The
Volunteer Day at James Madison Park was challenging because I had to lead it
with the help of two other interns. The usual CLA staff was busy organizing a
big event and submitting a grant application. It was a small group of
volunteers and most of them were retired. The task assigned was physically
demanding because we had to pull green algae out from the water nearby the
beach and bring it to a dumpster. I learnt this day that it is important to
take into account the limits of a group. We had to adapt our plan and set some
break time in order to keep the group motivated. During these down times, I
tried to use all of my communication skills acquired from the past year. For
example, I tried to emphasize the impact of their action by explaining that we
are not just cleaning up a beach, but we are raising awareness. Many people in
the park came to us to ask questions about the level of the lake, invasive
species, and algae. This was a great opportunity to improve my skills at
explaining complex environmental problems spontaneously. I think that my
explanation about zebra mussels had a great impact because I was able to find
some of them in the green algae. People are more likely to care about an issue
if they see it and experience it.
As we start a new month, the level of intensity and excitement for the new Reserve and Watershed Science Center heats up. There’s a mountain of resources to sort through and I am learning about the operations of local and national centers, making comparisons, finding similar modes of educational and thematic qualities and drawing conclusions as to what will make the Center the place that the LSRWA envisions it to be.
Last Tuesday, the 25th of June, was not a good day at work. After sitting down at my small cubicle on the third floor of TNC’s stunningly and sustainably renovated office building, I began working on my Natural Climate Solutions policy brief, editing, re-editing and editing some more. Earlier, while riding the bus to work, I had checked on the latest news about the walkout by Oregon Senate Republicans. For the last several days, 11 Republican state senators decamped to undisclosed locations in Idaho to prevent the Senate from having the quorum necessary to vote on Oregon’s “cap-and-invest” climate bill. As I researched policy options for incentivizing private landowners to sequester carbon on natural and working lands, I checked again on the news coming out of Salem.
As the end of June nears, I find myself startled that the end of my first month on Koh Yao Yai is already upon me. It’s been a whirlwind of events, a cycle of preparation and reports. Since my last post, I have reflected further about my position here and evaluating what I can do with the time and resources that are available.
The past week I was with the US team of Y2Y traveling the Interstate-90 corridor. As connectivity is a key element to wildlife health and ecological sustainability, roads and human developments pose a major impasse. We traveled a region in SW Montana identifying possible crossing structures and areas.
In the last two weeks since my first blog post, things have
settled into a rhythm here at Clean Lakes Alliance. My project is very independent
which allows me to work from home, at Science Hall, or at my hometown library.
What can we learn about what is on our planet, and what can’t we? My personal mental list of answers to that question has slowly been added to, becoming more clearly defined since starting remote sensing coursework last summer. In my mind, figuring out workflows in remote sensing feels like playing Minesweeper: as one probes through a map, the grey areas gradually become resolved until it becomes possible to easily move around without wasting time bumping into mines.
It has been one year and two weeks since I started the Environmental Observation & Informatics (EOI) program, and it has been a positive experience.
I think it tiresome to list the skills and facts I’ve learned and attempt to impress with an outstanding Curriculum Vitae, so I will approach this reflection in a more personal voice, a dialog, or journal if the reader so choose. Let me begin:
These past three weeks were a whirlwind of meetings, trainings, and making progress on the Google Earth Engine script (my main deliverable). I love the diversity of the work that I am performing. I enjoy meeting new people and learning what they do, attending trainings, and learning about the amazing work other people are doing through webinars. While Google Earth Engine is frustrating (when it’s not working) there is a sense of excitement when everything goes right.
Now that I am halfway through my field season of surveying for rails and bitterns, I can definitely say that this experience has been wild. Pun intended. Traveling across the state in search of elusive King Rails (KIRA), Yellow Rails (YERA), and Least Bitterns (LEBI) has lead to a number of eBird checklists, many long hikes at night, very few observations of my focal species, but some amazing views of nature and sunsets.
The Nelson Institute: Environmental Conservation Leadership Projects 