The adventures of Haldre

Research on Rota

2008-04-22T03:03:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-13T03:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

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

Falls near Mt Hood

2007-11-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-11-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

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

Liam and Guy

2007-11-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-11-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

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

2007-09-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

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

Rota

2007-07-31T04:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-07-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

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.

tara on the beach

2007-07-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is my field assistant, Tara, at the beach at Ritidian Point. Great colors, huh?

red dirt of Guam

2007-06-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly, this is Guam as well. There are several areas in Southern Guam that have eroded away to expose this red dirt. I took this picture while on a run yesterday.

View from house

2007-06-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the view from the house where I'm staying on Guam. My friends Jenn and Roger live in this great house with the best view on Guam (one of the best, at the very least). The sun sets in this direction and the fireworks are set off from the point directly ahead in the photo making it a perfect 4th of July location.

crazy cousins

2007-06-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are my crazy cousins- Olivia, Adrienne, Kendra, Niles and Jared- on a Dunkin Donuts run from the hospital while visiting Momnan.

We all love Momnan!

2007-06-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, my grandmother, affectionately known as Momnan or Mem-mem to nearly everyone, was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. Due to some complications of the cancer, she got very sick just before I was supposed to leave for Guam. So, instead of flying to Guam, I flew to Boston to spend some time with Momnan in the hospital. We had a big family reunion of sorts- all six of Momnan's children were there with her (they're in the picture to the left) and most of the grandchildren were there as well. Momnan persevered through the complications and has been improving every day. She should be able to go home from the hospital sometime in the next week or two and then deal with the cancer as an outpatient, I believe. And the rest of the family had a rare opportunity to spend lots of time together,which was fantastic. I'll post a picture of some of the cousins next.

A special thanks to Foxy and Garrett for visiting Momnan in the hospital- she loved seeing you both! And to everyone else for their thoughts and support. We all want you to get well soon, Momnan!

Back on Guam

2007-06-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

I made it to Guam last night- the skies are still blue and sunny, the weather is still humid, the same old folks are around- it's great to be back. I forgot how to login to this blog for the last few months, but I finally figured it out so I will try to post a few pictures from some fun adventures in Seattle-area. More to come...

apple tree

2007-04-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

And our wonderful apple tree in the backyard. That hammock is becoming a desirable location again now that the rain has stopped and it's warming up... Spring in Seattle is beautiful- it seems like every tree is covered with blossoms.

Rockin' the one-pieces

2007-04-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

Check out Karen and me last weekend at Alpental for some spring skiing. How about those styling one-pieces? Mine's Gore-Tex.

Sheep!

2007-03-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

A New Zealand road block...

2007-03-21T03:49:00.000-07:00

Near Mount Cook

2007-03-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo from the South Island in NZ. All's well down here. We're in Auckland now, meeting with folks at University of Auckland. The South Island was beautiful- mountains and rivers and lakes and lots of sheep. I'll try to post some more pics.

2007-02-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

My grandmother (Momnan) and my mom came to visit me in mid-February, which gave me the opportunity to see all of the great tourist spots in the Seattle/PacNorwest area. This picture is from our favorite trip, I think. We headed out to the Olympic Peninsula to a small town called LaPush, right on the ocean. Our motel room was nothing fancy, but it had this amazing beach out the back door. This is Momnan, my mom and Brent on our Saturday morning walk on the beach. Look how high Momnan is on this tree- you'd never know she's in her seventies!

North Cascades

2006-10-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Look at these amazing mountains! This is from a hike I took this weekend in the North Cascades. I love it here!

Precious sunny days in Seattle

2006-10-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Just a note to say that I'm no longer in Saipan, as my last post has said for way too long. I'm back in Seattle after a whirlwind month of field work, followed by two wonderful days in Hawaii visiting with friends from my Guam days, followed by a week-long trip around eastern WA and southern BC. After the trip, I moved into my new house with Brent and two roommates, Karen and Tad. And I've been trying to get settled and keep up with my homework ever since. I have yet to touch my data from this summer, which includes many scans like the one to the left. I'll be measuring herbivory/leaf loss so I can compare levels between islands. I have a new phone number- just drop me an email if you don't have it yet and want to get it. That's all for now!

Still in Saipan

2006-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm just finishing up my third plot onSaipan. It's taken me a lot longer than I expected. Luckily, I've had help from Nate and his technicians (Nate, Paul and Joe are in the picture) for a couple of the days. It's a lot easier when I have some other people helping. I head to Rota tomorrow. My friend Jenn will meet me there to help for the weekend, then I'm on my own for the rest of the week. I have about two weeks left to get everything done- ahhh!!

Saipan, take two

2006-08-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back on Saipan after a couple weeks getting things organized and waiting for packages on Guam. I got the GPS I'd been waiting for, then spent a week learning how to use it. Now, I think it's the greatest invention in the world. I'm hoping to spend the next month buckling down and getting lots of data. Wish me luck.

Today is my dad's birthday- Happy Birthday! And Foxy's birthday is in a few days- Happy B-day to you too!

My brother Jesse just registered for classes- he's going back to college after taking 10 years (?) off. He's taking biology and english, and maybe something else. I think I can persuade him to be a biologist too.... or maybe a mathematical modeler so he can help with my project. What do you think, Jesse?

More later....

Songsong

2006-07-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

Here's the main town on Rota, named Songsong. In the distance you can see the "wedding cake", which is where the largest fruit bat colony on the island roosts. Behind me is the main portion of the island which has one other village, the airport and a lot of forest. Everyone waves at every car that passes them on the road. No one drives faster than 45. Everyone has to stop to meet the Mayor when they arrive on island (not tourists... just people working here). I went to a wedding on Saturday night here- everyone's invited to the weddings and christenings and most celebrations. And that's what happens on Rota.

Picto cave

2006-07-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

Check out these pictographs of turtles- I saw them in a cave on the eastern part of Rota.

Forbidden Island

2006-07-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite places on Saipan- Forbidden Island.

I have a potential site for research just north (up the coast to the left) of here, so I spent the better part of a day bushwacking though the jungle last weekend. I think I need to find a new site closer to the snorkeling and beaches down by the island.

Latte stones in Rota

2006-07-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a latte stone village in Rota. These are much smaller than the one in the picture from Tinian.

House of Taga

2006-07-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

Tinian has the largest standing latte stones in the world, I believe. Latte stones are unique to the Marianas (again, I think this is true) and are thought to be the foundations for houses. A thatched hut would be built on top of several of these stones. How they quarried these stones and got the top part on top of the bottom remains a mystery. This stone belonged to Taga, a powerful chief (or so the story goes). This chief killed his own son because his son was playing with his pet crab and when the pet crab escaped underneath a coconut tree the son just uplifted the coconut tree and retrieved the crab. Taga was then concerned that his son would be stronger than him, so he killed the son. I'm not really sure what the moral for that story is, but it's a well-known legend on Tinian.

I'm on Saipan now, and headed to Rota tomorrow. I took a ferry over to Tinian yesterday and flew back on a little 6-seater plane. I'm tired and headed to bed...

Attack of the herbivores!

2006-07-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

One of the things I'm investigating for my research project is the potential increase in herbivory on Guam as a result of the loss of forest birds. People often say that there are more spiders and insects on Guam, but it has not been researched extensively. This tree, Macarange thompsonii, I think, has been eaten badly by insects of some sort (check out the leaves in the background in the middle- you can see all the holes in the leaves!). I'm headed up to Saipan on Thursday and I'm interested to see how the forests there compare to Guam's in terms of herbivory. Stay tuned....

Lots of birds on Guam!

2006-07-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

When I say there are no birds on Guam, I usually qualify that by saying that there are essentially no native forest birds left. There are Eurasian Tree Sparrows (which are all over the world) and Philippine Turtle Doves (also all over the world). However, these birds are found mostly in the inhabited areas and in relatively low numbers compared to other places in the world. That's why the other day, I was shocked to see this group of birds hanging out on the power lines. There were probably 100 birds in this area, a site rarely seen on Guam. The person who lives in this house on the left MUST be feeding these birds. Elsewhere in the world, a whole bunch of doves and sparrows sitting on wires would be unremarkable, but here, it's quite a noteworthy site!

Rugby on Guam

2006-07-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

Check out these pink jerseys! I'm playing rugby with a bunch of the same girls I played with in Hong Kong this spring. Most of them are still in high school! We're training for a tournament in Singapore in the end of August. I haven't figured out if I am going to be able to make it yet, because I have a lot to do for my project. I'd like to, though- I have more experience than any of the players, so I feel like I can teach them as we're playing, which is fun. My goal is to win at least one of our games in Hong Kong next year. And definitely a few in Singapore, regardless of whether or not I'm there. That's all for now.

See, the sun shines in seattle sometimes!

2006-07-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from Brent's going away/end of the rainy days BBQ in Seattle that I just got off of my camera. Katie is on the left and Dorsey is on the right. Dorsey is a friend from college and Katie started as a friend of Dorsey's but now she's my friend too. The whole day was rainy, but it cleared up around BBQ time and we got to see an amazing sunset from Golden Gardens Park.

Tropical island paradise

2006-07-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the obligatory palm tree/beach picture for all of you. This is along the northwest coast of Guam.

Back on my island

2006-06-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

The blog is back! (Tanya- this one's especially for you, after you commented about how disappointed you were of seeing the yellow snake every time you checked my blog). I made it to Guam last night with two uneventful plane flights. And it's great. I love this island! I love running into people I know everywhere I go, I love drinking my Mr. Brown's coffee in the morning, having a whole schedule of fun things like rugby practices, beserk runs, barbecue's set up within minutes of landing, driving around and thinking about what I need to do for MY project, my very own project, watching the Japanese tourists. I love being able to say that I need to go for a hike this afternoon to check out some plants. It's great!

I landed at 5:30 last night, was picked up by Kristian and dropped off at my friend Jenn's house. She's in Europe for a month, so she is lending me her apartment, phone and car. What a friend! And she left me some great little presents and cards... You're the best, Jenn! Then it was off to touch rugby at 7:30, with Rossco and Pedro and Glen and David and a few new people. And to the Marianas Trench to meet up with some folks after that. And this morning, I stopped by the lab, saw Pete, Richard and Jim and met all the new folks there. I just found a place I can connect to the internet downtown, which is good. And that's what's going on on Guam.

I'll take some pictures, so you all can be envious of my island paradise...

Eyelash vipers and Hong Kong

2006-03-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

Here's the long awaited picture of the eyelash viper. I didn't take this picture (maybe Kristiina did?), but I saw the same snake at La Selva.

And that's all I have for a story now. I'm off to Hong Kong in the morning for a rugby tournament. I'm playing for the Guam National Women's Team in the Hong Kong 7's tournament. I'll be back April 3rd, and then I'll finally be settled in Seattle for a few months!

Leaving Las Cruces

2006-03-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

We're headed back to San Jose for our final dinner tonight. We've finished all the papers and written evaluations. I have some great stories and pictures from Cuerici, Corcovado and Las Cruces that I'll try to get up over the next few days. Hasta luego!

A root's routes

2006-02-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

My independent project at La Selva focused around apogeotropic roots. I was working in cahoots with 3 really fun people- Beth, Alex and Katie. I can't remember if I posted about these roots already, so I'll post again. Apogeotropic roots are roots that grow underground for some distance, as most roots do, then grow up a tree. This is likely to get nutrients from water flowing down the stem of the tree. We spent about 3 days digging up apogeotropic roots we found on Welfia palms to learn the identity of the parent tree. Very little is known about these roots- they've been described in the Amazon and Australia in a couple studies, but that's about it. We found that these roots trace back to at least 5 species of trees and many lianas. We also looked for mycorrhizal associations above and belowground in the apo-roots.... and found them. It appears that the mycorrhizae live in both types of roots.

We gave our presentation on this today and now we have to write up the paper. This picture shows a big hole we dug to try to follow an apo-root. Unfortunately, we abandoned this hole at around the time the picture was taken because the root just dove underneath the big tree in the picture.

2006-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hola-

We're just finising up here at La Selva. I gave my presentation on our independent project (I'll post another picture with the details on that) this morning, finished the write up from our faculty-led project this afternoon and am frantically doing research for the next few papers. We're headed to Cuerici, a station in the mountains that doesn't have internet access. And after Cuerici, we head to Corocovado, which again, doesn't have internet access. This means that the next post will be around March 12!

apogeotropic roots galore

2006-02-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

I just started an independent project here at La Selva on apogeotropic roots. These are roots that grow up other trees, probably to get nutrients flowing down the stem of the trees. I'm working with Beth (UW), Alex (from Univ of WI), and Katie (Scripps) to trace back as many roots as we can find. This means that we're doing a lot of digging. Each root is really fine and fragile when it starts, then gets bigger until it joins a bigger root, which is really exciting. Usually, the roots travel a circuitous path around the forest underground before ending up as an apogeotropic root. Yesterday's searches were great because we had a high success rate- 9 plants in one morning! we only got two after lunch, and then 4 this morning.... It's not nearly as fun when you don't find the parent tree- when the root takes a dive straight downwards or the root breaks or it goes into a crazy tangle of debris or Socratea palm. But when you are able to trace a root back to the parent plant, it's like winning a treasure hunt. I'm hoping we find tons of roots this afternoon.

The most exciting news of the day is that I got some presents from Seattle. Beth's partner, Sarah, came down to visit and brought some stuff for me from Brent, like some clean t-shirts and best of all, my hammock. I"m going to be living it up in my hammock for the rest of the trip.

Climbing a tree in my yellow boots!

2006-02-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

La Selva stream

2006-02-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

La Selva

2006-02-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

We left Cabo Blanco early Saturday morning and took a ferry from the Nicoya peninsula to the main part of Costa Rica. Then we headed down the coast to muck around in the mangroves for a few hours before finishing the journey to San Jose. I was glad to get a night off in San Jose- it's been a crazy few weeks of projects, lectures, traveling, getting to know the group, writing up papers, creating presentations etc. It seems like there's always something else due or another talk to attend. So, a night in San Jose when we weren't traveling as a pack of 21 people was very much welcomed. We picked up a few things at the supermarket, checked email, ate some good food and got some sleep. We won't be back in San Jose until the end of the course in mid-March.

Sunday morning, after a quick trip to the department store to get a new watch (David- the one you gave me died, twice! First, it blanked out and reset itself several times, then it got water inside it while I was snorkeling!), we headed over the mountains to La Selva. La Selva is the most well-known biological station in Costa Rica and one of the most studied tropical forests in the world. There are 60-100 people here at any one time, so we don't have the run of the place like at Palo Verde or Cabo Blanco. The dining hall is much like a school dining hall- I have to give them my number and they serve me enormous portions of rice, beans and the entree of the day. The only people that can stay at La Selva are researchers, but tourists come through on daily tours.

We've had a day of orientation walks with our resource people (Lucinda McDade, Buck Sanford and Orlando, the La Selva botanist). I saw an eyelash pit viper (bright yellow in color, small, but deadly) and poison dart frogs, and started to learn my plant families (again....). I have some more pictures and stories to post, so stay tuned....

rock art

2006-02-14T20:48:00.000-08:00

seeds and crabs

2006-02-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

This isn't the greatest picture, but it's the best I have from our project at Cabo Blanco. We worked with Erin Lindquist (OTS faculty) looking at the abundance of crabs and mammals along a gradient of distance from the ocean, and also at rate of seed removal along the same gradient. As with most OTS studies, we didn't have a big enough sample size to say a whole lot. We were able to catch a few land crabs in these Sherman traps (in the picture with Tippy and Chandler).

Bats!

2006-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

On the last day, Bob Pimm from the University of Kansas (far left) took a small group of us (L-R: Christiina, myself, Sara and Chandler) to see bats in four caves near the station. We saw leaf-nosed bats, sac-winged bats and vampire bats. The vampire bats weren't a problem while we were in the cave, but one has attacked a student before. We weren't allowed to sleep outside of tents or our cabin at night because of vampire bat attacks. Crazy! Christiina took a bunch of great pictures of bats, so I'll try to get them and post them later.

A la playa

2006-02-14T20:31:00.000-08:00

It's been more than a week since my last post, so I have a lot to share! We spent about 5 or 6 days at Cabo Blanco, which was like going to a remote beachside resort. The biological station there is in an 'absolute reserve' which means that it has even stricter protections than national parks. Initially, the reserve was set aside as a place where no human could set foot. That has been loosened slightly to allow education groups and researchers to use one section of the reserve. We hiked about 2 km from the town of Mal pais (I think?) to the station, which was right on the beach. This picture is of a beach a few minutes down the trail from our cabin. There was even snorkeling in the lagoon next to the station. We had 3 meals a day, plus snacktime at 10 and 3. I love snacktime- fresh bread and juice twice a day!

Off to Cabo Blanco

2006-02-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

I'm headed to Cabo Blanco on the Nacoya (sp?) peninsula tomorrow. I'll be out of email contact there, so this is my last post for a few days. I just finished my independent project looking at seed removal with increasing distance from watering holes. I didn't find anything conclusive, partly because nothing really wanted to eat my seeds. Maybe my next independent project will work out better....

Brent and Bo

2006-02-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

It was brought to my attention that I haven't done a very thorough job of blogging since I haven't included photos of Brent and Bo. I can't believe it- the person and dog I saw every day this fall and I didn't have them on my blog! So here it is- a photo of Brent and Bo in front of Mt. Shasta. Bo is the dog Brent got for his 13th birthday. He moved up to Seattle with us in September after living in San Jose for his entire life. Bo was a wonderful addition to our apartment- what a dog! He loved to sniff, he loved to eat (especially treats, so I gave him as many as he wanted), he loved car rides (even if he looked incredibly uncomfortable the entire time), and he loved to play tug with his bear. Bo passed away in early January at the age of 13. I wish you all could have met and played with Bo- I'm sure you would have loved him too! And then there's Brent- he's still in Seattle holding down the apartment, waiting to hear from grad schools and playing rugby. I'll try to post some other pictures of people I've neglected (e.g. Lisa...) as I get the chance.

Bark with spikes

2006-02-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

How's this for armor? This tree (I think it's called Hura, but I don't know if that's the scientific or common name) is relatively common in the dry forest. Most scientists here think the spikes are leftover defense against large mammals that were here 10-12,000 years ago.

Bugs

2006-02-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

Check out these bugs! I don't know what they are or what they're doing yet, but they have amazing color patterns!

Waxed leaves

2006-01-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

We did our first faculty-led project yesterday. This means that one of the resource people (professionals in various backgrounds) created a project and worked with a small group of students to complete the project. Our group fed leaves with trichomes (those little hairs some leaves have) and leaves without trichomes (trichomes were removed through a process we called waxing, akin to putting tape on your arm to remove arm hair) to katydids, like the one in this picture. Our hypothesis was that the trichomes are a anti-predator structure, so katydids should prefer the waxed leaves. We did not find anything significant in our two-day mini project. I did enjoy playing with katydids, though.

Vine Snake

2006-01-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

Beetle

2006-01-31T20:40:00.001-08:00

Check out the amazing patterns on this beetle's back... I promise it's not painted on!

Beetle

2006-01-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

Check out the amazing patterns on this beetle's back... I promise it's not painted on!

Bug hunting

2006-01-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

We looked for bugs today! Here's Beth and me pretending to be entomologists (Beth is the only other UW student on the course). I spent the morning running after dragonflies with this net. I am pretty sure I looked like a lunatic. But I caught three dragonflies!

Palo Verde marsh

2006-01-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the Palo Verde marsh at sunset.

Palo Verde

2006-01-28T14:33:00.000-08:00

Palo Verde is a national park located at the mouth of the Tempisque River. There is a big marsh here that is important for migratory birds. The marsh has an interesting management story. Until the 1970's, the area was a ranch and cows grazed in the marsh. When the land became a national park, the cows were removed. The entire marsh became covered with cattails within 10 years. Cattails are native to the area, but they take over without grazing. The current theory is that the cattails used to be controlled by the frequent flooding of the river, but the river has been altered so much that it rarely floods. Since around 2000, the park has been using cows to graze the marsh and a tractor to crush the cattails to open up the marsh. Anyhow, the marsh is now filled with jacanas, whistling ducks, egrets and many other birds. In this picture, I'm up on a mountain just behind the station overlooking the marsh.

San Jose

2006-01-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the only picture I have from San Jose. I met up with Beth from UW at the airport and we took a cab to our hotel in San Jose, Hotel La Amistad. There, we met a few others from our course, grabbed some lunch (the first of many meals with rice and beans), and walked around the city. That night, we had dinner as a big group and headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we all had breakfast (eggs, rice and beans) at the hotel and headed to the OTS headquarters to get ready to leave. The OTS offices are really nice- they were built in the last few years and were designed to be environmentally friendly, with roof drainage systems to water the plants and living parking lots (grass growing in a concrete matrix so water can drain through). We checked all of the gear boxes, had lunch and headed out for Palo Verde.

Landscape from above

2006-01-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the first of my promised blog entries. I finally got my computer hooked up to the wireless internet here at Palo Verde. So, these should be more frequent for the next week (until we head to Cabo Blanco where there is no internet access. Here's a picture of Costa Rica from above, as we were descending to land in San Jose (which is in the center of the country). I was amazed to see the fragmentation of the landscape- most of the forest is heavily fragmented except for the protected areas.

Off to Costa Rica

2006-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm off to the airport to fly to Costa Rica via Newark. I'll arrive mid-day tomorrow. Stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Haldre

Next destination: Costa Rica

2006-01-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Seattle for a few weeks before I head off to Costa Rica. I'll be taking the Organization for Tropical Studies course for graduate students on Tropical Ecology. It's an 8-week course during which we travel to 6 field stations across the country. We'll do short (1-2 day) projects in small groups at each station, plus two larger independent projects. I'm excited to see the country and to get some experience setting up field projects. Hopefully I'll get to practice a few of the techniques I'm aiming to use for my project in the Marianas this summer.

Here's the website for the course: http://www.ots.duke.edu/en/education/ots-1.shtml

I'll have some email access while in Costa Rica, so there's a chance I'll be able to update the blog now and then.

That's all for now.

Haldre

2006-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today is Momnan's 76th birthday, so we had a small birthday party at her house after going out for Thai food. From R to L, back row: me, Donna (rents a room at Momnan's), Momnan, my aunt Janie. front row: my cousins Nicole and Niles. My aunt Sally and cousins Madeline, Olivia and Jared left just before the picture. Happy Birthday Momnan!

2006-01-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

Poor Kristina.

2006-01-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

New Years 2006 in New Hampshire with the Colgate gang plus Eve and Scott. Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone-

It's been a long time since I last wrote... sorry! I just got caught up in grad school life and visitors. My brother Jesse has been visiting for the last two weeks. I think he managed to see every corner of Seattle- way more than I've explored so far! We made two trips down to Oregon while he was here, both for rugby games. I've been playing on the Seattle Rugby Club women's team. We were undefeated this fall in league play (3-0) until Saturday, when ORSU (from Portland) beat us in the last 10 seconds by one point. I'm also playing on an intramural flag football team comprised of biology grad students. Surprisingly, we're doing really well. We didn't look like much in our first game (most people didn't know ANY football rules), but we've steadily improved since then. If we win our playoff game this afternoon, we'll head to the semi-finals in Husky Stadium, where we'll play under the lights in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Brent and I are headed to San Jose for Thanksgiving, so we have a 14-hour drive ahead of us this evening and tomorrow.

Happy thanksgiving to all of you!

Haldre

fall colors

2005-10-11T17:10:00.001-07:00

P1010005
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

snowy mountains

2005-10-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

P1010008
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Here's a better view of the mountains taken after the fog had passed.

Trees on fire!

2005-10-11T17:09:00.001-07:00

P1010014
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

mountains only 45 minutes away!

2005-10-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

P1010002
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

For my birthday the weekend before last, I went hiking with Brent and Karen (a friend of a friend from high school) near Snoqualmie Pass. It was sprinkling a bit, but a beautiful day nonetheless. I'll post a few more pictures from that hike to make all of you flatlanders jealous.

Momnan on top of the mountain

2005-09-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

P1010468
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Note: This is the start of my attempt to catch up. I have lots of pictures from this summer and the past few years and I'm going to try to post one a day (or maybe every other day) with a story.

In August, my grandmother, Momnan (famous for her cookies shipped all over the world), my mom, my brother Eric and his girlfriend Bibian, Brent and I hiked to the top of a mountain near our family's camp in Canada. It was a 10km roundtrip hike that took us about 5 hours. Momnan scrambled up just like a billygoat and can be seen here at the top of the mountain rejoicing in her accomplishment. I sure hope I can climb mountains when I'm 75!

seattle 001

2005-09-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

seattle 001
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

The weather in Seattle has been beautiful lately, although it's rainy and overcast today. I took this picture on Tuesday from Ranier Way on the UW campus. The water in the foreground is a fountain that I had never seen running until Tuesday. So, on a clear day where I could see Ranier in the background and giant sprays of water in the foreground, I just had to take a picture. Unfortunately, they had turned the fountains off by the time I got there. So, this is what you get. Make sure you look closely for Ranier between the trees.

My very own laptop!

2005-09-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today is a very exciting day because I have become the proud owner of a laptop. Yup, my first computer. This means I have no excuse for not blogging or emailing. My life is less exciting these days, though, because I'm just going through boring required seminars and workshops to get prepared for teaching and research. Classes start next Thursday for me. I'll be taking Advanced Ecology and a Grant Writing seminar taught by my advisor. I also have a "life as a graduate student" seminar all incoming grad students have to take. I'll spend the rest of the time working on my research ideas... trying to figure out what my project will be and when I'll start my field work. And that's what I'm up to...

By the way- happy belated birthday to Niles, Margot, Jared and Kendra!

Sleepless, but in Seattle

2005-09-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Brent and I arrived in Seattle at 6 am after a marathon 18-hr drive from San Jose. Brent's 13-year old black lab named Bo accompanied us on the drive- I think he's equally excited as we are to be moving to Seattle. We're moving into the apartment this afternoon and I have my grad student orientation tomorrow. I'll finally be able to post pictures this week since I'll have a computer AND an internet connection. By the way, my address here is:

3904 Linden Ave N. #1
Seattle, WA 98103

Out of N'awlins just in time!

2005-08-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hi-

The roadtrip is going well. I have a bunch of pictures to share, but no way to get them onto the computer yet. So, you'll have to wait for those. However, I've gotten a couple calls from people asking if we were in New Orleans for the hurricane. Luckily, we spent a great couple days eating our way through jambalaya, etouffe, gumbo and beignets before heading to Texas on Friday, just one day before they started evacuating the city. We're in Santa Fe now and headed to Flagstaff on Wednesday.

Stories and pictures to come, I promise!

Haldre

Back from Ecuador

2005-08-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hello hello...

I'm back from Ecuador- landed last night. I'm thoroughly exhausted, but we had a wonderful trip. I've got some hilarious (and disgusting) pictures of the dung beetle research and plenty of stories to accompany the pictures. However, since I'm tired and I don't have the pictures in front of me, you'll have to wait a day or two for them. I'm in Seattle for the next three days, looking for a house and tying up the loose ends from our trip. I'll be landing in Boston early Thursday morning. Until next time... Haldre

Headed to Ecuador!

2005-07-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

It's late on Thursday night (technically Friday morning) and I'm headed to the airport in about 6 hours. We've spent the last week gathering equipment for our research projects, finalizing the protocols and making sure everyone has visas and yellow fever vaccines and copies of their passport and the like. Paul, one of the other graduate students 'in charge' flew down last week to get things set up. David (a lecturer at UW) and I will be flying down with the 8 students tomorrow and staying in Quito tomorrow night. We'll buy rubber boots (everyone wears rubber boots in the tropics, they say) and last minute equipment, then head over Papallecta Pass (4000 m) to the east side of the Andes. We'll be at Yanayacu biological station (www. yanayacu.org) for about 10 days conducting our experiments on dung beetles. The students have developed the experiments themselves under the greater topic of examing species diversity along an altitudinal gradient. The literature they've read has shown human dung to be the most attractive, so they're going to use it for their traps. Yup. We'll all have to contribute to the dung supply. There'll be nothing secret about our bowel movements on this trip. Hopefully we'll attract lots of beetles and come up with some interesting results. After all this hard work, we'll have 4 days at Sani Lodge in the Amazon (near Coca, Ecuador). It's just rest and relaxation before flying back to Quito for one last night and then back to the states on August 11. I'll try to post some pictures while I'm down there, but my internet connection might be limited. More stories to come, I'm sure.... Haldre

hanging around on the grass

2005-07-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

hanging around on the grass
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Fourth of July was spent in the best way possible- relaxing on the banks of the Kennebec with college friends. We rented a beautiful 1700's-era house complete with a small boathouse and outdoor hot tub. The gang is getting more spread out each year, so the times like this are always memorable and hilarious.

Glen, Sue and I

2005-07-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

Glen, Sue and I
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Next trip was up to Maine to visit my Dad and his wife, Sue. We hiked up a mountain near their house in the mountains and lakes region of Maine on this beautiful summer day.

Kendra and Nicole2

2005-07-22T00:29:00.001-07:00

Kendra and Nicole2
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Kendra and Nicole

2005-07-22T00:29:00.000-07:00

Kendra and Nicole
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

So after Canada, I headed down to New York City with my cousin Nicole to visit my cousin Kendra for the weekend. $15 to get from Boston to New York. We picnicked in central park, ate at a funky Thai restaurant (featured in Garden State, as well as other sitcoms and movies), watched a independent documentary, people watched and window shopped. All in all a wonderful weekend with the cousins.
I really like these two pictures together...

View from Porch at Camp

2005-07-22T00:26:00.000-07:00

View from Porch at Camp
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

So, after going backpacking with my mom, I went up to our family's camp in Canada for a few days with Sarah. Sarah is married to my friend, Wayland, from high school. We had a blast sitting on the porch where this picture was taken eating chocolate croissants and drinking coffee. One highlight was definitely the poutine, a french-canadian delicacy of french fries covered with melty cheese curds and gravy. Delicious. I hadn't been to camp for several years and I hadn't ever been 'on my own'... what a fantastic place. I'm going to try to get up there each summer, even if it's only for a few days. Everything's an adventure once you cross the border and they speak a different language!

Avalanche Lake

2005-07-22T00:22:00.000-07:00

Avalanche Lake
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Here's Eudora at the end of Avalanche Pass. We finally had some tolerable weather on Sunday and could see a bit of a view. I hope we can go back when the view is clear and spectacular!

Lake Colden

2005-07-22T00:20:00.000-07:00

Lake Colden
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

My mom and I stayed at a lean-to the second night on Lake Colden. We had the lean-to to ourselves and a beautiful view of the lake. I think I stayed in this very lean-to back in Outdoor Ed Staff Training at Colgate!

water swirls2

2005-07-22T00:18:00.001-07:00

water swirls2
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Here's a broader view.

Water Swirls3

2005-07-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Water Swirls3
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Just playing around with the camera.... can you guess what this is?

McIntyre Falls

2005-07-22T00:16:00.000-07:00

P1010259
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

Here's a picture of my mom at McIntyre Falls.

Me and my dog

2005-07-22T00:13:00.000-07:00

Me and my dog
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

I'm trying to catch up on old adventures. My mom and I went backpacking in the Adirondacks in mid-June. We parked at the ADK Loj and hiked in to a campsite just before McIntyre Falls near Wright Mountain. It was a bit rainy then, and most of the weekend, but we managed to stay relatively dry in my mom's new tent. We brought Eudora, my mom's dog that is soon to become mine! She'll be moving out to Washington this fall. She absolutely loved backpacking- I can't wait to take her again. She even carried her own food!

quick note from Seattle

2005-07-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hi-

Just wanted to say I'm still alive here in Seattle. I'm staying with Dorsey, a friend from Colgate. Seattle's a great city- I've had a great time exploring, eating in the restaurants, drinking coffee (there really are coffee shops everywhere here!) and looking for houses. No luck so far in the latter endeavor. I'm being a bit picky, though. I'm hoping to find the perfect kitchen, yard, location and price. We'll see how it goes.

I'm getting ready for the trip to Ecuador. We leave Friday for Quito, then head out to our biological station on the east side of the Andes on Saturday. We have about 9 days to conduct our research projects on dung beetles before heading to a jungle resort in Coca for three days of R&R.

I have lots of pictures and stories to catch up on- I'll try to work on that this week.

Haldre

Vermont

2005-06-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

P1010226
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

One of the greatest things about Vermont is that it's beautiful in the summer and there are lots of outdoor concerts and farmer's markets. Jazz Fest was just finishing up in Burlington this weekend and we found this band playing in the park near Church Street.

Patty and Xavier

2005-06-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

P1010218
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

I've spent the last week in Vermont hanging out with my friend, Patty, from high school, and her son, Xavier, in the cool shades.

moss

2005-06-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

P5310112
Originally uploaded by Haldre.

This is the reproductive part of the moss (I can't remember the name of it) from Becharof Outlet. It made a large patch of orange ground.