In light of the approaching holiday season and the conclusion of my internship I have written a song, with the help of the other interns, to summarize my internship. I have tried to incorporate parts of all of the major aspects of my internship; my time was divided mostly into SOS collections and fire monitoring. Our field work contained many adventures with rugged mountain roads, wildlife, and inclement weather. I am thankful for the great opportunities this internship program has given me to gain professional work experience and skills. I will be leaving Carson City, NV at the end of the week with fond memories and ambition to further my career as a botanist!

12 Days of Seed Collecting (to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas)

On the first day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
A plant press in a juniper tree.

On the second day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the third day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the fourth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the fifth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Five ER-NA*
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the sixth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the seventh day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the eighth day of seed collecting
Eight interns camping
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the ninth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Nine weeds a mappin’
Eight interns camping
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the tenth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Ten fires finished
Nine weeds a mappin’
Eight interns camping
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the eleventh day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Eleven roads a washed out
Ten fires finished
Nine weeds a mappin’
Eight interns camping
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree.

On the twelfth day of seed collecting
My mentor gave to me:
Twelve PVC pipes
Eleven roads a washed out
Ten fires finished
Nine weeds a mappin’
Eight interns camping
Seven sage a seedin’
Six cows a grazin’
Five ER-NA
Four pruning sheers
Three soil samples
Two GPSs
And a plant press in a juniper tree

*Ericameria nauseosa, a common shrub of the Great Basin.

Mary

CCDO

This past week my team and I set out on a week long seed collecting expedition in southeast of Yosemite. We started in the Bristlecone National Forest to find a population of Lipidospartum, that will be used in genetics research. While we were so close to the Bristlecones, we ventured up into the ancient forest on search of Methuselah, the almost 5,000 year old tree.

Bristelcone

After the ancient trees, we headed up Tioga Pass to Yosemite and collected some riparian species in a beautiful yellow aspen patch. We then drove towards the tufa shores of Mono Lake on the search of some Chenopods and Artemisia.

Our third night we stayed in a rustic town with natural hot springs. In the evening we were lucky enough to relax under the starry sky in hot tubs fed by the mineral hot springs.

After monitoring many fires through fields of cheat grass (Bromus tectorum), tumble-mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), and charred pinyon pine (Pinus monophylum), we set up our last and final fire monitoring plot. This week, we finished our last fire monitoring plot. As we finished up our last plots, westward blowing afternoon winds rushed through the valley towards our fire monitoring plots, bringing with them walls of thick smoke from the King Fire in California. The King Fire is a large fire that is currently burning east of Sacramento and Lake Tahoe and has been burning for almost two weeks now. As of September 24, the fire was 38% contained and had burned over 90,000 acres. Although this fire is no threat to the Carson City district, the westward blowing winds blanket the Washoe and Carson Valley with a thick layer of smoke. Often visibility has been reduced so much that it is impossible to see adjacent mountain ridge lines.

A plume of smoke rises more than a mile into the sky across Lake Tahoe.

The sun shines orange as it barely is seen through a thick cloud of smoke from the King Fire in California

“In a day when you don’t come across any problems — you can be sure that you are on the wrong path”  – Swami Vivekananda

I doubt Vivekananda was performing field work when he said this quote.  It does however, add a positive perspective to the inherent problems and obstacles that comes with preforming field work.

In the past weeks, my team has had our fair share of problems to overcome. We have been stopped by locked gates, turned around by “NO TRESPASSING” signs, led astray by wrong turns, and delayed by severely washed out roads. We have encountered dark storm clouds and seas of Sisymbrium altissimum that make our job as hard as finding a needle in a hay stack.

Although, I would appreciate a field day that goes 100% according to plan; I must reflect on Vivekananda’s wise words and think about where this internship is taking me. My time here is a learning experience, which is not possible without encountering an obstacle here and there. Each day brings new problems to be solved, allowing me to  develop my skill set that will continue to take me down the right path.

An impassible, washed out road that made itself known

“No Trespassing” signs are everywhere!

Sometimes the “Keep Out” signs are quite peculiar

A sea of Sisymbrium altissimum that was encountered while fire monitoring.