Escape the green silo

Photo credit: Corey Coyle –  Farm in Windsor with Four Silos

In academia people love to talk about silos as a way that people limit themselves. I’ve seen the term thrown around for political ideologies, research paradigms, and most pertinently to me today, social groups. My time at the Nelson Institute has taught me how important it is to escape these silos, and mix different ideology’s and innovations to break through old ways of thought. My project, at its heart, is an attempt to bridge new generations to the outdoors.

It has been quite an experience to be doing research out of my silo. As a biologist and environmental activist, I have had my views for years on what progress in the conservation world meant. It was mostly related to the preservation of land, and the inherent and useful value that protected areas can sustain. I’ve volunteering in Seattle to oppose tree extraction in the Canadian Boral in my twenties. I’ve fought invasive species until I was bleeding and tired. This is all pushing back at the issues of my day when I found them.

What a joy to instead build alliances.

Reframing Scat & Stepping on Elk

“Whoa! What is that!?” exclaimed Dustin as he walked by an area I had passed just moments before. As I turned around and walked towards him, I noticed glistening light brown fur sprinkled with white spots just beneath the tall grass.

The brown mound of fur was an elk calf, probably no more than a day or two old. I had missed stepping on it by no more than a foot. Since beginning my project placement this summer, I have had to learn to see animal sign (and animals in general) while hiking between data collection points. Situational awareness in the field is perhaps one of the most valuable skills I have learned through my project placement.

Reflection 2- Gathering Community Perception of Wetlands

Over the past few weeks, I have been working with the Liberia Land Authority to help strengthen government’s efforts to improve  coastal wetland management in Liberia. Some of my activities have included working in the office in Monrovia, attending meetings on behalf of the Land Authority with land and environmental stakeholders and working with communities in the Marshall Reserve in Marshall City, Margibi County, about 48.7 km from the capital city. 

Writing Challenges, Lodgepole Pines, and Unmarked Roads

With only 2 weeks until my exit seminar things are beginning to wrap up, but at the same time, I feel like I am busier than ever. I have mostly finished my background reading (although there is always more to read) and am concentrating on writing. I went out on another survey route, this time with IMBCR in the mountains, and had my first deliverable (A Tale of Two Methods) for the Bird Conservancy published on their website.

If I have learned nothing else, it is the need for flexibility. When I went out on the BBS survey, I was given two days warning, but planning to go out on an IMBCR survey has required patience. After weeks of planning, re-planning, watching the weather, and coordinating busy schedules, I finally went out on an IMBCR survey. Just to keep things interesting, I had to find a small dirt road not found on Google maps with a road marker not visible from the turn off in the dark. It was sad when my 9-year old flip phone finally died a few months ago, but sometimes smartphones are lifesavers.

Is it a reservoir, impoundment, or impounded flowing water?

It is hard to believe that it’s already mid-July and we are all wrapping up our time in the EC program! I feel like this summer has flown by. A lot has happened since my last blog post! We’ve had two rounds of focus group meetings, I presented to the Water Quality Policy Management Team, visited the WDNR Green Bay and Oshkosh offices, helped create a flow chart on how fish passage policy will be communicated for dams, and went to a Madison Mallards game with fellow DNR staff.

Pembroke Reflection #2: Adaptability is Crucial

It’s been about a month since my last update, and we are really in the thick of crunch time, trying to develop some materials that will hopefully be a start to something that will help “put Pembroke on the map” (a catchphrase my team finds itself using pretty often to describe our project) in a meaningful way.

Within the last month, I’ve learned a lot, particularly about how hard it is to do big work on a time crunch, with multiple stakeholders with different backgrounds and interests. We talked quite a bit in class how logistically difficult it is to work with people sometimes, and how hard it is to tackle large projects on a short time frame, when the reality is that conservation work often needs to be ongoing, monitored and tweaked for decades, to ensure lasting impact. We’ve also discussed how daunting it can be to try to compromise with people who have different visions and needs for conservation projects. This has become abundantly clear, particularly within the last month, as we’ve run into a few challenges and hiccups along the way.

Reflection #2: Analyzing Public Perception on Conservation Initiatives

For the past 5 weeks, I have been working for the Rocky Mountain West branch of the Wildlife Conservation Society. It has been an incredible learning experience, involving office, field, and community work. I truly appreciated the multi-faceted opportunity that this summer work has provided, as it helps me to better understand how community development and relationship building works in the US (or a more developed country than I am used to working in). Kris, my supervisor, is incredibly proficient with communication and any work involving the local community. Every single contact or person I met, be it an NGO worker, government employee, or rancher all respect and appreciate her genuine and well-rounded approach to conservation. I cannot imagine a better person to learn from in terms of inclusive community development in this political and environmental climate. 

Small Scale Fisheries Data Collections & Marine Conservation Education Products

EXCITING NEWS AND CHALLENGES!
Development of the interpretive center is finally in full swing! After a long couple of weeks of initial design planning, budget approval and contacting a few individuals, the visuals and models have started being created. Something that caught me by surprise was that Dr. Tewfik, my supervisor who is not in country, did not inform any of the staff members outside of the immediate marine team of the plans for the developing the interpretive center at the research station. This meant that not even the assistant director or any of the finance team were aware of the plan. This was not a huge challenge, except for that it delayed the timeframe in which I was able to begin buying supplies. The budget for the interpretive center had to be included on the following year’s budget, which was FORTUNATELY July, meaning I only had to wait a couple of weeks.

On The Wings Of Change

If you’ve been following my posts thus far, you’ll remember that the search for short-eared owls (SEOW) and long-eared owls (LEOW) has not gone as expected (and if you’d like a refresher, you can find the posts here and here). My melancholic last blog left me at the end of my field season with very few hits on my focal species to work with. After taking a step back from all of the data and a speedy re-framing of my expectations, I’m determined to deliver useful updates on these species to my supervisors at the WDNR.

Of Rabbits and Results Chains

Spotting the highly elusive riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) is no easy feat: with an estimated 400 individuals left in the wild, this highly endangered rabbit remains one of the most elusive mammals in Africa. I was therefore particularly delighted to be part of a small group of conservationists who, on one field trip, spotted no less than three!

We have a dog to thank for that: Jesse, the rabbit-sniffing working dog, has been honing her scent-tracking skills and on this particular trip, she proved that she was fully up to the task!

Jesse, the ultra-smart, Riverine Rabbit-sniffing dog, helped us spot three rabbits during our field visit