03 Jun My Project

Hi all!

I’m at the start of my third week here! The snow in Lodgepole has mostly melted, and while the snow was nice to see, I’m hoping it doesn’t come back. However, we are at high elevation, so my hopes may not be realistic. Pictured here is one of the last, beautiful days of snow here at Lodgepole. Since the snow has melted, I have been able to explore more areas of the park, including the area around the river near my cabin. 

This week’s focus is choosing a subject on Sequoia tree demographics, which I will further explore and develop into a research project. So far, my possible project topics include resampling juvenile trees related to the original census taken in the 1960s, comparing the demographics between burned and unburned plots of trees, marking differences between groups of Sequoia trees in front country (closer to cities or civilization) VS. the wilderness, and learning about seedling recruitment in regard to the recent 2012-2016 drought while using a database of drought information dating back to around 30 years.

I will be meeting with my project supervisor, Dr.Christy Brigham, to find a topic I would be most interested in, determine how feasible it is to create a project around it within the amount of time I have this summer, and clearly define the goals of each week to complete my investigation. The other part of my internship project is the interpretation segment, where I will be educating the public on my work and the park.

I’m really looking forward to deciding on a specific topic that will provide direction for my study, and I can’t wait for all the discoveries I’ll make this summer. I’m also excited to talk  to park visitors about park conservation!

See you next week!