On May 29th, we officially began our field season. An atypical crew, “The Boys From the South” were functioning like a well-oiled machine and ready to get down to business. However, the next three weeks were assumed to be the hardest of the whole summer. An ambitious schedule is how I described it. Honestly, I had my doubts whether it could be done. Our fledgling crew was about to be tested. Would we sink or swim in that vast sea of mountain laurel?
Continue reading “An Ambitious Schedule”Tag: ecology
The Crew Assembles
As the old characters and new players converged, I looked forward to reprising my role in a slightly different way. Each rendition of this story always brought its own nuances and I was curious how it would play out this time. These next two weeks would certainly preface the rest of the summer. We would come to understand what we had to do and how we had to do it. More importantly, I would begin to define my “why.”
Continue reading “The Crew Assembles”Getting up to Speed
The afternoon of May 8th, I was driving west on that familiar stretch of I-80 towards State College. Deep inside my head, most of the travel was a blur. Luckily, I only had a hundred and four miles to my destination — a short distance by today’s standards. I was only home for two weeks and I was leaving again. Somewhere between excitement and sadness, I was opening a new chapter. In some respects, I was familiar with the plot. In other regards, it was a whole new experience. I wondered what I would get out of this opportunity. In the end, I discovered that it wasn’t so much about me.
Continue reading “Getting up to Speed”Full Circle
My first real job of this newfound career was with the Deer-Forest Study. I was a Penn State undergrad when I was hired as a field forest technician to roam the woods of Rothrock and Bald Eagle state forests in search of all things green. Two years later and thousands of miles behind me, I return to the very same place. Have I come full circle? Continue reading “Full Circle”