Internship #13

Most significant experience as an intern:

Going out in the field is one of the most significant experiences during my internship. I've only gone out in the field 2 times.. The first time was second week that I was here and then today was the second time that I was able to go out in the field. This is really significant because its only happened twice!! And its also important.. especially after it had rained last week for a really long time. Samples are collected from the pools every 10 to 14 days but after it rains we are supposed to go out and inspect all the pools to see how big and if there actually are any fairy shrimp. We are supposed to record how big the fairy shrimp are and depending on how big they are is when we will go out to collect samples from the vernal pools.

Those are Katie's feet!!! And I'm sure she'll feel special that I chose to post this picture. We wore very stylish boots so that we wouldnt ruin our shoes.. The benefit of these boots is that if you arent wearing socks that are long enough.. they will completely shred up your ankles and give you blisters! I still have blisters from the first time that we went out to sample and after that I kept long socks in my bag in anticipation that I might go out into the field again. Most of the jokes in the lab are derived from the boots that are worn when we go and do sample testing. Luckily none of us got stuck in the mud today. I was fortunate to never get stuck in the mud when I went out to help in the field.

SPADE FOOT TADPOLES!!!!! These little guys are endangered! These tadpoles are huge! and Katie actually said that she has never seen the tadpoles this big before. At this stage they are close to metamorphosise and will probably loose their tales soon. That would be really exciting if they made it till they grow up and become frogs! Sometimes the tadpoles won't make it till they completed the entire cycle for them to become frogs because the vernal pools will dry up before they make it that far. The last time we went out to do sample collections about 2 weeks ago there were tadpoles and the pool didn't dry up because there were the rain storms that caused the pool to fill up even more. It was exciting to actually get a picture of the tadpoles because most of the little guys in the vernal pools are way to small to even see with the naked eye let alone a camera!