I’m still in my first month here in Kemmerer, but I have gotten to do a lot of exciting things so far. To make the most of my time here, I want to learn as much as I can from as many people as possible. Luckily, I am off to a good start and have gotten to join several different projects. I spent the first couple weeks doing stream assessments, including Winward Greenline studies and Proper Functioning Condition. I then moved on to exclosure maintenance and fence building. I also got to join a reclamation assessment on the Ruby Pipeline to see how well it is coming along. I enjoyed this particularly because my previous field office was located at the end of the Ruby Pipeline and I have moved four states over to a field office at the beginning of the line.

Building a fence for the first time

When the field work on all these projects started to die down, I finally got to start work on my pet project for the summer, which is locating and mapping all the seeps, springs, and reservoirs in the field office. It has been a sharp learning curve, but I am beginning to be able to distinguish blown out reservoirs from the surrounding terrain and determine the difference between snow catches and springs.

But enough talk about work. I am thrilled because I found my first fossils! Kemmerer is the “Fossil Fish Capital” and I am beginning to see why!

Wyoming flat fish

High desert rock flounder