Today we had our final day at the Carlsbad Field Office. Saying goodbye to everyone was really difficult, and I will miss a lot of wonderful people that I’ve met here. I have gotten to see such amazing landscapes in the field here and feel incredibly lucky to have been able to work outside most days doing what I love to do.

Dark Canyon from up in the cliffs, one of my collection sites

By the Black River, a field site we frequented this season

The dunes at the peak of the season, teeming with wildflowers!

Centaurium maryannum, one of my favorite plants we encountered here and a gypsum endemic species

Yucca in full bloom, a rare sight this time of year, as most we’ve encountered have only had dried seed pod remains

As a side project here in Carlsbad, I have been working on an insect collection to try and demonstrate insect diversity in the area. Today I finished it and put it up for display in the Field Office lobby outreach section, along with a couple of the herbarium vouchers Brooke and I mounted this season! It was great to see it all come together and leave something that we made here at the field office. We also included a plaque (not pictured because we hadn’t put it up yet when I took this photo) with information on the Seeds of Success program!

The finished product!

Our projects from the season on display!

After this I will be moving to Albuquerque because New Mexico is the bee’s knees. Let me know if any of you are ever in the area!

– Meridith McClure, Carlsbad, NM BLM