For those of you who are out of the loop, I was fortunate enough to land an internship for the whole summer (and I mean the WHOLE summer) working with a Master's student on a project to see how North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis) are affected by natural gas mining. Sounds glamorous, right? Well, the funny part is that to do that we need to collect genetic material, and when I say genetic material, I mean otter scat and hair. Yup.....I'm spending my summer rafting and camping for days at a time looking for smelly scat and tufts of otter fur.
Now before those of you who aren't in the Wildlife field say "EW" (which is the general reaction that I get outside of those awesome, understanding folks who are as crazy as I am), this is actually a pretty sweet opportunity. I'm really quite excited. I'm getting the opportunity to work in a completely different habitat range than I'm accustomed to, helping a charismatic species that I love, and getting invaluable field experience. I'm going to apply the skills I've learned and add to them. It's intimidating because I'm not sure if I know everything I need to know and because I'm going into the unknown, but it's thrilling, too. I'm going to learn SO much about what I'm doing, how I can apply my knowledge, and hopefully about myself and who I want to become. Will I be searching my soul for answers to life's most profound questions during my downtime in my tent under the stars? You bet your sweet potatoes I will be (sorry, I'm craving sweet potato right now).
I really am appreciative of this opportunity and cannot thank my amazing advisors and professors enough for helping me with this whole process. They've been kind enough to listen to my questions about applying for internships, my whining about the whole process of hurrying and then waiting, my anxiety about interviewing, and my overall school successes and failures. To anyone not in college reading this, a good professor is priceless. Seriously. Words cannot describe how much they impact your life. Talk to your professors and build a relationship with them because, trust me, they will help you and give you one of the best resources ever. To my professors (if you are reading this), thank you again (and again and again).
Anywho, I'm starting up this blog to keep track of what I do over the summer. It's a little idea I stole from a very good friend of mine. It's an excellent way to let whoever is curious know about my shenanigans (and that I'm alive and kicking) without having to send out a dozen emails. I will have limited phone and internet access while I'm out in Wyoming, so whenever I get the chance to write on my days off, I'll take it. I'll also try to post some pictures.
In the meantime, I'm working on gathering the necessary equipment I'll need (backpack, sleeping bag/pad, various articles of clothing etc). REI is a wonderful store, just in case you're wondering, as well as steepandcheap.com. I also have to get a sizeable reading list for the summer. If anyone has any suggestions for nice long summer reads, could you let me know? I can't bring a ton of books with me, but I'd like to have a few sizable ones to pass the time. I'm thinking about getting In a Sunburned Country and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson for starters. Once again, suggestions are welcome!
Well, it's late, I have to study (UGH), and I'm out of things to say for now. Night!
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