imagine a man in a lab coat looking through a microscope. This experience has shown me so far that science can actually be a very gritty experience. It takes a little getting used to, but I am now fully engulfed in the routine. The data collection phase is in full swing, and I am excited to see our results when we get there!

from the field, Kaylee, Week 2

Our Little Leaf Cutter Ants

Our three weeks here in Nicaragua have been speeding by. With almost a week to go everyone is working harder than ever to complete both projects. I have been waking up for the past week at 5:30 in the morning to have time to do enough work in one day. In the morning, Brigit and I catch 100-120 harvestmen, mark them with paint pens on their abdomen, and move them to new sites for our behavior research project. Our afternoons are devoted to collecting data on our conservation project.

Brigit and I decided to focus on the effects of logging on leaf cutter ants’ nest quality and activity. On the third day in Nicaragua we noticed that the leaf cutter ants were dropping leaves on the outside of their mounds. This was particularly interesting because leaf cutter ants use the leaves they cut to feed an underground fungus garden. The leaf cutter ants then feed on the fungus they grow. We began wondering why they would expend so much energy to climb high into the trees, cut a leaf, and carry it back, just to drop it outside. After fleshing some ideas out with Dr. Shier, we began pondering whether the amount of canopy cover over the ant nests had an influence on this leaf dropping behavior. Much of Refugio Bartola has previously been cultivated and logged. The forest is divided into primary growth forest, where no logging has occurred, and secondary growth, where the forest has begun to grow back from the agricultural stress of past plantations. After noticing more leaves on the outside of secondary growth nests, we became curious about how logging has effected the activity of the leaf cutter ants. After a lot of flagging leaf cutter ant trials and mounds, we began taking data on canopy cover, humidity, temperature, and ant activity at eight sites in primary growth and eight sites in secondary forest. We have already seen a trend of higher temperatures and humidity in secondary growth, which is exciting! We think the cut leaves shielding the nest’s soil could possibly help mitigate the harsher conditions in logged, secondary parts of the forest.

Field research requires so much work, patience, and time, but I’m really starting to enjoy the privilege of working outside everyday. There are definitely times when I am all natured out. For example, I get at least three spines in my hand a day, I have to touch creepy spider-like creatures, and I got stung by a wasp while trekking through the forest in the pitch-black darkness. However, there’s something really rewarding about seeing our little leaf cutter ants and harvestmen everyday waiting for us to learn more about them.

Callan, from the field, Week 2

Research is Exhausting, But Worthwhile

Vivien and Callan are serious about data collection!
Vivien and Callan are serious about data collection!

Sloshing through different textures of mud from 6 am to 5:30 pm is beginning to take its toll on me. The hiking in jungle terrain portion is easy and exciting; however, it is the wet uphill and downhill knee-deep mud that literally drags me down. Despite this, I am definitely still enjoying myself. The sounds of toucans and parrots usually carry me along. Daily I am surprised by how much hard work my partner, Vivien, and I accomplish.

We have two projects: one about behavior and the other, conservation. The process for our behavior project took almost six days to develop, mostly because we were overwhelmed with every sound and feeling the jungle emitted. Animals we had hoped to research were not in abundance (Orb spiders for me), so we thought fast on our feet. Dragonflies. Dragonflies were in abundance. But, we knew absolutely nothing about the specific species on the property or basic dragonfly information in general.

Reading through the books provided, we found the species’ name. Without internet, though, we had difficulty developing a research project that was original. But then I came up with a perching site height concept that we evolved into perch site choice in regard to visual cues. We have fixed the methods and are currently in the process with completing trials. This experience has been exceedingly stressful, but I am glad that I am not the only group that feels this way. All groups have feared their projects would fail in some way, but the flexibility with shifting research focus has gotten us over a huge dismal hump.

Our conservation research project is definitely taking off; we are almost finished. We are comparing the water quality of the creeks disturbed by the field school against the undisturbed creeks throughout the forest. We want to see how animals (mostly aquatic) are affected by disturbed areas, especially with regard to human manipulation to the environment like dredging. We simply collect water samples from various portions of creeks and test them. We have seen significant differences in some! It is all very fascinating.

Even though we are all exhausted, working through the night on data entry and planning for the next day, my partner and I have high hopes. We know that we are pursuing our dreams of ecology fieldwork. And I will not stop pursuing it.