Tag: field trip

California Tiger Salamander Research

- Wendy Leave a comment

Earlier this month, SSU graduate student Jesse Schmieg offered my Vertebrate Biology students an amazing experience: my students were hosted at Jesse’s field site, where they are researching the interactions between larval tiger salamanders and predaceous diving beetles in seasonal pools. Our main task of the day: to help Jesse set up this season’s experiment. This involved “bisecting” each vernal pools into two halves, using mesh fencing. Throughout the season, Jesse and their team of research assistants will remove predaceous beetle larvae from one half of each pool, while leaving the beetle population undisturbed in the other half. Then, they will perform monitoring to see if there is any difference in the salamander populations related to the removal of these insects.

Read more

Field Biology trip to Fairfield Osborn

- Wendy Leave a comment

March 15, 2018

The day of our Field Biology trip to the Osborn Preserve was rainy and a bit cold (but at least it didn’t snow on us, as it had when we were at Sonoma Mountain Ranch).

The day of our Field Biology trip to the Osborn Preserve was rainy and a bit cold (but at least it didn’t snow on us, as it had when we were at Sonoma Mountain Ranch). We were undaunted by the weather, though, as I had a cohort of extremely motivated (and knowledgeable) students, including some folks who had gone through the university’s Naturalist Training Program. We were ostensibly here to survey the coverboards on the property (which we did), but we spent a lot of time making more general observations. We were only there for a few hours, and it drizzled on us most of the time, but we saw loads of great stuff, across a wide variety of taxonomic groups.

Read more

Fairfield Osborn Kelly Pond

- Wendy St. John Leave a comment

Field trip to the Fairfield Osborn Preserve, with A Watershed Year freshman experience class. I hiked up to Kelly Pond with a group of students so they could collect field data for a research project. It’s quite a hike up to the pond, which is near the northern end of the preserve. Covered with Azolla, the pond is a peaceful and lovely place to visit. 

Read more