Projecto!!!!

So it's been a while since I posted, but the past week, and last Friday, has been pretty boring. We've started project work and basically have been stressing out about that for a while. We've got the idea all set but all the details are so hard to nail down and agree on that the first few days had no success. We basically yelled at each other until we decided we were getting nothing done and divided into groups. That seemed to work better.

And me being me, I like to go wherever I'm needed, so if you don't tell me where I'm needed....Well, this is awkward. Basically I ended up doing the graphics for the problem and objective tree (ITS COLOR CODED :)). And I'll get to write out all of the background stuff to how the trees are layed out, and I'll work on Research and Methods for the paper. Simple, boring stuff that you and I and probably even Exxon doesn't care about. But it needs to get done, so we're doing it!

The other eventful parts of the week have been:

Carnivore Supervisor talk about his trip to Borneo (SE Asian Island, extreme biodiversity!) and how he helped set up camera traps to capture pictures of clouded leopards to perform conservation research on them. So guess what! We got to go through the pictures!!!! And record data on them! I know that sounds sarcastic, but I was excited. We did that Wednesday actually, went through thousands (only got to 660ish) photos recording time, animal, date, action, number, etc. It sounds tedious, but it's so mind numbing, it was actually kind-of nice. I appreciated it because I knew I was helping someone out somewhere in the world, and I know I would appreciate it if I was a conservationist.

Anyway, the other cool thing we did was talk to the Zoo directors about their Gorilla Project!!! It's all super confidential, so I can't share too much, but the second Phase of African forest (built by makers of Disney, or something) is going to be a huge immersion tour of the Gorillas. It's super cool and really exciting! We got to see the schematics and drawings and graphics and it looks really cool. It makes me want to be a director some day, but then again, I don't like money, so nevermind.

But yeah, that's been my uneventful week! I'll keep you up to date, but I'm pretty much finished! I'll try to be more interesting later :)

Pirates and Puppies

All right, so I’m a little tired. Exhausted even. I’ve had too much sun, I’ve over-exerted myself physically and I’m just plain tired from a days work. But it’s all worth it! Because we built a wall in the water (weird, I know), to prevent shoreline erosion.

The day started off quite the same as Wednesday, we knew what we were going to do and we were prepared for it. However, we had a different technique this time. Since we had moved so far along the shore yesterday, we had to transfer the concrete bags farther, and instead of assembly lining them down a quite far distance, we instead used a boat to move faster. It was brilliant, and quite necessary. I was a part of the boat, team and it was surprisingly fun. The boat was the best, because I got to balance in it, while everyone else held it down, and I transferred the concrete bags from land to boat. And then, once we got to where we were going, I did all the heavy lifting, of course, and the men stood around and did nothing (s) (sorta). No but really, it was fun because I like feeling strong, and I like feeling efficient, and it was the perfect job for me. Plus I was in the water. Gotta love the water. And the guys I worked with weren't that bad either....

The people we were working with, the two new guys who joined us were hilarious. They knew how to joke and were extremely sarcastic and helpful. One of them was practically a pirate, or at least pretended to be. He had this cloth cap with smiley faces all over it, shaded glasses and a soul patch. He was pretty legit. And he was just funny, one time he was on top of the boat, put his foot on a pile of concrete bags and took the pirate stance, saying, "avaste ye, maties," or something to that extent. And our other guy, was really cool! He was the pirate's partner, and his wife went to Baylor! So we had a lot to talk about. It was really refreshing, actually getting to chat with a conservationist about stuff I enjoy, instead of what the rest of the group wants to talk to. It was good bonding time, and I really appreciated it.

Overall, we ended up finishing pretty early, mostly because there were so many people, and all of us had a real good work ethic. It was really refreshing from all of the projects we had done earlier, mostly because the people we worked with were so great. We all had a blast, and it was hard, exhausting work out in the Texas sun, but because these people were so fun to be around, we each enjoyed it immensely. Plus the water helped a lot. I sure loved the water.

And of course, the puppies. They were my favorite part of all. The two collies were amazing, and hilarious, of course, the one with broken teeth endlessly carrying around his stick, and the other following him, trying to herd him to no end.  But of course, the lab was my favorite. She was so playful and energetic, a water bug just like me, and sweet as can be. I loved her and she loved me, and that's how it's meant to be. (I want a puppy :))

So after two days of working on this wall, we completed the portion of it that we needed done, with time to spare. We took pictures with who we had worked with and received an email in the next week thanking us for all the hard work we did. It was just a perfect example of how conservationists should be like. And I can't wait to be just like them when I grow up. If I grow up

(This blog was written as if it were June 21, 2012)

Water Under the Bridge, or the Bay

The best days are those that are unexpected. Today may just have been one of those days. While I knew that I would be building a wall in the water, I assumed the water would by knee high, and we might be poaring concrete. I was definitely mistaken, that's for sure.

We ended up transferring bags full of concrete (dependent on whether they were soft or hard), into the water, that was waist high. And no, the water did not stop there, I was completely drenched, mostly because the concrete was heavy enough, that carrying it ended up being much more involved than you would think. There were moments were I was shoulder high in the water, resting the bag on my thighs because the assembly line had paused for a few seconds. Most of my day was spent transferring bags from land to water, half the time I spent on land, the other half on water. And if I don't say so myself, my favorite part of the day was definitely water, well that, and the dogs.

The property owner had 3 dogs, and an extra who was being babysat, and they were fantastic. Seriously, the funniest dogs ever. They thought the whole world revolved around them and you were only there to entertain them. And of course, I was happy to oblige. The lab, the babysat one, was extra energetic, as labs are. He would endlessly fetch, and drool all over the stick or ball he had. And if that wasn't enough, there were two boarder collies, who are herders, but only one would herd, no matter what. He'd herd the other dogs as they were playing fetch, it was the funniest thing. He wouldn't pay attention at all to the ball, but if the dog moved at all, he was quick to react.

The other collie, the poor thing, was so sweet, but had no teeth! He wasn't allowed to play with sticks, because it was bad for him, so we would let him play with the ball, but then the lab would steal it. It was hectic trying to keep it all together, but so much fun, because I'm a real big fan of dogs. They're honestly my favorite creatures in the entire world, no wonder my favorite animal's a wolf.

And just for some background on today, we built the wall as part of a "living shoreline" which was on a bay that connects to Galveston Bay, so essentially the ocean. These places are so full of transition and life because of that transition, multiple fish and birds lay their eggs and raise their babies in the bay because they are safer there. The bay is full of variety, because there is influx and out-flux in everything. Plus it can be somewhat salty, due to the connection to the ocean. So instead of building a complete wall, blocking off the bay from the shore, the Galveston Bay Foundation helps property owners build a small wall to help control the tide and keep the property safe from any danger that the bay can bring. Or at least that's what I understood from all of it. Either way, that's what we did today, and it turned out to be a great day!

The Bayou and the Box Turtle

 (Yes that's a baby alligator!)

Monday I didn't post because we had the day off, due to working Saturday. But Saturday was a pretty simple day, we watched a bird banding event in Lake Jackson, and then drove home. I got to release a cardinal! But that's about all that happened, so I figured it wasn't worthy to post. Either way, today was very interesting.

We went to Armand Bayou Nature Park and did all sorts of conservation activities.  Obviously, the place is a Bayou, but what does that mean? It means there are all sorts of wetland creatures, with a dose of the sea as well, because it ebbs and flows with the sea, so there is some salt in the water. Over the years, the water level has actually grown, surprisingly, and the man we worked with today was doing all he could to keep up with it. So we helped him out by planting (dropping), some concrete-weighted wetland grasses into places were there was a need for more wetland habitat, so the fish and birds and other animals would be happy (alligators too!).

But before that fun adventure, we had another stint with the rain, and it tried to chase us out of every project we did today. The funniest was when we were all planting (meaning transferring grasses to a bigger bucket), under a tree, and the rain came in, like it does, in a rush. We all were stuck under the tree, until the wind swept the rain up so it was coming at us sideways (anybody think of Forrest Gump, there? Yeah, me too.). And we ran the 20 feet to the greenhouse to be safe from the rain while it lasted all of 20 minutes. Silly, Texas rainstorms, try to chase us out of our planting. (And yes, we went back and played in the mud a bit to get the job done)

Well, the rainstorm had already succeeded earlier that day, when our group split in two and half were on the metal boat planting, and half where chopping the sides of a nature trail, looking for box turtles that seemed to be especially illusive today (maybe they knew about the rain before us). And one girl is especially afraid of thunderstorms. Guess where she was? Yup, the boat. So when we all met up again, the head guy decided it would be best if we head in for lunch and avoid any potentially dangerous situations with lightening. I personally thought it was ridiculous, but better safe than sorry! it turned out all right, we got a lot of work done, and bonded some more with the unexpected of this internship.

Oh, and my traffic adventure. So.....I missed the bus this morning. Woops! I forgot my wallet, tickets and all, at home and it was impossible to go on the bus without it. I unfortunately had to rudely wake my dad up to bring it to me, but it was too late. Again, woops! So I drove into Houston, which wasn't that bad, but let me tell you, on the way back in a the rain at 5 o'clock is a nightmare. Don't do it. Don't even try. And if you take the shortcuts, or even the Toll road, be careful, because the GPS is likely to turn you back in the way he wants to go. Yeah it was a hard afternoon, but after two hours of traffic, with an exhausted left leg, I was home, fed, and happy.

I love days like this, when everything you never expected happens, and it turns into a hilarious experience you'll be laughing about for a long time.

Being a Natural Leader

I had a revelation. Today was project work day, and we were doing our best to work together, or at least I was, and I was getting very frustrated. Being naturally quiet, I tend to not be so outspoken in a group, but today it was necessary; my ideas were good and they would help the project flow better, plus I feel like I'm pretty good at determining what sounds good or not, so I ended up kind-of being a mediator. For about four hours today, we argued, well, "worked." We had three charts to complete today and being the efficient college students we are, we wanted to get them done and go home.

So we ended up spending the first three hours with people at the board, writing things down, while others shouted at them to be heard above all of the other chatter and voices. It was really difficult group dynamics, especially in a group of ten, but it was alright for the time-being, I'd rather have everyone participate.  And then I stopped being heard, and usually I shut down when I start being heard, if they aren't going to listen to be then I have nothing to contribute because by their lack of listening skills, I was deemed unimportant. In my opinion. Now I know that's not the complete truth, but I'm just telling you how I feel.

Two people branched off and started doing their own section, so when we finished our part we put their tree on the board. Edited it, and moved on. To the tree that would mirror theirs. We have a problem and an objective; the objective would mirror the problem, so it had to kind-of make sense. And working on the objective, we realized, through mirroring the problem, we had not really addressed the education piece of our project which was basically the whole point of it. Now when I say "we," I mean the people who had done the problem tree, and they were discussing it behind me, so I voiced it to the people at the board, in a sort of telephone motion, and I was completely shut down. Literally told "oh, that doesn't help us." Because the rest of us had realized we weren't being listened to, and stopped listening. It's increasingly hard with ten people to actively participate in speaking, so yes we had stopped, because the tail end of it, the most important part, was absent. They weren't listening, so we weren't speaking. It wasn't that we didn't want to help. So that whole scene was a little much.

Our supervisor soon realized our group dynamics were a little off and directed us in a team-building game. We stood on a sheet, like one on a queen size bed, except folded in half. We all had to flip it over, while not talking, and not stepping off the sheet. One naturally bossy person decided she knew what she was doing and crawled down to fold the sheet over. I being the listener, followed instructions, but felt unimportant in the whole process. Eventually it failed because we were all falling off of it, and we tried again, with talking. So she told us her idea and we tried it this time, with better success.

But what was different for me about that time was my position. I was no longer on the outside, observing, I was in the middle, holding every one in the tiny square that we had made. Almost every one at one point had grabbed onto my hand or shoulder or legs at some point to keep their balance. Two people actually were practically saved from falling off because I was there for them to hold. What I realized about my position on the team, was not that I needed to know exactly what to do and do it, but I needed to know how to work with people, to help them come back to the base and catch them when they fall. I was the anchor. And what I knew was so important about that job was not actually getting the work done, but building healthy relationships because of the work that we are doing. Being anchored, and centered is more important than leading, because people will naturally gravitate toward you if you already are doing the right thing instead of telling them what to do.

And of course, this relates back to Jesus. You know how there's this paradox in Christianity, of being like Jesus, but not being Jesus? You have to be humble and know that you're fallible and human, and not try to be perfect, but at the same time you want to reach people by being an example. How hard is it to find middle ground in that? Incredibly hard. But I figured out that it's not necessarily being Jesus Christ, but being Jesus for Jesus Christ, so you can lead people to Him through your words and actions. So be the anchor. Be centered, and people will naturally follow. Love on them radically and change their lives through your example. Be consumed by God and His world instead of this one.

A Glimmer of Hope

If I could come up with an interesting quip, every time I wrote this blog, honestly I would. But I don't think I'm punny enough to integrate one into everyday. So I'm sticking to the old stand-by for now.

Today, we met with the Hermann Park Conservancy Volunteer Coordinator in the hopes that she would help steer our project in a way that we could be successful and actually reach people. But that's the exact opposite of what happened. She shut us down, almost immediately, and we were all disappointed. She said the idea for signs would be too difficult because they contract with a city contractor to do the signs and they are very specific about each sign. So we would have too much trouble trying to please them if we did our project on them. And even though this project is based on us gaining knowledge and experience from forming a proposal, we still want our idea to be valid and actually have the chance of succeeding, and we all work so much better together if we are excited about what we are doing.

So we nipped the sign idea in the bud, and had time to talk about it in the second half of the day, but I'll get to that. So besides going over to Hermann Park to talk to her, we also were helping with whatever volunteer work she needed done today. We were tasked with digging 99 holes in one portion of the park where we would put a native plant that would thrive and help soil conditions. And then, the 9th graders came. They were helping us out by actually planting the plants, and cutting their roots so they learned to grow in the right way. And there were 24 of them, and 10 of us, and things got done quickly. We had dug to many holes, we were so on top of it. And I tried to help facilitate the work, but usually when that happens, I end up doing all of it myself. And guess what happened? No, I didn't do all of it myself, but I would find odd jobs and see where people needed me and ended up helping a lot of things coordinate well. By the end of the hour and a half, we were all done, with 99 plants planted, and exhausted teenagers all around us.

Our next project was putting mulch all around it. Which was simple enough, but with everyone not feeling the need to work any more, and too many bodies all in one place, most of them gave up while I and three other girls kept digging through the mulch pile and filling wheelbarrows to transport the mulch. Eventually we were told to stop, well, mostly I was told to stop because I was the only one left working, being the overachiever I am. We headed back to the Zoo, sweaty, and dirty and gross. Again.

This time though, we didn't have a presentation to get ready for. We were just hanging out with each other, talking about the project. Well, I use the word "talking" lightly. People can get pretty adamant when they want their opinions heard. But that's beside the point. Arguing, and brainstorming with ten people is probably one of the hardest things you can ever do. Even when they all come from the same viewpoint. It's difficult because we so badly want it to succeed, but we have to accept that it won't reach the entire population at the Zoo even though that's what we all hope for. So we had to take a step back and see that anyone we reach is important, and education is like that, you only really teach the people who want to learn. So we came up with an idea....

A poster/passport activity chart for families with kids who can get involved in conservation at home, and go out to state parks, learn about nature and be in nature, etc. We wanted a poster instead of a brochure because it's less likely to be thrown out, or disregarded. We figured we would put a bunch of activities and how they relate to urban wildlife on the back of it and when they complete one, they can stop by the Swap Shop (a kind-of trading post) at the Zoo and receive points for their activities, so they can end up buying something in the Zoo. We talked to the Swap Shop ladies about it and they apparently were very excited. They thought it could really work, and over the years they had seen their attendance increase so we would be facing a viable and engaged audience. Which also helped us out because we were able to reach families that include all sorts of different age groups. And while we already want to expand, we have to remember to keep our goals attainable and achievable. And I'm glad because already this plan seems much more intricate and involved than the signs and I think it's really reaching an audience that will care.

All the time in conservation, your dreams, your plans, your hopes are completely crushed, but you have to learn to keep your head up, keep dreaming, and of course, keep trying. Tomorrow we're talking more about the project, so it might no be that entertaining, but I'll post something anyway, and Saturday we're going bird banding! (Whatever that means)

A New Sea of Conservation

We got a nice break from fundraising today when we got to go to Galveston and talk to NOAA and Texas A&M Galveston people who were involved in their own form of conservation projects in the ocean. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and they have about 14 sanctuaries stationed on the coasts of the US that protect the wildlife out there and give them a place to thrive without human enroachment. The one that the Galveston NOAA is associated with is the Flower Banks, three banks, all about 70-150 miles off the coast that are coral reefs!

Coral reefs are super awesome, if you've never been to one before, they are hotspots of biodiversity and hold a variety of animals from corals to sponges, to fish and sharks and rays. Their ecosystem is so incredibly intermingled that it interconnects with other oceans and even the shore. Thousands of millions of fish and sharks and turtles migrate every year. They don't stay in the same place hardly ever, and this coral reef may only be their home for one season, but it's increasingly valuable because that's where they are safe, and usually where they choose to lay their eggs. So we can see the value in conserving one, if not for biodiversity, then for research, because it's so intricate!

They found about 2-3 new species in the past few years, of coral or fish, or something, and have been adding them to their super long survey/catalogue that they have been building ever since they started. Our presenter told us some about what they were and why they were important and then told us all about what had been happening in the past five years. So we got the gist of it, it was really unique, and not discovered until the 1930s or something, and it was deeper than they had seen any coral reef go previously. Plus it was stationed on sand domes, and one location had managed to form a lake, about 14 inches deep, of salt, because of the way the geography worked. And then they told us all about how the hurricanes in recent years had been affecting the reef, and what they had been seeing and recording. Basically, the damage from the hurricane is from the really intense waves that it stimulates, that manage to smack the bottom and rip coral and other bottom dwellers off the bottom and tear up some parts of the reef while others are left completely untouched. She told us all about how they record the history of the reef and take pictures at exact angles, etc. And do surveys of the number of fish or rays, etc. They also will collect lionfish, an invasive species that has been devastating Florida and managed to move to the Gulf; without it's natural predator, it eats everything it can, leaving none for the inhabitants. So NOAA does a lot to promote conservation and help conservationists research and educate the public about why we should help, and what we can do to help.

Our next stop was A&M Galveston, after a quick lunch at the beach. We meet the main marine biologist at the campus, and he took us on a tour of his facilities, complete with labs, and tanks with fish and turtles in them, and classrooms. It really made me miss Baylor, but that's beside the point. All he was telling us about his studies and his research was super interesting, and it even got me interested in wanting to go out to sea and measure turtles, etc. He had done many studies, but the one or two most interesting to me were that sea lions and seals had sensors on their whiskers that could detect the trail of a fish, and follow it. And they measured a turtles bite strength through it's stages of maturity, because it is such an ecological interest, and it's life history is super unique, they wanted to find out more about it! His studies were based on the morphology and histology of the animals in the sea, and he did all of this to help his students understand, but also to help conservationists and the public understand how cool and unique these animals where and why they should be protected.

Then we went to talk to Dr. Kot, the marine biologist who does his studies out in the field and the university basically funds him, while he gets grants for equipment from other sources. He was studying an area 100 miles north of New York, and had recently done a study on whales, and how they react to fishing nets. He had seen in his past research that there were a good amount of whales who were injured by the line, and had healed, but it altered their way of life. One, in particular, had cut his neck on the net, and it healed, but it wasn't as easy for him to swallow as much food. So Dr. Kot was naturally interested in preventing whales from getting injured and came up with an experiment testing different nets and how whales react, and if they do. He found that they could see the nets, and they would avoid them, if they weren't feeding (preoccupied). He also found that they recognized the black and white nets better than any others, but those were not the cheaper ones used by the locals. So he came up with a solution, he put fin like appendages (basically string) on the end of the nets and the whales could hear the nets moving, and would move away from them. His study was super cool because it was productive! It got the locals involved in his research and in conservation and eventually will publish a paper that will inform the science community about this and hopefully get word out how to help save whales from getting caught in nets. His information was very copious and it was amazing how much I learned from one hour with the man. He was very intelligent and really good at his job, and I appreciated him teaching us about what he had learned recently. He also showed us a tracking devise that would help them understand more about the whales life history and patterns; it was a suction-cup arrow that had a data recorder inside of it.

Today was definitely themed marine, and I appreciated it. It was a different side of conservation that people don't always see, because they aren't out at sea! Yes, I could have made a pun, but it would have been awkward if no one got it. Tomorrow, we're starting project work, and hopefully it will pull through, but we've been skeptical lately and it's been stressful. Until then!

The Close Tie Between Fundraising and Conservation

Today was a particularly boring day, or at least the first half of it was for me. I'm not really a fan of talking about money or finances or anything and it was all about fundraising, four hours of talking about fundraising basically non-stop, and it almost killed me. I'm not complaining, but I just can't pay attention to something like that because it doesn't interest me. I know I need to know these things, I know I need to have money to be able to have a project, but I'd rather just procrastinate until it absolutely needs to be done, which is probably the worst idea I've ever had. So maybe I'll just get someone to do it for me! No, I have no idea, I'll figure it out.

But yeah, the Houston Zoo Development Team talked to us for four hours, they had an informal meeting with us and basically tried to give us a short history/dictionary of fundraising terms and guidelines, etc, but it wasn't all that short. They had an outline a page long and kept elaborating until we were numb in the face. Someone would occasionally ask a real-world question and it would get more interesting, then they'd go right back to the financial jargon and talking about grant's, etc. I think if they'd given a much more summarized over-view of what they do, and then given us an example and helped us work through our fundraising it would have been much better. But I do appreciate them coming and talking to us and trying to help us understand, even if it was boring for some.

It actually reminded me a lot of the work I did with the Waco Humane Society. I went to one of their events and helped run it with one of the bosses of the whole Humane Society. I really liked it and it was a great time just being where people needed you and helping things run smoothly. I like stuff like that, I like being the helping hand when someone needs it. And also I would enter in the gifts they would get into the computer, so I learned a lot about how they thank people for giving gifts, and what they do with the money that is handed to them. For me, I think experience with that stuff is what's going to help more than anything else. I can't really be talked to about financial stuff because I tune it out, no matter how necessary it is for me to hear.

So that was our long morning. The ladies we talked to were very nice, it was just that their topic wasn't really my cup of tea. So after lunch we got to hear from the Philippine Eagle Project and Pongos helping Pongos, both fundraising projects going on at the Zoo, started by keepers and proving to be successful!

The Philippine Eagle project was started by a bird keeper to help the largest eagle in the world escape extinction. She started "flocking" people's yards for their birthday, anniversaries, surprises, etc, by putting out flamingos in front lawns and surprising them. All the profit that she made would go to the Philippine Eagle Foundation, which had proved to be important because those eagles are gorgeous and smart and big. And while the project had it's difficulties, what she realized they needed more than money was awareness, so she received a puppet, Jeffery, the Philippine Eagle, who travels all across the country and globe to teach people about the value of conserving the Philippine Eagle and why it is important to our world environment. She started doing more events talking about the Philippine Eagle and telling people to tell people and raising money because of it. Her organization turned out to be more of a education program than she had expected, but it seemed to be working out, and the Eagles in the wild are increasing in number, so that's always inspiring.

The next presentation was from Pongos helping Pongos which was the Orangutan art project turned into a gallery that the keepers had started a few years ago. Part of the Orang enrichment is painting, and teaching them how to paint, of course, was quite the process, but it proved to be pleasing and fun for them, so the keepers kept at it. And they soon realized that these paintings were more than just paint splashed on a page, they were actually kindof cool, and the public seemed to like them. It was something that would not only connect you to that animal for life, but it would connect you to the ones out in the wild, which is why they started this project. They would raise money from these paintings, have a big event every two years where they sell them, and then give them to the Orangutan fund in the wild to help research and save the species in Borneo. And the Orangutans weren't the only ones who were painting anymore. The elephants and snow leopards had started too! So they had even more to sell with more animals to attach to. This project was particularly cool because it was something tangible and understandable, it was enrichment for the orangutans as well as conservation in the wild. It was a win/win. It was practically perfect.

So all in all, today turned out to not be such a bad day. I really do love fundraising events, I just don't like talking about the tax forms you'd have to fill out because of it. Fundraising can always be fun, especially when it's a cause you really care about. This really makes me want to start my own fundraising event! But I'd have no idea what to choose.

The Muddiest, Dirtiest, Sweatiest Day Ever

You’ll never guess how we started off today. With a Code 99. What’s that you ask? Exactly what you’re thinking, an animal escape. Fortunately it was only a drill on a Cassowary (a large flightless Australian bird), but it was still exciting for an intern who had never experienced something like that before. It’s not like I got to help or anything, but we camped out in the Conference Room for a good ten minutes while we listened over the radio as they tracked the “bird” (the human in costume; I wish I were him). And after a few minutes of that they “shot” him and everything restored to it’s normal order.

We headed out to the van to go to Jesse H. Jones Park, a park near the Intercontinental Airport, and as soon as we got there we were directed to a pond where we would be weeding alligator weed. No, there were no alligators. I was disappointed to. But we didn’t even get the chance to get out of the van before we were handed tools and directed to start pulling. It was pretty quick that we got started, and I took the job of directing the canoe over to the other side of the pond and pulling weed there. And it wasn’t as glorious and beautiful as you’re thinking. It was dirty. And muddy. And there were spiders. Millions of spiders in all shapes. It was a little disconcerting, but as long as you didn’t look down you were fine.

I helped my partner as we fished out the alligator weed from the pond, and we quickly realized that there was a lot more of it than we realized, plus it was all connected, so it felt like we practically had the entire pond in our little canoe. But, alas, we still had more to pull, even on the third and fourth trip across the pond. We soon became speckaled with dirt and mud, and it was everywhere. All over our shirts, our pants, our shoes. We were nasty. And this was the one day we had a meeting after our workday, so I was feeling pretty gross, and not seeing any way to fix it anytime soon. And if I don’t say so myself, I was the dirtiest person there. But that’s beside the point. So once it had been about two hours, we had done so much work that the park director practically asked us to stop because he couldn’t transport all the bags that we had filled to where they had to go.

So we gratefully stopped working in the mud, and got back in the van, completely covered in it (or at least it felt that way), and went to the nature center. But we were so dirty, we weren’t let in until we washed off, at least our feet. So we gratefully took the chance to wash our shoes and explored the nature center. We saw a really cool python, who had been recovered from a really intense injury involving a knife to her throat that seemed like certain death, but to her it wasn’t, and she was appropriately named “Lucky” after that. We saw all the usual things, a bunch of information on our environment, etc, but there were some pretty cool headmounts of cougars, elk, bears, etc.

When we were done exploring, we were exhausted and starving, because we hadn’t brought our lunches. We quietly drove back to the Zoo and were grateful for the chance to change and eat. After lunch, we had a presentation by Houston Wilderness. And she was really cool! Her organization had decided that they all loved nature and they wanted the public and Houston to be educated about the nature around them and how they can experience it for themselves. So basically, her organization was a collaboration of all the parks and reserves compiled together and just a wealth of information for the public, that is easy to access and brings more people out to parks and helps them learn more about their environment and how they can help it. It was basically a network of all the organizations that are working in the field in Houston, and it helps them talk to each other, get their name out there, and know that they are not alone in their conservation efforts.

 It’s actually kind-of brilliant, and I had been wondering if there was a company like this somewhere, but for a different topic. As many of you know, my favorite animal is the wolf, the grey wolf in particular, and any chance I have to see them or learn about them I will. I don’t know if I’ve even ever seen one in person, but that’s beside the point. So of course with this internship and with my new love of nature and environment, etc, I’ve been researching on conservation efforts for the wolf. And there’s a ton of websites and different places all over the country trying to save the wolf, but I don’t think they’re consolidated at all. And I was thinking that, if you have someone you know who’s backing you up, or even someone who’s trying to do the same thing as you in a different place, you feel so much more comforted and that you’re not alone. So what’s amazing is that for Houston’s fantastic biodiversity, there are so many things trying to save it! And an organization dedicated to saving those organizations! It’s really fantastic how much everyone really cares about conservation if you just ask, and if they have the chance they’d do anything to save an animal.

I was just really inspired by that, as usual, and by the joy that I’ve been seeing in everyone who we talk to. I love this internship, and I love where my life’s going. I just can’t wait for the plans God has for me that I don’t even know about yet.

The Secret Life of Bats

So today we got to go in late because we were going to be out late watching the bats emerge from Waugh Bridge. When we got into the office, we got to plan our conservation station for the day. Two other girls and I decided we wanted to do something on poaching since that seems to be a hot topic in conservation. Our supervisors made it a competition, per the request of some of our collegues, which I wasn't too sure about. But it turned out fine! Being teachers, they really didn't like choosing one above all the others.

So we set up our station. It had tiger fur as the base. An impala skull, an elephant foot, snare wire, shark jaws, and a dagger made of rhino horn. It was pretty cool, if I don't say so myself. We tried to tie in how they try to catch animals in the snare wire, as a poaching tool, and some get caught on it accidentally, leading to accidental death, basically. The elephants are poached for their horns, which people use in ivory. The rhinos, of course, their horns for daggers and medicine, the so called "cure-all." Impala, snare wire. And sharks are killed for their fins in shark fin soup in some Asian cultures. What's sad is they don't even eat the fin, it's a delicacy that makes the soup taste a certain way. It's just such a waste of a shark to chop off it's fin and throw it back in the ocean, obviously it's not going to survive, especially if it's bleeding out and can't swim.

We got to go out to the elephant yard and talk to people who walked past us about the dangers of poaching and how they threaten already endangered animals in the wild. Our message was a little hard because poaching is such a touchy subject, and making it something doable, like changing what you buy, is a little hard, especially when you don't know which companies use illegally poached material in their fabrics or something.

The other stations that were set up were pollution, and habitat loss. The habitat loss one talked about orangutans and their loss of habitat because of palm oil plantations on their island. They had a list of products that used palm oil and could translate the abstract thing to something that people could do, which was really smart. And the pollution one was pretty simple, recycle! So of course, like I said earlier, our supervisors basically all gave us a different category for what we won so that everyone one. Personally, I think my group could have done better, but it was pretty hard on short notice, especially with such a difficult message.

After this discussion, we had pizza and were ready to go out and see bats! So our supervisor, who's favorite animal are bats, gave us a fabulous presentation teaching us all about bats role in the ecosystem and how unique they are. To me they are so weird! They're like rodents that can fly, but they're closer related to primates, and they seem like birds, but they're mammals, with echolocation like dolphins, and they're just super weird. Actually their wing is structured a lot like our arm, they have all the same bones with extended fingers, and what makes them fly is the flick of the wrist. And all of the myths about bats being nasty and mean are completely not true. They can use their echolocation so exactly, they can detect a single hair if it were the only thing in the room. They are mammals so they have live babies, and have been noted to live 30-40 years, which is really long for such a small creature. They eat all kinds of insects and keep the ecosystem in balance. And every night they clean themselves with their thumbs, they scratch through their fur to make sure nothing is in it, and then fall asleep with their feet attached to the top of a cave or bridge.

The bats that we were going to see, made their home in the extensions of a bridge in the middle of Houston. They come out every night at dusk and provide a pest control to the city that no one else could provide. There are 1/4 of a million bats in this colony and they come out in shifts. So the scouts fly out first, waking everybody up, and then eventually, they form a tornado, and fly out in groups until everyone is out for the night. They come back early in the morning, all fed and happy, eating tons of insects in one night and go to sleep with their babies in their arms. So we got to see all of that at the bridge, and it was super cool! There were so many! And seeing them all fly out was really cool. You could hear them talking, which sounded like chirping, and see little black bodies flying out one side of the bridge. It was actually very interesting, and while I always knew bats were interesting, I had a new appreciation for them. It, like everything else in this internship, was a fun experience, and one I'll never forget.

(This blog was written as if it were Friday, June 8, 2012)

Zimbabwe?

Guess what I got to do today?!? I got to talk to Zimbabwe!!! Well, a guy in Zimbabwe, but still! Through skype, it was a little choppy, but it was super awesome! He was brilliant! He had a really cool accent and he was so kind it was amazing. He loved meeting us and was so amazed at our culture. It was really inspiring. I loved it.

So I walk into the conference room today, ready to take notes on any upcoming presentation, but the VP brings in his laptop, and I'm a little confused. They usually use the computer on the desk for a presentation. Then he gets on Skype and says that Doubt is online. And then I remember! This is the day that we are supposed to talk to the leader of the Bush Camp! And all of a sudden, I'm awake. Haha, and incredibly excited for today. Things start happening, and Renee comes back to call him. We try about 3-4 times to Skype him, while I was feeling awkward the whole time, wondering if it will ever work. And finally, on the last attempt, we hear his voice! It's a little choppy, it is Zimbabwe, after all, but we can mostly hear him, and Renee introduces him to us and he tells us all he can about the details of the Bush Camp. And then we get to ask him questions and a few people go up to the computer and have good questions for him. Meanwhile, we can't hear him, but he's typing to us because he can hear us. It's pretty funny, how we worked it all out. But it was an incredible experience, and one I'll never forget.

We learned a lot from this self-made man. And from his culture. They are so kind and loving and peaceful that there are never any fights in their tribe, they are always working together to achieve something. One time, a man who works at the Camp couldn't get his check from the Camp into the bank because the banks were pretty much out of money, and he didn't tell the director. When the director realized that this man was starving, he called a employee meeting and told them that they needed to tell him when they were starving. He changed his method of paying them and ended up paying them in rice and grains, etc. It was just one example of how little they complain and how grateful they are. It's kindof ridiculous to think this culture might not know Jesus. They're acting even more Christian than most of the healthy and privileged Christians in my life. It was an interesting perspective.

And one more story was that Xmas, another man that works at their Camp, was followed home by three lionesses. First of all, he was named Xmas because his parents received a gift for Christmas that said "For Xmas" and they basically figured they might as well name him Xmas because it was for him. So anyway, the lionesses. He rides his bike home from the Camp, to the village, about a 2 mile ride. It broke about halfway through and so he proceeded to lock it when he heard something behind him. He turned around and found three lionesses approaching him. He turned his bike in front of him and started banging it on the ground, so as to scare them. He proceeded to walk all the way back the .5 mile or so he had left, backwards. He continued to startle the lionesses by opening his phone and flashing it at them, and doing anything to break up the routine. They were so close to him, about three feet, and they even began vocalizing. But amazingly, gracefully, he made it to the village and survived to tell the story. It was so intense, and hearing him tell it is probably so much better then reading it second hand, but it was amazing to hear how close they are to nature in this Camp.

So that was my fantastic morning. After that, we set up for our conservation stations. The first three groups were Rhinos, Painted Dogs, and Orangutans, so I would get to go in the afternoon. So after seeing them all in action, and learning from not only their mistakes but everything (which was practically the entire thing) that they did right, we were free to go after lunch. So we set up our Okapi table in the shade right next to the Okapi enclosure. He was hanging out in the back, so we had a great opening line: "Have you ever heard of an Okapi?! He's right there!" It was great. We taught people all about the Okapi, didn't really have the chance to tie in conservation, because it's kindof hard, but mostly made people aware. It was fun for me because I got to teach people about something that I loved and knew a lot about. And while it wasn't too much of a message that we have to save the Okapi, it was more so random facts that will get people interested and make them want to defend the animal from endangerment, etc. I had a few random facts on hand, and loved talking to the children about it. While not everyone understood us, I think most people who stopped by took something out of it.

One girl though, was a little distraught that we had a real giraffe hoof. The biofacts we use are usually from animals that have passed away at the Zoo, and so this was an example. It was way cooler than any replica and we used it. But explaining that to little children is really hard, especially when you accidentally use the word died instead of passed away. She was so confused! Worried that we had actually killed the giraffe, and looked at us with these HUGE brown eyes while we and her mother tried to explain to her that we would never kill the giraffe, he was just old and donated his body to science. It was so awkward! And definitely a lesson in watching what you say. One of our words that we were not allowed to use, was "actually," because it implies that the person is wrong, and as soon as they feel wrong, they shut down, and that's definitely not how you teach people. But it's so incredibly hard to not say actually when you've been using it your entire life. So that was difficult, but it was definitely a good experience, and so much fun. It really inspired me even more to teach kids all about animals, because honestly, who doesn't want to know all about animals? I for sure do.

So inspiration comes in all different shapes and forms, and in different places. Most of mine has been at the Zoo this summer, but since that's where I've always wanted to be, I think it's almost perfect.


(This blog was written as if it were Thursday, June 7, 2012)

The Turtles of Texas

Today was pretty simple. We got to do turtle surveys! There are three turtle species we were looking for, because they are endangered in Texas. The cooter, the slider, and the soft-shell. Turtles are endangered. mostly because of the pet-trade, people just pick them up and decide they are their pets, so turtles are loosing breeding opportunities and their numbers are decreasing in the wild. And also, of course, habitat loss, there's not as many safe places for them to be without getting run over by cars, so they are loosing numbers, like most species.

But today, our job was to count the ones we saw at Brazos Bend State Park. So we went on a 1.7 mile walk and counted the turtles, the alligators and the birds that we saw. On our way in, someone was like "Oh, cool, there's a gator in the street;" and everyone was asleep and woke up and freaked out, they were so excited. He was just crossing the street, moving to another swamp, and we got the privilege of seeing him! He was huge, and so cool. It was really exciting.

But nonetheless, we went on a hike, and saw about 7 turtles total, not really what we were expecting, but a lot of birds and nine, yes nine! alligators. It was awesome. And after we were significantly hot and sweaty and exhausted, we took a break for lunch. Quickly surrounded by squirrels begging for our lunch, we did our best to shoo them off, but they were quick, and there were so many of them! Eventually we gave up chasing them and ate our own lunch. It was a good example of the impact of people feeding animals affecting their behavior with other guests who might want to have nothing to do with them. Just like that old man training the nutria to eat out of his hand, it might want food from another person, or even baby who has none, and become aggressive because of the previous experience it has of being spoiled. This emphasized our project proposals importance and was an experience we might even use in our presentation.

Nevertheless, we were all exhausted and wanted to visit the Nature Center before we left. So after getting lost for a while around the park, we arrived at the Nature center and saw a bunch of cool, native animals in cases to educate the public about their importance. Of course there were snakes and spiders and the usual animals you see at places. But there were also baby alligators! And they were so tiny! And actually kind-of cute, even though that's kindof strange. They were about 6 inches long and taking up residence there until they were old enough to be released into the wild. Basically, they were there so they didn't get eaten or hurt by anything until they were ready to be raised by a mom alligator. It was pretty cool, and he felt like a normal reptile, but kindof smooth. I thought it was cool, others were a little wary, but they were used to it. There was about 8 there, all housed in a little aquarium.

So we wandered through the nature center, and saw some skeletons, and a huge alligator skeleton that was like 8-10 feet long. It was pretty interesting. And then we met a boy who was about 8-9, and was a volunteer at the Center. He was all ready to teach us anything we wanted to know and he was super talkative. He got out the black widow for us, acting all brave and smart, and freaked out a little when it started moving, gently dropping it back in it's case. And we were confused as to why he was worried, and he was like "I hate spiders! I just held it up for ya'll cause it seemed cool." He was super funny. So our supervisor asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and his response was priceless, "I want to go to school and get my Bachelor of Science and then get my Masters in Geology at Arkansas." And I was like dude! He has his life more figured out than I do. It was so funny. And there were these signs in the park that said "beware poisonous snakes," although the proper name is actually venemous, we were making fun of them and he was like "Who said that?! I keep telling my dad he needs to change them, and he just won't listen! They're not poisonous, they're venemous!" Haha. He was adorable. And such an inspiration. He really made my day, it made me happy.

So then we made it back to the Zoo around three and sat there listening to our supervisors talking for a while, telling us what to expect for tomorrow, going over details. And were let out about ten minutes before the 3 o'clock bus left. But it was usually late, so I figured I would make it. So I rushed out of the Zoo, ran along the path in waves. Got to the traffic-light and it lasted a little too long, and then was just crossing the street when I heard the woosh of a bus, looked up, and saw my bus, leaving me behind in the dust. At first I was upset, I was hot and tired and so ready to be home. But I went to the Medical Center (those are the buildings, I wasn't sick or anything). Took a deep breath, went to the bathroom, and searched for something with chocolate. What I really craved was ice cream. I was hot, sweaty, and red in the face from the half run I just did with a broken backpack (the strap-holder broke so I was basically one-shouldered). I ended up going to the Starbucks and getting a coffee-free frappacino, chocolate of course. Which was just what I needed to feel better about the whole day.

At the end of the day, I realized I kindof needed that break in the day. I haven't had much time to relax, and I learned that, if I just had a little sugar, I'd be in a better mood and be more perky and willing to talk when I get home. I feel bad, because I've been so exhausted, I just don't have the energy to tell them how much fun I've been having, and I know how much they want to hear, and how much they deserve to hear, but I hadn't been able to be excited about it in a while. But this lesson (which I had already learned in college), about just a simple snack, lightening up my whole day, was a blessing in disguise. Even though I could have made the bus, if I had just run a little harder, I needed that time alone, with no people in my space to rest and revive before I went on with my day.

Every day is a lesson, you just have to decide if you're going to listen and learn, or not.


(This blog was written as if it were Wednesday June 6, 2012)

True Inspiration

This day was my favorite this week, we got to hear from all of the important people in the department who knew what we were learning about and wanted to help us understand the Zoo and how everything works.

We first got a presentation from our Supervisor, and she talked about Zoo vocabulary and how we can use it to understand how the Zoo connects to the real world of conservation. It was a lot about the AZA, the main company or overarching rule-makers who provide information on how to care for your animals properly and how to enrich them and help them breed, etc. It was cool because we got to learn about all the different kinds of enrichment that animals get, whether it be a change in scenery, so a change in how the aquarium looks to the fish, or a cardboard zebra or rhino for the big cats to play with and eat, each of the animals is enriched in some way so they don't get bored. The meerkat tunnels actually are destroyed every so often so they are kept amused by digging different tunnels, and don't turn on each other. They're super funny and cute, but that's beside the point. I really loved learning about all the Zoo does to interest their animals and provide a natural experience for them even though they are in captivity.

The next presentation we got was from the main interpreter at the Zoo. Interpretation is basically making your knowledge available and understood by the public. So helping them understand what conservation is and what they can do to help save all kinds of wildlife across the world and even at the Zoo. She told us about the importance of tailoring your message to the public and making it simple and easy to understand. Plus, fast, because the conservation stations they set up at the Zoo are usually tables where people will stop by for 10-15 seconds at the longest. And you have to keep them interested, especially if you want them to get the message you're trying to send them. So take rhino's for example. I want to tell the public why they are endangered and what you can do to help the rhinos. I can know all I want about the rhino's biology and behavior, but that's not going to get me anywhere with the public. They want to know cute or weird facts about the rhino, and they mostly care about the ones at the Zoo. To get them engaged I'd show them a dagger made of rhino horn and then tell them this is the main reason they are endangered and you can help by donating to international rhino fund, or going to bowling for rhinos! And that's simple, and people understand that. So that's what we're trying to do. Reach kids and adults and tell them about how important these animals are to the ecosystem and how they can be saved.

This presentation was very important to us because we are trying to talk to the public about our animals that we researched and get them to care, and that is part of our project, is talking to the public, which we will do Thursday. So it was important to learn about interpretation and the proper way to address and educate the public about your knowledge and information.

After lunch, we got to talk to Renee, the coolest person I've ever met, with the life I've just begun to dream about. She told us all about Children's Bush Camp in Zimbabwe that is a part of the Painted Dog Conservation project. She told us she got into it because Dr. Greg Rasmussen saw her breeding painted dogs in the best way he'd ever seen and wanted her to bring her techniques to Zimbabwe so she got to learn all about the people involved down there, and then ended up getting the job at the Zoo and keeping contact with PDC. She was so cool, so funny and so unique. I just loved her attitude and her outlook on life and her playful banter. She was, like she said, just a big kid. And I loved it. She was the kind of person I hope to be around the people who hope to be doing the same thing one day.

But anyway, she talked about the Bush Camp. It's this Immersion Camp in the middle of the Bush in Africa, where the National Park is located and where PDC is. So 6th graders from villages all around the national park get to go once a year, and so every year it's a new class. They get to stay there for three nights in their own special huts and be completely in nature. They get to see the painted dog feeding, and play a bunch of games that teach them not only about the painted dog but their role in the ecosystem and the value of the ecosystem to their lives. They become so excited and enthused about it they bring it home to their parents and their parents are even asking for their own Bush Camp. So the camp built a Nature Center where adults can come and learn about it. And all of this experience is completely free, provided to every child once they reach 6th grade. It's so exciting to villages that every time the bus comes to take them to the Camp, the kids run up to the bus with such enthusiasm and vigor it's hard to not be inspired. It's all about education that empowers children to reach their dreams, to love something, to spread joy, to inspire and to love something. It's fantastic, amazing and so inspiring to me. Just hearing about the enthusiasm these children have is heartwarming to me.

 The stories about the kindness and gentleness of the villages and the tribes is so inspiring to me and to spreading God's word that I can't imagine how He couldn't be calling me to a life like that. Like this, where joy is seen and love is heard and education is not just about things, but about the thing, the One who gave us all of this earth that we were meant to protect. How could He not want me to experience or be involved in something so fantastic, so amazing, so wonderful and so obviously Him? I can't imagine a better life than spreading the joy of knowing our God to children, and tying it so tightly with loving animals and the earth that they are inseparable. But that's just a little tidbit of my inspiration from this week, I'm sure more is coming before I know it.

So Renee was awesome, she talked to us all about the Camp and the Dogs and it was absolutely fantastic. And she was so happy and goofy that there's no way you couldn't like her. That experience was definitely the best part of my day, and actually of this internship so far. It was amazing and inspiring and I want a life just like the people who run the Camp.

But all I can do is pray. And I will, and I am. I'll pray for what I've always prayed for, joy.


(This blog was written as if it were Tuesday, June 5, 2012)

The Playground becomes the Classroom at the Zoo!

This week is more geared toward Conservation Education, so we will be spending more time on grounds at the Zoo this week, learning about what conservation means to them and how they participate in conservation programs all over the country and world. We spent Monday mostly talking about the evolution of zoos and then learning from keeper talks how to educate the public on grounds about conservation all over the world.

We started the day with a presentation from Chance, the VP of the Education department. He told us how zoos came to be what they were today, and how involved and in depth the Houston Zoo goes into the conservation efforts of almost all of their animals in their collection. We had already done five projects on conservation animals that were present at the zoo and conservationists that our supervisors had met before because they work closely with the Zoo. So we knew they were involved and most of the animals at the Zoo are either abandoned or animal ambassadors for their species who promote conservation of their species and habitat in the wild, wherever that might be.

However, Chance wanted to talk to us more about what a Zoo is coming to mean in our modern society. He discussed the importance of conservation in affiliation with both education and animal facts not only in the Zoo, but outside of the Zoo in the public and in schools. They have basically three basic outreach programs that they all work toward providing a more cohesive knowledge of animals, their natural habitats, and the efforts to save them from extinction. They work with the public, on Zoomobiles, that go to communities with handling animals and talk about what the animal means to our environment and how it would affect us personally if it were to disappear forever. They also, of course, work with children, they have Zoo camp, Zoo crew (teenagers), and they write education programs for teachers in all districts who are interested in educating about environmental conservation and animal conservation. And finally, education on grounds, which is almost the most important, because most people go to the Zoo to see cool animals, not to save them or learn about them; they just want to see them. But we need to educate the people on the efforts and importance in conserving them for not only our future but our childrens as well.

All in all it was a very interesting presentation and discussion. We got to learn in depth about the Zoo and about how he got to where he was (he worked at SeaWorld, how cool!). Our next activity involved going to keeper chats and grading them on how they presented their material and if it engaged the public or not. For me, this was the best part of the day. I got to learn all about fabulous endangered species and talk to keepers who knew the most about their animals, and engaged my enthusiasm with a quiet joy.

We first went to see the elephants getting their daily bath. Baylor (the baby boy elephant) was playful as always, and in a stall with his mother. We watched as the dirt was washed off their backs and some soap was thrown on them to keep them as clean and healthy as possible in the Zoo environment. An intern actually came out to give the keeper chat. He knew all about his elephants and went on about their weight and height and a how old they were, etc. He knew these elephants, and was in college, like us, but was hoping to be an elephant keeper. He had worked with the Zoo for 6 years already and knew almost everything he could about these elephants.

He didn’t talk a lot about conservation, but the audience wasn’t much interested in that. He told us stories about the elephants history and how their male had been in a circus until he was brought to the Zoo. He was very attached to his owner, and trainer, and would not leave his side. Just like most elephants in captivity they traveled in a herd (which is unique for males, they are usually solitary). And all his life he lived with this man who fed and took care of him. Until one day, the man disappeared, his neighbors had not seen him for about a week or so, and were curious about his wear-abouts. They went and checked on the elephants, one was sitting down with a blanket on him and the others were all standing in a mass as usual, so the neighbors didn’t think anything too interesting. Now the male elephant had a guilty conscience, and would run away if he thought he did anything wrong, and they later found out that he had run away. He was the only elephant they couldn’t account for. When they actually inspected the blanket, they found that the elephant was protecting the owner who had had a heart-attack and died. And these elephants were fierce, they wanted no one to attack their owner, so it took the police 5-6 hours to actually recover the body. And eventually, they found our male who now resides at the zoo, in his own enclosure, separated from the women, to stimulate more natural wild-like behavior.

Our next chat was the bats, and it was over in a matter of seconds. The keeper came out, noticed it was just us there, and mentioned the types of species of bats, how many there were and how they ate. And that was about it. No engagement, no excitement, no fun facts, nothing. And sometimes we need that, just to see how not to do something. However, that is not a good thing for the public and we hope that she will learn to be more personable and engaging so as to get the public more excited about conservation and learning about bats.

Next we went to the red panda exhibit, the most exciting for me. Red panda’s are adorable, jungle creatures. They are red on their back and black on their stomach to keep them camoflauged in the trees. They have a black and white striped tail that helps them balance and wraps around them when they sleep in the trees. They were discovered before the panda and called pandas because they have an extra bone in their wrist. They’re adorable. I love them. Actually, the male and female had to be separated because they believed she was pregnant and they were stimulating dening behavior that is natural in the wild. Our keeper who talked to us loved her red pandas and knew all the right things to tell us, got us engaged and was very happy and talkative. I really liked her approach and interesting facts about these adorable creatures.

And finally, we went to the aquarium, to learn about any of the creatures in there. We waited a while for the guy to show up and when he did he told us he usually wandered, asking random questions and hopefully engaging some type of audience. We were intrigued because one of the girls really wants to be a marine biologist. We listened as he told us all about what they did with the interns in the aquarium department. It was really interesting and I liked how he seemed like he felt relieved to talk to people who were really interested in him and his work. He was very kind and very easy to talk to.

And when we returned to talk about the keeper chats and what they did right or wrong, we learned how we should approach our audience when presenting our conservation project to the public on Thursday. We learned more how to do interpretation and hoped that we at least reached one person.

The Big Thicket: Day Three

On our last day in the Big Thicket, we were tasked with finishing the bridge, or so we thought. It wouldn't be too hard, and it turned out to be a very short day. We basically were sent to build the frame, and then other volunteers would put the wood pieces that people would walk on down since the materials weren't there yet. So our day began like the day before, at 6 am, to make it to the site around 8.

When we got there we saw some smoke coming out of the area where we were building. We quickly remembered that he said he would burn the nest in the morning, and were intrigued to see what it looked like. But it was a slight disappointment, it basically looked like a campfire shoved into the side of the ground. No hornets were buzzing around and we thought that we had pretty much squelshed them. There were a few who would return and try to get back in the nest, but they were no problem, and they were quickly sprayed with raid and smashed.

By that time we had pretty much finished digging the ditch, but realized there were two large tree stumps on either end of the ditch that would need to go. So we took turns digging around the stumps until they were exposed enough to chainsaw off. It went pretty smoothly, and no problems ensued. By about 9am, we were ready to put in the base of the bridge, and began moving the large wooden pieces we had acquired from the recent day. Three were moved and placed fairly simply (on top of the wood pieces that were placed in the ditches). And that was our frame! All that was left to do was nail it into place, which luckily was much easier than steel on fence posts. I was able to do almost all 8 of them in 10 minutes!

Other than that, we were pretty much done, and free to go home. However, when we were walking back, we saw a turtle digging her nest! We were incredibly excited to observe her as she dug with her back feet (very slowly, as turtles will), a hole where she would place her legs. They moved in a very awkward fashion (again, such as turtles are), back and forth until she stopped completely, her leg half in the ditch. She was probably startled and thought freezing would be the best way to react to any attack that humans would bring her. We, however, became soon bored with this behavior, and half of us left, impatient and unsure of whether she would do anything while we were there. But, unfortunately, we were wrong. She eventually layed her eggs and the skeptics missed out. It was a really cool experience to see a turtle in her natural habitat actually succeeding at breeding and doing her best to protect her babies.

Then we were free! We endlessly thanked the elderly among us and were appreciative of them for letting us roam their friend's home. We actually did get to see in her tiny three story cabin. It was built like a triangle, halfway in the ground, and was never locked. However, when she died, there were incidents of break-ins, and the Park Service did their best to block the doors. It was very humble, very homey, and very old-school. If I was really serious about living in nature, I would absolutely love a place like that. It was very interesting and so cool because she had built it all by herself.

As we packed up to head home we reflected on our fun experience and had a couple laughs in the van about the people we encountered. It was a great trip, and I'd love to have more experiences like it. Hopefully some day, I'll have something like that for aspiring college students, but who knows. All I know is that it impacted me greatly and every day is a new experience and new opportunity to not only prove myself but to test out potential jobs.

I love this internship but I only have 5 weeks left! And I'm sure every one of those experiences will shape the way I look at my future and my ideals and knowledge in the future.

The Big Thicket: Day Two

The next day of the trip we were required to get up fairly early to make it to the work-site at 8am. But, as you will see, the theme of this day was that nothing would go as planned. And that was carefully demonstrated when our main road to the campsite was blocked by a giant wreck that we had no way of getting around. We ended up taking a round-about way, through the ghost road (scary even at 7:30am) to the preserve.

When we made it there we were greeted by an old man who told us we would be building a bridge today. He, however, was no expert, and "hadn't done it in 60 years," so we were slightly worried. Later we learned that he was a chemical engineer which had absolutely nothing to do with building bridges so he was completely taking a shot in the dark with this project. But he was hilarious, soft-spoken, kind, southern gentleman who had the misconception that men were meant to do the work and women should just do simpler stuff. However, that was impossible with our demographics, seeing as we had 9 women and one man, their gender was short a few.

So instead of being rude and asking women to do much of the work, he would go ahead and do it himself, since we obviously didn't know how to use simple tools. It was ridiculous, and old-timey, but it was quite kind of him to think of us in that way. I, however, was having nothing to do with him working to much and breaking his back. He was 75, after all. I followed him like a hawk, just to try to get him to let me do something, or even simply start doing it myself until he gave in.

My plan worked after a while, and he would let me do most of the shoveling and heavy lifting when he was tired. Most of the day consisted of digging two trenches opposite each other to form the ends of the bridge. The first one was just getting dug when he recruited 8 of us to help carry over a large piece of wood, complete with four pipes that we would stick under it and carry each end of. Not as easy as it sounds. We were all different heights, and no matter how hard we tried to even it out, the weight distribution was never quite right and the back end ended up getting the heavy end every time. And after trying to help carry two of those over, while attempting to lead whilst not bossing people around, it began to rain. It was a refreshing start to the hot Texas morning and I sufficiently enjoyed it.

The park ranger and others scared of lighting, however, did not. I naively believed, like most Texas thunderstorms, it would pass in time. But it defied my ambitions, and continued on for about an hour before we were forced out of there.

The funny part of this story was, of course, Paula's reaction. She, somehow, had this unlikely premonition about the lightning, and every time one would strike she could "feel it in her bones," and we were all so awestruck at her audacity and uniqueness that we couldn't help but try to keep politely quite so as not to be rude about her strange beliefs. She was quite the character. She had it in her head that because she celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacle, by camping outside for a week, that she had brought the rain. I mean, God was involved, but really, Paula brought the rain. And that struck a cord with me. I believed in the Feast of the Tabernacle, my mother religiously studied that stuff, but Paula bringing the rain because of it? A little ridiculous. And slightly prideful. But honestly, what can you say to someone like that? Oh you're right about God but wrong about yourself? No, that would be pride in reverse. So I hope I took the higher route in keeping quiet and praying to God that she didn't offend or off-put people with her un-orthodox, or maybe orthodox (no one's really sure) beliefs.

So after being kicked out by rain, we all crashed in our beds for a long nap before we had to return later that evening. By that time, we had switched out supervisors for the afternoon and for a while there, it seemed as if she was going to take us on a trail hike instead. Until...Paula called, and requested that we come back and help. So of course, to avoid any potentially awkward situation, we did. We made it back to the site around 4, quite late for a project to get going again, but nonetheless, we were ready to work.

So we began digging the second ditch, this time, I was insistent on helping, mostly to get away from extraneous situations but also to ensure that our project leader wasn't doing it all by himself. He had warned us that earlier that day he had been stung by a hornet, and to be careful because there may be a nest somewhere. But we were perfectly fine. He and Paula and most of the rest of the crew went of to get some extra supplies while we dug the trench. We encountered a few hornets, and three people got stung, unfortunately including our kind host, who had fed us cookies earlier in the day. But she insisted she was fine, so we let her continue to sit on her perch and observe us. We had thought we found the source of the hornets, their nest under ground, and were continually piling more dirt on it in the hopes of smothering them. And we didn't think much of it after the fact.

We had dug our trench and felt very successful when everyone returned and we measured everything, only to discover that the large trunks with huge roots on both ends must go. So as our friend was axeing it, he wouldn't let any one of us inexperienced fellas touch the thing, I heard him yell : "Run! Run! They're coming!" And I was off. I had no idea what he meant until I realized "they" were wasps, and we were in danger. And after getting quite the distance away, with one person on the other end of the trail, we were basically forced to go home, sustaining all of our injuries and giggling about the events of the day. Little did we realize how brave our host was, taking on the hornets and not caring a smidge about himself or his stings.

All in all, it was a very eventful, and hilarious day. It's definitely one for the books. When we got back, we ate and had our presentations. Which I absolutely loved giving! It just showed me how much passion I have for the subject of conservation and how easy it is to study something you love. This day was definitely my favorite by far in the internship. It was all around a perfect day, and not despite, but because of all the mayhem surrounding it.

And tomorrow's the final day of the Big Thicket! Then I'll get back on schedule, I promise.

The Big Thicket: Day One

So this week we went on an adventure to the Big Thicket, and while it may not sound like something that could be that fun, it totally was. It's this huge national preserve in east Texas, near Beaumont, where there are four different ecosystems packed away in one park. It was super cool. Supposedly its one of the nations most biologically diverse places, and was recognized for that by multiple conservation companies across the globe.

So we woke up early Tuesday morning to make it to the Preserve by 10 and had a presentation by one of the park rangers. She was really sweet and told us all about the park's importance in the world and in the state of Texas and gave us details about how they go about conserving it and keeping it up for the public. It was really interesting, and there were a lot of gorgeous pictures of the different ecosystems that were there. There were stories of alligators and cougars that you don't see all that often, just hanging out when the park rangers pass by. It was very informative and fun to learn about because it shows us that our nation does care about nature and will save lands to be used specifically for wildlife.

But our main mission while we were there was to build a bridge for a trail that was used by the public. This bridge was on one of the first master naturalists in the region's land, and her friends really wanted the bridge to be built because it was her dying wish. So, if you couldn't tell already, these people were not young and fit and particularly ready for work, but they did their best to show us what to do and actually ended up doing a lot more work than we expected.

The first day we got there we were lead by Paula, the park ranger. And boy, was she an interesting character. She took on a responsibility to not only care for these old people but make sure we were doing our jobs as well, only in a way that was not as productive as it could have been. She was just interesting. She had all sorts of random facts (not very concrete if you ask me) about nature and how it could hurt you or how this or that could happen and to be careful of that. All in all it was a very strange experience. She seemed nice at first, and it's not that she wasn't, she was just very controlling, and didn't really know all the right things to say, or even when to keep her mouth shut. She actually asked about the minimal ethnic people in our group when she thought they weren't there. And she just acted like she knew a lot of stuff that I could almost prove wasn't true. It was just, like most things, a lesson on how to deal with people. I did my best to stay away from her because I knew I would be cracking up if she said something so ridiculous again, so I tried to be mature and keep my distance.

Anyway, she lead us down the path and set us off to get "loppers" or clippers as most people call them, and we cleared off the sides of the path for most of the afternoon. When we were finished we were hot and sweaty, and Paula was telling us of the benefits of sweat and how it cools you off when she asked one of the strangest questions I've ever been asked: "So are ya'lls underwear wet?" And we all just looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to say, and realizing that she was completely serious. And after that awkward encounter, we knew we were dealing with quite the character.

As we drove home from the sight, we were amazed at the greenery all around us, and an hour later, we made it to the Field Research Station where we would be staying the night. We showered, to get all the sweat out of our underpants. Haha, sorry, it was too easy. And had some oven-baked pizza for dinner. After dinner we were supposed to give our presentations, but we had to do manual work first. The most boring part of the internship, if you ask me. They are having us read a manual on how to prepare a project, which is necessary, but one of our intern supervisors thinks it is very important and likes to go over it with us, so we sat down to do that. Then came the presentations.

These were almost my favorite part of the whole trip. We learned about the Bornean Orangutan, which is the most closely related ape to humans, and the conservation efforts they were making to save them from extinction. Basically, like most animals, the Orangutan is in danger because of habitat loss and poaching for bushmeat. The conservation project did all it could to change the face of the culture's outlook on the Orangutan and educate them on its positive affect on their environment. The orangutan is actually pretty cool, they live in packs, and sleep in trees, only really coming down to migrate. Their babies stay with them for ever, 2-3 years, I think. They're also very aggressive and from what I learned at Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, their enrichment has to involve something that isn't all that breakable. The zoo-keepers tried to let them paint, but they ended up eating it and spitting it out on her instead of the canvas. There's also some Orangutan's in San Diego that Skype, because they have iPads, and even do creative stuff on it. And not to mention, the baby Orangutan at the Houston Zoo, Aurora, was hand raised by the keepers because her mother rejected her, but eventually was adopted by one of the females at the Zoo and now lives a very happy life, offering lettuce to people through her glass.

We also learned about the Tapir, a relative of the horse with a very strange snout that makes it look like a pig. Tapir's are native to South America and there are several kinds of them. The work that the conservationist was doing to save them mostly involved research, trapping and radio-collaring to study their range and better predict and tell what kind of range they may need to be saved from extinction. Again, like most animals, they are in danger due to habitat loss, and poaching, but also from road-accidents, they get killed because the roads are very dangerous and crossing it, due to their large range, is necessary. These animals are very unique and are very strong swimmers; their babies look like watermelons, and stay with the mom until they are grown.

The last project of the night was the African Wild Dog, and was by far the coolest. Their conservationist was doing practically everything. He was educating the locals, studying the wild dog, conserving their populations, breeding them in captivity, having children come to his preserve for classes to learn more about them, and he was doing well. Their numbers had been increasing, and the locals were finally getting the message. They were just really cool because they were the last remaining line of this species of wild dog, they are painted, so they have white spots all over them that distinguish them from others in the pack, and they have a very unique pack system that is similar to wolves. Dogs are my favorite type of animal, so that's probably why they were so cool to me. But their conservationist was also the most legit guy you'll ever meet. He was doing everything he could to save this species and even more for other species. He was very devoted, fiery and intelligent. I'd love to meet him someday, and hopefully have a life somewhat like his.

But that was only our first day! We have two more to go and I have incredible stories. Anyway, the fun continues tomorrow!!

(This blog was written for Tuesday May 30, 2012)