Finally Home

I am back in Minnesota now. I am exhausted but happy to be home.

On the opposite end though, I could not miss my UNDERC Family any more.

This summer was amazing to say the least I could about it. I honestly don't know if I could put all the feelings and wonder and love I have for my friends I made and the experiences I had into words. Words don't do it any justice. None whatsoever.

Everyone left at 6:30 am Friday morning except for jake and me, who were leaving later in the day. Jake was driving himself and I needed to wait for my parents to come pick me up. Watching everyone drive off and standing there was hen I really realized it was all over. We walked back into the dorm and it was empty. Completely and utterly empty. I sort of feel that way now too. I mean I am happy to be home, without a doubt. However, I don't know what to do with my days. I don't have anything to do and I miss the crazy. Sigh.

Our last week was pretty much pure insanity as well which is why I haven't posted in forever. Our last research week I was in the lab (or in the field) all day every day working on collecting my data, running my statistics, and writing my report. We did manage to go to Harry Potter at midnight though, WHICH WAS AMAZING!

As well we tye dyed t-shirts and many people signed them. It was sort of like summer camp. Actually the last few days were very much a summer camp. On wednesday our presentations finished up so we went swimming, then canoeing, then swimming again. As well, the unthinkable happened. Jake beat Gary (the director) in the fishing competition. Gary has never lost before. Ever. It was awesome. Then on Thursday we cleaned and took cheesy group photos and played the human knot and did trust falls. Just a little summer camp influence on our lives.

This is a rather scatterbrained post, however I suppose the real point of it is just to say: I had the most wonderful summer of my life. I learned an amazing amount about myself, about how to conduct a scientific project and about independent research. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life or how to do it, however I know that I will find something amazing as long as I continue to take advantage of opportunities I am given. I also learned how to cook and clean lots of things. I became much more independent this summer, as you are really forced to do when living more or less on your own.

I also made wonderful friends I do hope to keep forever and forever, from both Notre Dame and St. Mary's but also from many other schools and places all around the country. The way I view it is now wherever I go, I have places to stay and people to visit. I miss them all and completely cried when everyone left.

Now to hang out until I get my grades. EEK!

KLAR

Fr. Hesburgh Dinner

Come Holy Spirit.

That’s Fr. Hesburgh’s favorite saying. He told us tonight that whenever you are in a bind. When you don’t know whether to go right, left, or straight, just say come holy spirit and then you will get the advice to on which way is the right way to go and the grace to follow that path.

This evening we were lucky enough to have Fr. Hesburgh over for dinner at our dorm. Killarney Point on Tenderfoot Lake is the sight of what is fondly called the “priest summer camp.” It is also Fr. Hesburgh’s favorite summer place to live and he spends the majority of his summers on property.

Our professors were nice enough to set up a dinner for us and he came over, ate, and spoke with us. Laura made wonderful Cincinnati Chili and spaghetti and we had salad and the Katie and her mom made chocolate mousse and angel food cake to eat as well. It was delicious.

I was also lucky enough to be one of the people that went to pick Fr. Hesburgh up at the point. While driving over there with Kate Kirbie and Kate Augustine, I just kept thinking “I am going to pick up Fr. Hesburgh. Is this really my life? Are you sure this isn’t supposed to be someone else’s?” Being up here more and more I am continually astounded by the opportunities and experiences I have been able to have.

We drove out to the point, which was just as beautiful as I remember it being when I went there for mass a couple weeks ago. Fr. Hesburgh has a house out on the point, secluded on a little island right next to shore. There is a little bridge over the water (which is just may 3 or 4 feet across) and his house sits there with a beautiful view of the lake. I can see why he loves being up here so much.

After we were all done at dinner we were able to ask him questions about his life, what he thinks about different things, etc. He told us about all the languages he has studied in his life. The list is very long, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, Latin, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese are all the ones I remember him mentioning. Oh and Greek too. He is not fluent in all of them but he said he could probably get by if need be in the countries. His memory was remarkable as he recalled when he had first gone to these countries and needed to learn these languages.

Oh, and he went to Gregorian University in Rome for part of college. That’s for you Catherine Underwood as isn't that where you would always study in their library??? Correct me if I am super off.

Another fun fact. The largest fish he ever caught was a 5 ft marlin in the Pacific. I don’t think there is anything Fr. Hesburgh hasn’t managed to do in his life AND he has been to Antarctica.

One of the most interesting things that he spoke of was his role on the Civil Rights Commission under President Eisenhower. He and five other men were put on this Commission to try to solve the problem of civil rights and equality issues. They traveled all over and collected endless amounts of testimony. Through this they realize what a large problem our country had and how divided we really were. They sent their report with recommendations to the president about what laws needed to be passed in order to try to fix this problem. He made a funny comment about Americans. We are so different and can be so divided but we follow the law. We like our laws and if we don’t like them then we just change them. What they figured is that if they passed laws mandating civil rights that down the line, in future generations, the rights and the opinion of the country would be equal.

Once they got to the point where they were to right the law, they couldn’t find anywhere to do it. The federal judge in Alabama wouldn’t give them anywhere to do it, and the state sure wasn’t going to. Because of this, they came up here to UNDERC and at Killarney Point they sat down, and three southerners and three northerners were able to pass 11 of their 12 resolutions unanimously and the twelfth, which was about desegregating schools, was passed 5 to 1. Father Hesburgh served as the chair of the commission at this time and while they were up here, between the fishing, they wrote out the civil rights act.

Fr. Hesburgh later worked for Nixon in continuing to fight the issue of Civil Rights and equality and was famously fired by the President for disagreeing with his policies. He had a very integral role in putting together the legislation that has changed our country and it was amazing to hear the whole story from him.

He also spoke of how he was able to be the fastest man in the world. After helping out a president (he didn’t mention which one) with something, the president said he owed Fr. Hesburgh a favor. So of course, he asked the president to fly in an SR-71. They go Mach 3.5. That’s about 2500 miles per hour. Also known as super fast. He told us about the first time he flew in an airplane in 1923 when he was very young and how since that moment he was fascinated with flying.

Anyways, I am getting off topic. The President was able to call in a favor and after passing the physical and psychological tests for astronauts and having to memorize all the controls for the back of the plane where he was going to be, they allowed him to fly. For the physical test you have to hold your breath for 2 ½ minutes. He said he had never been able to do that his entire life, but he really wanted to fly, so in order to insure he would pass, he sat, for two and a half hours in his astronaut suit he would have to wear and breathed pure oxygen before the test. By the time the test came, holding your breath for that long was a piece of cake. He was able to fly in the plane, and in 45 minutes went from Sacramento, to Dallas, to Salt Lake City, to Seattle, and back to Sacramento. In 45 minutes. That’s very fast. He says when air force officers come to look at the ROTC students at ND they usually come to visit and he loves telling them that story, as he has flown higher and faster than the majority of the world, besides maybe 10 people. Oh and they were at 92,000 ft. Crazy.

He spoke also of his love of space. He was in the final 3 men when NASA was going to send a civilian man to space, however when they tried to send a civilian woman to space, she was dead 15 minutes later, so he never had the chance. He talked about how when he dies though, he will go to space. When he is in spirit he said, that he will just be able to think of a place and go there.

Then we of course asked what advice he would have for us, and what the most important life lesson he had learned was. He spoke about going through life with an open mind, because then you can always learn more and you are always open to learning more. HE also spoke about always try to help other. If you spend your life trying to help other people, you can’t really go in a bad direction he said. He said he tried to live his life doing that and that it worked out pretty well of him (I’ll say). Live life with an open mind, and live life trying to help other people is basically what the take away message was. As well, he said, when you are in a point in life where you don’t know where to go, just listen to God. Say “Come Holy Spirit” and then listen and follow the advice you are given. You will be given not only the advice in which direction to go, but also the strength to go down that path. Much akin to the saying “If He leads you to it, He will lead you through it.”

At the end of he talk, we were able to take a photo with him and say goodbye. Laura and Libby took him back to the point.

This past year I have been able to have many amazing experiences. I have also been able to meet some very inspirational people. Paul Farmer and Fr. Hesburgh both included. As well as many professors up here who have incredible credentials. I am trying to drink in every moment of it continuously however, I am afraid I am not able to appreciate all these experiences as much as I should.

Every time I meet one of these people, I do realize one thing. They are people, exceptional sure, yet people. They are people with wonderful and unique qualities to do amazing things who were able to capitalize on the opportunities that they were given in life. It’s quite a conflicting thought in my mind. On one hand they are people, and when speaking to them, they seem like a normal person, which inevitably they are. They are as well exceptional and far from normal at all. They were the people with far more guts than anyone else. The guts to make the hard decisions and can find the strength to do hard things. That makes them exceptional.

I only hope that I can try to take advantage of the opportunities I have been given much like they did and I feel like that is much of what I take away from meeting these people. Chances are I will never be well known or make a big impression on the world however, the least I can do is try to help people, work as hard as I can on what I am passionate about, and try not to let an opportunity go untouched or unappreciated.

Claire

Many Adventures and Little Time

This past week was once again crazy... do you see a trend?

Well more than this past week. The past couple at least. Last week was another research week. I officially have 40 plants! Finally. However, I am adding more to my project. I am doing a small side project on germination of seeds in the different treatments, since it seemed like they were germinating at different times and rates in the pots. Also, I am adding some field work to the project and I am going to be measuring earthworm densities and sapling growth in various areas around property. I just ordered the mustard powder I need. Yay lots of field work in the last week.

My parents also came up to visit the last research week for a few days. Being able to relax and show them around property was lots of fun.

My experimental setup :)

Oh! I saw a bear last weekend too, which was really exciting. It was running in the road and Katie and I saw it and freaked out and it just sort of stared at our truck and then ran into the woods. Super cool to say the least.

Additionally last weekend I went with Katie canoeing on Tenderfoot Lake. There are a couple islands out on the lake that we paddled to and explored. We found an old bed frame, an old chimney, bottles, and LOTS of forget-me-nots. Then on the way back we ended up in the middle of a pair of loons. They were diving around us and got really close. They are so beautiful close up.

Another adventure I had last weekend (it was a very good weekend) was our trip to the porcupine mountains. Now they really aren't mountains per say, however I do think that the lake of the clouds and the peaks around it are approximately 1000 ft higher than lake superior, which is quite the distance, especially around here. We hiked past many water falls, got to skip rocks in lake superior and wade in the water, and drove/hiked up to Lake of the Clouds. The lake does not look overly impressive by the photos, but it was beautiful. A photo cannot even start to capture

the beauty of sitting at the top of a cliff overlooking this lake. It was also a very nice relaxing break from the routine we have fallen into on property. Oh! And the best part was not even at the park. On our drive home we stopped in at a decent looking italian restaurant for dinner. Our waitress, Karen, was possibly the nicest lady any of us have ever met. She scolded Tim for not saying please and accidentally sent a random person over to our table because she thought he was part of our party. When she realized later what she had done, she about died of laughter. Also, it was the best gnocchi I have ever had.

This past week was then yet another module. This one was Entomology. I really enjoyed this module a lot. Insects are really very interesting and I also really liked our professor that we had this week. He was very nice and we ran lots of different studies and experiments over the course of this week. Running experiments is fun, however all of the experiments have required papers. I have written two so far. The third is due tomorrow at 5pm. Stress.

I also realized today that I will be home in 3 weeks. Exactly 3 weeks. At that time I will have my paper written and a project presented. I will have had a wonderful experience and will be missing lots of people who I have been living with all summer some of whom I will never see again :(. However, I will be home. And I think I will be ready to be home, as much as I love it here.

Claire

Decisions

I am at an decision point in my life.

I don't know what I want to do with my life. I don't know WHAT to do with my life. What CAN I do with my life. The stubborn side of me says everything, anything I want. If someone else has done it, why can't I and if no one else has done it, why haven't they?

The logic of the world though tends to limit me. I could minor in Peace studies? Nope, other classes are in the way. What about Poverty Studies? Nope. Scheduling problem again. Sustainability? Sorry, foundations class taught in Spring of 2012 when I am abroad.

Well hell. I want to do it all. However, I can just take fun classes, like the intro ones, senior year and not have a special minor or major. That does work. I can do that. Grudgingly so because it would be awesome to minor in either/all of them but I can do that.

What about after graduation now??? Global Health? Peace Corp? Grad School? Med School? Waa? SO MANY CHOICES! Granted, choices are awesome and I am lucky to have them, but still SO MANY CHOICES!

Med school might fall by the wayside. It's interesting. I would like to help people and help heal people and save lives, but what draws me to medicine or the concept of medical school is not because I love the subject material. It would be cool, admittedly, but the only reason I would want to do it is to help people. The more time I spend up here at UNDERC, the more undecided I get about the idea that being a doctor would be the best way to do that.

It comes back to wanting to help people. People in situations, economically, where they need some help from those of us lucky enough to be born into situations where we can help them. There is no reason that people should be suffering all around the world. Our society and economy and it's structure sets it up that way. The human race sets it up so that is so and I understand that. However, I don't have to accept that it has to stay that way. And I will not. I never will. No I will not be able to save every person or help everyone, but (going back to my stubbornness) damnit I can try.

I remember during my UChicago interview, my interviewer and I talked about service and doing international work outside of possibly going to medical school. She talked lots about the background people. The ones who keep the places running, who organize, figure out the logistics, and work behind the scenes doing the work that allows the doctors to do their work. Maybe that? I could do that. I could do research working in these fields, helping people.

When I met Paul Farmer, though I didn't speak with him long or much in depth about anything, he did tell me Environmental Science was an important degree and he wished more people were involved in it. During his talk he also made a point of saying that everyone can help in their own way, no one has to be him (though I still want to be him when I grow up). I have focused much of these past few years using him as a model to try to figure out what I want to do. Now though, I may be at the point I can become myself. Inspired by him to do work that helps the world, and help people, but help people not by trying to be him, because I am not him. I can help people being myself. I can work with the environment and people living with nature and the world and understanding how hurting ecosystems can also hurt humanity. The only way to survive is to survive together.

Leaning towards Peace Corp more and more. haha. But it would be for so long and that's a scary thought. Could I really do that? For 2 years? In another country? I freaked out enough not being able to be home for half this summer. BAH! Granted this isn't a decision I really need to make for another year or so.

For now, I know I need to get more involved. This past year academically destroyed me. I didn't volunteer much at all. I wasn't really involved in much of anything. I HATE that. I understand that I did do a lot academically but it was still annoying. I know I need to take the GRE next summer preferably. I know I should email professors this summer and get into a lab for the next semester since I am discovering this research thing is sort of cool.....

So for now I will leave this long rant about my future and the world. Typing all this out did help me figure some things out. It made many of my thoughts more tangible. I am still confused but I think I know I just need to focus again on what my heart is involved in. My heart is involved in helping. My heart is also in the middle of the forest. In the trees and moss and logs and beautiful wildflowers you find in the oddest places (we found pink and white ladyslippers the other day). My heart is also in South Bend and Golden Valley and every place in the world where my friends and family are, as they are the ones that keep me motivated and get me through the hard times.

Sigh so many decisions.

Halfway there

A couple days ago marked the halfway point for my time here at UNDERC.

I really don't like that thought. You all know me. I don't like change. I don't like endings and I hat saying goodbye to people. We have become a family here and I hate to see that end ever. I guess it won't really ever end. We will always have this summer and all the memories.

Halfway done does bring good news with it though. I get to go home in just over a month and I cannot wait to be home again. I feel like I am starting to lose some of the details of my friends and their mannerisms and jokes. Plus everything here reminds me of Envirothon which makes me miss my awesome team and Mr. Sammler. However, it is REALLY nice to have learned some of these things before.

We are learning a massive amount of information here. This week was especially tiring as we had to be up and at class by 6am 4 days this week since we went out birding and checking our traps. If you leave the mammals you catch in traps too long they will bake essentially, which is sad so we try to avoid that. Victoria and I caught two Peromyscus maniculitus (Deer Mouse) in our traps. We basically rocked it.

This week we also learn all the mammals and all the bird calls. It was intense. A LOT of studying. Dr. Cramer taught this module though and he is very funny so that made all of the work a lot more bearable.

Besides memorizing everything, we also got to do some fun activities. We set up nets between the apartments last night and caught bats in them. Cramer said this is the first year they actually ever managed to catch bats. We caught about 20. We were able to see them up close and Cramer pointed out some interesting features they have before he let them fly away.... right over our heads. We also went "howling" the other night. Appropriately there was a full moon at the time. Howling consists of us all driving out to some point on property and Cramer howling like a wolf and trying to get wolves to howl back. We didn't hear anything that night but we did manage to break two of the vans. The UNDERC van's battery died at the gravel pit, so we piled all 16 of us into the Shaggin' Wagon. Then when we were at another place howling, the Shaggin' Wagon started to smell like a toasted marshmallow when we attempted to start it. We may have actually killed it for good. Luckily some of the grad students drove by and were able to taken one person back to the lab to grab another van and come get us all.

Tonight we are going owling, which much like howling, you make owl sounds and the owls come over and then you can shine the spotlight on them and see the different owls. I really hope this works. IT WOULD BE SO COOL!

I also went to mass today at the point. The point is where the priests stay when they come up here. It is sort of a priest summer camp up here at time. Anyways they hold mass every Saturday evening at the point and this week, Father Hesburgh arrived up here and when he is up here he is always at mass. He was a very nice guy to meet, shook all of our hands and asked us where we were from. We also got a picture with him after mass. I really enjoyed mass too. The chapel is this tiny little cabin-like building and there couldn't have been more than 25 people there.

I will try to get the picture from Laura's camera later and put it on this.

My parents come up here in a couple days. I am so excited to show them around :) I hope the weather holds.

Claire

Crazy Times

It's been almost a week since I last blogged. I have always noticed this trend in blogs of others I knew. People start out posting very often, every day or two, but slowly as their experiences continue and they get caught up in the excitement, it becomes harder and harder to update. I am falling into that same pattern, though I will try to post at least once a week. It's impossible to talk to everyone individually but I still desperately want to be able to share all my experiences with those I care about.

The reason for my lapse in posting is that this week was pure insanity. I warned in the last post how much work the forest ecology unit looked like it was going to be... well it was that plus some. The field trips we took were extremely interesting, even if they both managed to land on the two hottest days we have had here so far. On Tuesday we went to visit the Sylvania forest, which is a stand of old growth forest meaning it was never logged. We were able to see white pines that seemed to nearly reach the sky and were most likely 250 to 300 years old. We also studied the different characteristics, including lots of dead fallen and standing trees and unique topography that characterizes these forests.

Then on Wednesday we went to the Ottawa National Forest, which is over a million acres in size and were given a tour to the different types of forests they manage up there. It was fascinating to learn how the forest service is actually able to manage what kind of growth they want within a stand and also the differnet challenges they are faced with because of public opinion, logging companies, the government, and the need to try to protect wildlife biodiversity in the area.

The coolest part of the tour though is when we visited a highly earthworm density forest. This forest was in close proximity to a popular fishing lake where anglers often simply dump their bait after they are done fishing. It was shocking how different the forest floor was compared to the areas with fewer or no worms. The undergrowth of the forest was covered completely with this type of grass instead of small saplings. The earthworms consume the litter on the ground and make it hard if not impossible for trees such as sugar maples to regenerate.

I found it fascinating because this is also what I am studying this summer, I am just trying to see if there are any effects on red maple sapling growth. If my seeds will ever grow. None have germinated yet. The germination time is supposedly 10-15 days. I think we are on day 10... so.... yeah. That could be a problem. We'll find out.

We also conducted a project on lichens looking at their abundance on fallen versus standing trees. We collected the data on Thursday and the papers (a full scientific paper as if we were submitting this to a journal) was due on Friday at 7pm. Stressful to say the least however it is going to be very good to get feedback like this because our professor for this week, Dr. Walt Carson, is a editor for Ecology, the premiere journal for ecological sciences.

Dr. Carson also gave us wonderful advice on graduate school, what to do to get in, how to pick what you might want to do and some good overall life advice as well. I am currently looking into the Peace Corp... :)

Everyone here is so wonderful. I know I have said this in previous posts but these past few days it has really struck me just how much of a family we have turned into this past month. We have our disagreements of course however we still take care of each other like a family would do. The entire thought of people being abroad different semesters and some people graduating in the spring and others not being at Notre Dame when I am there since they go to other schools makes me so sad. I can't imagine not seeing some of these people every single day.

I suppose this just means we need to have reunions :)

-Claire

p.s. Everyone here keeps getting packages. I am feeling very lonely and unloved. Just a thought.

Doctors and Dead Horse Balls

Hello hello everyone!

These last couple days have been quite fun and also a bit of an adventure.

On Saturday, I was a designated driver for my friend's 21st birthday party along with Pat and Shayna. Pat bought us cokes to keep us awake while we watched the shenanigans go down. It was hilarious to say the least. We went to a local bar that was full of townies and dead deer. not kidding. I think they were quite amused by all of us as well... the townies that is. We also saw a wolf on the way there. IT WAS SO COOL. It was the first time I had seen one since being up here. I thought it was a deer at first but when we got closer we realized it was definitely NOT a deer. at all.

Then last night we decided to have a little bonfire before classes started up again. We burnt a bunch of garlic mustard Heidi had dug up earlier. It is invasive so whenever they find a bunch they dig it up and then burn the plants to stop their spread. Then Menzie created what is quite possibly the best game ever. A bunch of people went to lie down in the field and look at the stars which were positively stunning last night. We could see the Milky Way. SO EPIC. Anyways, Menzie also has this beach ball thing so they started tossing it around while on their backs. This turned into all of us laying on our backs in a circle with our hands and feet in the air trying to keep the ball off the ground. Because of such the game was dubbed "Dead Horse Balls." It also was a very good ab workout because I had my feet straight up in the air and I was laughing so hard.

I also went to the doctor this morning. There has been pain in my hand/fingers for the past few weeks, starting with finals really. It started in the fingertips of my pointer finger and thumb and has since moved into the back of my hand and a little into my wrist. I have been icing/ACE wrapping my hand for the past couple weeks and it was still hurting so I finally went to the doctor. They said it might be a nerve thing in my hand/wrist. If it still hurts in a month I am supposed to go to a nerve specialist in either Rhinelander or Wausau but that would be super annoying so I REALLY hope that isn't the case. I got a new wrist brace too that really does stop me from doing much with the wrist so hopefully that helps my hand more than the ACE bandage did.

In terms of that whole school thing I have been doing up here, it has been going well. Our forest ecology unit started today and looks very interesting, even if it is going to be a RIDICULOUS amount of work. We are taking lots of field trips to different forests and as well we are conducting a research project and writing a paper. The research project is on lichens, which will be super interesting, however trying to figure out the logistics of a research project with 28 people is near impossible.

I have been watering my project and have run into some unexpected problems.... yay research....

My earthworms are being stabbed by the pin boards I made to look at root structure. I have found 2 dead nightcrawlers so far. I replaced both but its still a problem. The first one looked mildly mutilated and the second one today had a bad looking puncture wound. The plan right now is to try to fix the problem with plato and hope that works. more like pray it works.

stupid impaled worms. I'll keep you updated on the life status of my baby worms.

Claire

Frickin' Dorm Tours!

This post is dedicated to a tour of my new home here, plus some other exciting events from this week. I thought you guys deserved some pictures since I keep talking about things and you have no idea what they look like.

Outside our dorm. Home Sweet Home.

Here is my room. The top bunk is mine and there is another bunk bed to the right. Closets are on the left.

Downstairs/main room/Dining Room. Looking in from the entrance.

Balcony area with couches. A good place to study/hang out.

Basement with big TV. There is a ping pong and pool table to the right.

A pretty view out of the kitchen window onto Tenderfoot Lake. The other day we saw 2 bald eagles flying with a rainbow in the background. Amazing.

This is a view of the Hank Lab. It's where our classroom and lab space is and it is SUPER nice.

Other than that, I saw bear puke today. That was extra delicious looking. It was by the fish pit, which would be SUCH a pretty area if it wasn't for the fish pit.

The first research week is starting to wrap up finally. I have a project... I think. Assuming the maple seeds germinate and grow. That takes 10 days. So I will know if I have a project in 10 days. fingers crossed because I don't know what I will do if I don't have a project and I have to start one in the second research week. Probably cry. Let's hope these maples grow.

Also next week is our forest ecology unit, so to celebrate they gave us a massive assignment of a zillion (aka 38) plants to collect on property and identify. It was interesting to say the least but I have finally finished it as of tonight and it isn't even due until Friday at 10am. I feel accomplished and now I can relax while everyone else freaks out about getting their project in on time. Plus I know a ton of plants and how to id them now. Makes me feel like a pro. :)

Here is a picture of the purple pitcher plants that are out on the peat moss at cranberry bog. I had to take a picture of them for my project because I didn't want to pick them.

They are the really super cool plants that flies and things fall into and then the plant digests them in their juices. It's really exciting.

On a less geeky note and something even more exciting, CLAYTON CAME TO VISIT ME!!!!!!!!! :D

He couldn't stay for long because it was family memorial day weekend stuff but it was FANTASTIC to see him. I needed a bit of home. I don't think I realized how much I did need it but it was amazing, even if he could only hang out for a couple hours. Also, he got to meet our salamander babies we caught last week. They have since hatched and are swimming around in their larvae stage. I really hope they live to become actual salamanders. We named them all too but one of the TAs erased the board before I got a picture... :(

The precious babies before they hatched.

Enough rambling for now. I miss you all. I also have no idea where my phone is so if you have called/texted me and I haven't responded that's why. I know it is somewhere around here but because of the bad service I don't pay much attention to where it is.

Until I blog again,

KLAR

Struggle Bus

I have a sad story for you all. Unfortunately, for the past week, I have been on the struggle bus.

I have just been really good at messing things up this week. Nothing detrimental of course, but similar to the time where I managed to drop and break multiple glass things on the first day of chem lab.

During this semester, they warned us that the smoke detector in the dorms sometimes mistake steam from the showers as smoke. Now, I didn't really think they were completely serious in this threat. I mean stream is not smoke. They are two very different things. However, they were very serious. So at 11:30 the other night, just as I stopped my shower, the alarm went off. Whoops. To top it all off Cramer (who knows the code to turn off the alarm), was not at the dorm. It went off for about 5-10 minutes before he finally got back to the dorm. Luckily, my classmates have forgiven me.

Additionally, the next day we had to return our tadpoles that we caught to their pond and then collect some pond water. So the day after I set off the alarm, we drove down to the pond. I drove on the way back because there was a very large part of the road we had to back up the van and the Prospector and I have a special relationship. I had to back it up for over a mile last week. So I backed it up, all is going well. However, on the way back to the dorms I got the van stuck in the mud. Stuck BADLY in the mud.

To explain the roads up here are very narrow and all gravel so when you meet someone coming the opposite way you have to try to get as far as you can to your side of the road to insure both people can pass. So when I moved to the side of the road in order to let a few cars pass the car got stuck in the muddy shoulder. Needless to say, we had to call the main office and get them to come tow us out.

That is our tire halfway covered in mud and us waiting for Gary to come pull us out. He was very nice about it thankfully. I felt rather dumb for getting the car stuck.

You would think that would be it. Alas no. Today our van ran out of gas when we were out in the field and we had to walk back. HOWEVER, I was not driving at this point. Matt was. The best part about this story though is that the van has two tanks and we could have just switched to the second tank.

Other than that this week has been pretty great. My project is in a way coming together. We have to buy a bunch of things for it in the next couple of days. I am also discovering that Science is 1/4 science 1/3 stats and the rest is ingenuity and elbow grease. I get to cut plywood, caulk bins, and hopefully everything works out to the point where I can actually do my project. Fingers crossed.

In other news, I get to memorize 24 scientific names of amphibians and reptiles tonight. Woo party! ....and instead of studying I am currently watching the Cane Toad movie.

Sincerely,

Cane Toad Drug Abuser

Resident of Melbourne

UPDATE: Today we were in a different van and that van also ran out of gas. This time we switched the tanks. Our group has still been dubbed team car trouble.

Just go to the next dead tree

Cheerio!

I hope I find you all well and good. I have recently showered and found no ticks.

Ow. Leg cramping. Pain.

I suppose that is what I get for coming up here out of shape. I just returned from a 4 1/2 hour hike through the forest. We crossed from one side of property to the other after being dropped up by Michael and Heidi. Yesterday they taught us how to use a map and a compass and then today they let us loose.

For a visual here is a map of the property.

We walked from Peter and Paul lakes (where aquatic trophic cascade ecology began) to North Gate where there was a check point. At this point we stopped to eat lunch. Then we went essentially due south all the way back to the lab and the dorm, which is where that little cluster of black dots are down by Tenderfoot Lake.

This past week up here has been an introduction to UNDERC. We got tours of the property on Tuesday in these ancient massive vans. They have old vans and pickup trucks up here to get around property. The vans all have about 700,000 miles on them. I have no idea how they are still running. The Prospector (one of the vans) and I bonded on Tuesday too when we came across a flooded part of the road and couldn't get through. Therefore I had to back the van up for about a mile before we found a part in the road that was wide enough to turn around. That was a very interesting experience and also lots of fun.

Another highlight of the tour was seeing the fish shocking boats. A lot of the experiments up here alter characteristics in whole lakes and then look at the effects. The simplest way to sample the fish is to shock the water, which stuns them, and then they can be easily netted. The shockers basically just look like giant wind chimes hanging in front of the boat which they can raise and lower at will. I will try to get a picture one of these days.

My project has also already changed. I am just doing the work on the earthworms in the lab, not the work in the field as well. I am nearly finished rewriting it though (there was a lot of red pen on it after my mentor looked at the first draft) and then I just need to buy supplies and plant my seedlings.

Tonight we are going over to Gary's for pasties, a northwoods staple. It will be wonderful. Plus, it's a free dinner. Yum :)

I hope all is well for all those at home and still at school. I miss you all uber bunches.

KLAR

A Beginning....

These past few days have marked the beginning of quite a few new adventures.

Firstly, I am halfway done with college which is not okay in the least. I do not want to be so far done with college. I feel like there are many, many more things that I want to do and people I want to see and spend time with than I have time for during the year.

Secondly, I am finally up at UNDERC. Now for those of you who do not know what that is, it is the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center which is located up on the border of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Approximately 8000 acres, it is used by scientists from many different schools (although owned by Notre Dame) and is the site of some pretty important work.

Today, we drove by Peter and Paul lakes. These two lakes used to be a single lake until they were separated back in the 50s (?). The systems were then altered and different species of fish were added to one lake and not the other. Then many different variables all throughout the food chain were monitored and trophic cascade ecology was born.

Also, we were able to see from across the lake the building where Father Hesburgh negotiated the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act during the Civil Rights Movement. I might even get to go into that building and hear the story from Father Hesburgh himself sometime while I am here.

Oh, yeah, I am here taking a class and doing my own research for the next 10 weeks. More information about that to come.

Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, I am starting this blog. It will be filled with my adventures that I have up here at UNDERC as I meander my way through this summer covering both my research and school and also the inevitable other adventures that occur when you put 30 undergraduates in a house in the northwoods. Hopefully, it will also extend it's life to include my other adventures this year as I travel to Australia spring semester.

Pictures will come eventually. It is absolutely beautiful up here.

Claire