Research on Rota

I'm on Rota for the next week and a half.  This trip to Rota is even better than all of the other trips I've taken to Rota because my friend Julia, from the ecology course I took a few years ago in Costa Rica, just got a job as the bat biologist on Rota.  She showed up here about a week ago and is getting settled in to the small island life.  I hope she loves it as much as I do!  The other reason this is a good trip to Rota is that I haven't been stung by bees yet.  There tend to be a lot of bees here, but so far, Theresa and I have managed to evade all nests.  In fact, we haven't even seen a nest yet!  I hope our luck holds out....

Tagaman Triathlon

In mid-March, I did the Tagaman triathlon on Saipan. This was slightly longer than an Olympic Triathlon, but not as long as a half-Ironman, and it was all road. I haven't ever done a long road triathlon, only trail ones. So this was my first time riding a road bike for any distance, and it was a really long swim for me (2km). But in the end, all worked out great. I finished it and even enjoyed it. The top picture is from the post-race banquet- also a great time. I'm almost convinced that I need to get a road bike soon...

Rugby tournament

And a rugby photo from True GRIT, our rugby tournament on Guam. The tournament was in early March. We were supposed to have 5 women's teams and 10 men's teams, but the three off-island women's teams (Japan, Korea and Papua New Guinea) didn't show up for various reasons and we ended up having 8 men's teams. I coached/played for the women's team (we just split our one group into two teams and played each other many times), and played for one of the men's teams (the Old Soaks). As always, it was a really fun tournament- I'm excited I got to be on Guam for it this year!

Here's a photo of my soccer team. It's a Masters' team- most women are over 30 and a few of us are getting close to that. We're undefeated (6-0, I think). I haven't played much soccer in recent years, but it's been really fun getting back into it.

Crazy Cousin

Here's my crackpot cousin, Olivia. We went on a walk with my brother, Eric, my new nephews (Liam and Guy), my aunt Sally, and cousins Olivia and Madeline over Thanksgiving break. I got to carry Liam (I think?) in the baby snugli pack- those two boys are the most adorable babies ever.

Adventures on Tinian

Here's a story I promised Sally and Madeline I would put online. This summer, Tara and I spent some time working on the island of Tinian. This is from our first trip over there, on a small 8-seater Cessna (I think). You can only get over to Tinian by flying in one of these little planes or taking the ferry run by the casino. The ferry runs at very strange hours, so we took the plane this time. It was Tara's first time on this particular flight. We were seated in the very back of the plane. We were buckling in when the pilot started talking- telling us to buckle our seatbelts and not to smoke or use cell phones. Her voice sounded particularly old and creaky, but we weren't too worried. Yet. When she reminded us not to use cell phones, I remembered that I had to call our ride on the other side to let them know we were taking off. Since there were only the two of us and the pilot in the plane, I figured it would be okay to ask the pilot to wait a second. "Ma'am?" I ask. No answer. A little louder. "Ma'am?" No answer. I'm now yelling. "Ma'am? Can I use my cell phone?". No answer. The woman is deaf as a doornail. She didn't have her headphones on yet either. Nope. Completely deaf. That's when Tara made the face in the picture on the left.
On the plus side, the woman was a great pilot, and we had a wonderfully calm and safe landing.
Which takes us to working in the jungle of Tinian. We spent the day digging in the dirt to set up plots for an experiment. At lunchtime, our colleagues from Department of Lands and Natural Resources picked us up to bring us to a restaurant. We were driving there when I felt something on the back of my neck. I reached up and swiped it off my neck onto Tara' bag (see photo). It was a scorpion. Yup. A scorpion crawling on my neck. People don't see scorpions often on Tinian, but that was definitely what this one was. Unfortunately, the scorpion took refuge in Tara's bag just after this picture was taken, and it took a while for us to get it out. In the end, everyone made it safely through an older, deaf pilot and a scorpion attack. What an exciting day!

waterfall near mt hood 2

Another view of the waterfall- you can see us standing at the back of the overhang.

Falls near Mt Hood

Tad, Karen and I took a house trip to visit Kate and Brett in Hood River, Oregon on Veteran's Day weekend. We went for a hike to this waterfall (I can't remember the name of it) on Sunday. There was a lot of room behind the waterfall where we stayed completely dry while we watched Tad walk down and stand under the water (I'm pretty sure it was on a dare- it was really cold out).

Rota coast

A picture from this summer on the island of Rota. The water was really calm, so we went for a snorkel after a day of work, just as the sun was setting.

New nephews!

And another picture of the proud aunt with Liam and Guy.

Liam and Guy

Momnan and I holding my new nephews, William and Guy. They were born on October 9th. This picture was taken (by Jesse) only a few days later!

Congrats Elizabeth and Jake!

Here I am with Elizabeth and Jake in Frankfort, KY. Elizabeth and Jake are friends from my Westminster Woods Environmental Education days in CA. They got married in October and I got to see them just before their wedding. Congratulations Elizabeth and Jake!

Lower Sigua

Here's a picture of my favorite waterfall on Guam- Lower Sigua Falls. I know some people jump off the top of the falls, but I'm only brave enough to jump from the middle of teh falls. Thanks to Will for the picture!

Rota

Here's a picture of Rota. Songsong, the main town, is behind the trees on the left.

Rota

Hey everyone-

I'm on Rota now. I posted a picture last year of Songsong- the main town in Rota. It should still be on my blog. Tara and I are working like crazy this week, then heading back to Saipan on Saturday. I'm going to a conference in San Jose, CA next week to present a poster. It will be my first large ecology conference and a week without field work, so I'm pretty excited. Then, I'm headed to Jackson Hole to my friend Margot's wedding, which is even more exciting. I'll get to see the whole Colgate crowd again- always a good time. And finally, back to the islands for the last month and a half of work. It's late and I'm sweating like crazy in the humid office, so that's all for now.

Happy Birthday to Janie and Suiter!

Here are my trusty field assistants on Guam- Kathy is on the left and Jenn is in the center. I like to think of them as my support crew- they have shared their cars, house, food and time with me- my research would not get done without their help! This was Friday, after they both came out to the field to help me on their afternoon off. Kathy is in the military- she explodes bombs- and Jenn works at Underwater World, an aquarium on Guam, as the environmental education coordinator. They're the best.