Here are some things that are completely new to me:

1. The desert. I am originally from Ohio and the move to Nevada has been a tough one. I have always loved the woods and being surrounded by trees. Definitely strange to be able to look out onto miles and miles of sage brush landscape. Luckily, we are really close to Lake Tahoe (which has trees!!!!)
2. Dirt. Everything is covered in dirt. My car. The inside and outside of the work truck. My boots. Our tubs. Our equipment. Me, most of the time.
3. The absence of rain. It has rained ONE time since I have been in NV, which has been around two months. What is this nonsense?! Where are my beloved thunderstorms?!
4. Casinos. Casinos everywhere. I don’t understand Nevada and their obsession with casinos. Doing laundry? There are slot machines there. Shopping for groceries? They have you covered, gambler’s delight. What about getting gas? No worries, the whole other side of the gas station is a casino.
5. Fire. I just read that there are currently 15 active wildfires in NV. A fairly large one, that is called Earthstone burned 41,000 acres and started pretty much in my backyard. We had to evacuate our house because of it and now everything smells like smoke and is charred black.
   

   Earthstone fire, taken from my house as it burned down the canyon.

6. Elevation. I am a runner (let’s be honest, not a good one, but I try) but the change from basically sea level in Ohio to 6,000 feet+ here in Nevada has been a really strange transition. For a couple of weeks, I got winded from just climbing a flight of stairs.
7. Cows. I don’t think I have ever been close to a cow in my entire life. Now, I chase cows with my work truck on a weekly basis. They are the bane of my existence and will remain my enemy for the rest of time.
   

   Santa Rosa District in northern NV near Winnemucca.

I feel as though Alyssa (my fellow intern) and I are not your average SOS team. Our species list consists of only (semi-rare) flowering plants which has required a lot of research and so far, a lot of hit-and-miss scouting. We have limited information on sites to explore, so we have to scout the entire district. Our most important species, Erigeron speciosus has been illusive so far. We work all over the state and recently spent a lot of time in the Santa Rosa district. There, we thought we found Erigeron speciosus but didn’t, buried our truck in mud and ripped off our passenger side mirror. This week, we have a short break and will begin our exploration and scouting on Monday! Hopefully we have better luck!

What we thought was Erigeron speciosus but is actually Erigeron pumilus.

Cheers to all the other interns working their butts off and good luck with collections!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

-Payton Kraus
USFS Sparks, NV