| As you might recall, I started my fieldwork in March. Is it a coincidence that I haven't posted until now, when I have finished? I'm not entirely sure, but I am certain that I am not willing to perform the replicates necessary to properly test such a hypothesis. In March, I completed fieldwork in New South Wales. My far-north Qld sites were completed by July, and I just wrapped up my work near Brisbane at the beginning of this month. Phew! Fieldwork for me meant splitting my time between stunning island locations and gorgeous pockets of wilderness on the mainland. I met local populations of green and golden bell frogs (GGBF), wedge-tailed shearwaters, seals, dolphins, and stick insects (I spent a little time with the leeches, ticks, and wasps, too). I also stared at approximately 8750 leaves two times for approximately 1-2 minutes each. When I closed my eyes at night, leaf outlines would dance before my eyelids like sugar-plum fairies. I actually managed to get marooned on an island for three days, since the boat coming out to get me couldn't make it in the large seas. Lucky I brought extra pasta that time! I met some extraordinary people as well- a group of herpetologists conducting frog surveys on the largest remnant population of GGBFs, some outstandingly nice employees of the NSW Parks & Wildlife Service, bird people (including a UNSW alumnus), plant people, boat drivers, and even some intrigued members of the public. I never suspected that spending so much time solo on isolated islands or out in the bush would be a good way to rub elbows with other ecologists, but there you go. I also became a master of summing up my PhD in 45 seconds. Now that I'm back, I've started the mountain of sample preparation, laboratory analyses, and statistical analyses that accompany all that glorious - though thoroughly exhausting and stressful - work in the field. So far I've only crashed my computer a couple of times, so I'd say it's going quite well. I have also *nearly* finished preparation of two manuscripts, which should be shaped up for submission to journals very early in 2015. My chemical analyses are due to start in February. After that it's bug ID until I see bugs in my sleep- although I'm hoping the ethanol helps insect taxonomy sink in. So yes, things are swimming along nicely, largely in part to all the fine folks who volunteered some combination of their time, resources, energy, patience, exerptise, common sense, or shoulders so freely to me. For that, I THANK YOU! Until next time! |
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This week was my first encounter with the BEES Postgraduate Research Forum (PRF). It was an incredibly inspiring and enlightening two days, full of presentations showcasing the hard work of all the postgraduate researchers here at BEES. I was really impressed by so many of the presentations. The amount of work that these fine folks have completed is incredible! Seeing what so many awesome people have accomplished makes me feel driven to smash my own goals, and hopefully I can have something nifty to show in next semester's PRF. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I can continue the winning streak in our lab: I would like to congratulate my lab-mates Sichong Chen and Rhiannon Dalrymple for their winning presentations- good work guys! Way to set the bar high!
And finally, thank you to everyone who voted for my ginger snaps in the bake-off :) Great news! I FINALLY got around to building my website!
So far the site pretty dull and needs some sparkly pictures to jazz it up, but the skeleton is there. I also need to go out 'there' and do some science, which will add some serious awesomeness to my content! But all good things come in time. Patience, patience. In the meantime, I hope to use this blog to make it easy for those who are interested in my field, my work (or even just me) to see what I am up to. Of course, there is a possibility that other things will sneak on here too. I hope to keep this blog as interesting, informative, and stimulating as possible. As those are all relative goals, I'd like to know what you think! Please feel free to comment publicly on this forum or privately via my contact details as described on the home page. Thanks for coming, and stay tuned! |
Floret MeredithPhD Candidate. Ecologist. Outdoors enthusiast. Big nerd. Archives
October 2016
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