There is a myriad of Latin binomials swirling through my head. My hands are callused from digging soil pits and my elegant farmer’s tan has made a strong comeback. It’s official, field season is really here. We got a late start here in Meeker, CO, doing AIM monitoring for the Bureau of Land Management, but are surely making up for lost time. There has been a plethora of exciting experiences my first few weeks, and I will do my best to highlight a few.

Big skies and pinyon pines (Pinus edulis)

This ecosystem is arid, hot and at times unforgiving, at least to us humans. Yet all sorts of flora and fauna are uniquely adapted to such challenges and make life here look easy. The majority of our plots are in sagebrush, wherein we collect supplemental vegetation data to assess habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse. At various elevations, different subspecies of sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata, are dominant. Luckily, we also get to experience working in pinyon juniper, quaking aspen, cottonwood forests, and salt-desert shrub lands. It’s remarkable to see the diversity of ecosystems in such an immense range of this beautiful state. The greatest challenge of this position has undoubtedly been learning all the plants. Since vegetation monitoring means identifying any species we may encounter on a transect, there has been a pretty steep learning curve getting started.

Common sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) in a recently burned meadow

The vast openness and big skies of Northwest Colorado have stolen my heart. Having never lived West of the Mississippi, almost everything is alien to me here, but I am quickly acclimating. The plants (of which there is an overwhelming diversity), the birds, and mammals are all slowing revealing themselves. To live in a place where you can drive for hours in any direction and see predominantly wilderness is a true privilege. Sometimes when approaching a plot, we are hit with the strong scent of sagebrush as we hop out of the truck. Just yesterday, I saw my first Golden Eagle on the wing, graciously allowing us a peak at her power and beauty. In my experience, it is these tiny moments of sensory pleasure that make being a field biologist the greatest job in the world.

A typical day in the field may wind down with a pitched tent and some stellar scenery

Cheers,

Coryna Hebert

BLM, Meeker, CO