The view as we botanized along the San Pasquel Valley Trail

Showy Penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis) a native perennial.

Hillside flowering yellow with Deer Weed (Lotus scoparius).

Wildflowers along the Sunrise Highway, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, CA.

View of our desert collection area in McCain Valley.

Testing the boundaries of my comfort zone has become the theme for my internship experience in Southern California.  The coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and desert ecosystems are about as different as can be from the northern hardwood and boreal forests of the upper Midwest where I have the vast majority of my ecological experience.  To start the ‘next step’ in life after graduating I was looking for a new environment to challenge not only my ecological abilities but also give me the experience of living somewhere very different, this CLM internship has proven to do just that.

Learning all new plants and systems can be an intimidating yet exciting prospective.  My fellow intern and I are very lucky to be working with a number of very talented, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic botanists and ecologists.  Our first field trip was filled with gasps of excited exclamations of “Oh the Pickeringia montana is flowering!   And the Malacothamnus densiflorus is blooming so nicely.  The Dendromecon rigida and Romneya coulteri are having a good year so far.  Was that a Lathyrus vestitus among the Adenostoma fasciculatum back there? Oh!  What a beautiful swath of Lupinus bicolor!” while botanizing out the truck window as we bumped along the dirt road heading up and down the hills.  To me all the vegetation was a conglomeration of patches of bright colors interspersed with greens and browns.  As a landscape it was beautiful, but my brain could not distinguish all the parts that made up the whole. Gradually, through the weeks, the patchwork of colors has separated into different plants that my mind is starting to define as unique species with accompanying common and scientific names.  I learn (and relearn) new ones every day.

Just learning the plants is only half the battle in becoming acquainted with doing field work in a new environment.  Physical challenges such as becoming acclimated to a hot and dry climate and developing the stamina to climb up and down the hills that are mountains to a girl from a glaciated land are overcome with time and the vigilance to remain hydrated.  There are also new environmental hazards that I need to be consciously thinking about, such as remembering that certain plants are not friendly and will poke, scratch, or bite.  And of course, there is the danger of being bit by a snake, something I’m not naturally cautious of since I’ve never lived where snakes are a safety issue.  I survived my first close encounter with a rattle snake; I walked away with a pounding heart and the reminder to watch where I step.  There are some cultural differences to get used to as well, including the presence Border Patrol as they make their rounds through our collection sites, and the generally faster paced California lifestyle.  Some things are easier to get used to like the abundance of avocados and oranges that grow on trees in the front yard.  Working out of the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park provides not only the chance to be involved in different research projects, but also the opportunity to work in the hills above various grazing exotic ungulates and to hear the gibbons calling for breakfast in the early morning.

All in all there are a lot of new things, but when it comes down to it, the field methods are familiar; it’s just a different location.   Many of the same field work related stories will be created; everybody needs to have the ‘day we got the work vehicle stuck’ story.  A month and a half into my internship, I’m amazed at how much I’ve already learned and have had the opportunity to experience.  Looking back makes me even more excited for the adventures and opportunities that are in store for the remainder of the internship.