{"id":80305,"date":"2018-11-16T14:39:44","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T21:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=80305"},"modified":"2018-11-16T14:39:44","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T21:39:44","slug":"extracurricular-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/?p=80305","title":{"rendered":"Extracurricular Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we approach the end of August and seed collecting is winding down a bit, our mentor has provided us with opportunities to expand our knowledge and experience past seed collecting. \u00a0Throughout the summer, but particularly now, we’ve had the opportunity to survey and monitor various endemic or rare plants in the Fremont Co. area. \u00a0Earlier in the year, we were tasked with monitoring the phenology of a rare plant called Yermo xanthocephalus<\/em>, commonly known as desert yellowhead, which only occurs in two areas of Wyoming. \u00a0We collaborated with a botanist performing studies to understand what pollinates this rare plant and at what frequency, as well as perform paternity analyses. \u00a0 My partner and I helped her set up pollinator traps and checked on the maturity of fruits for her on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

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Setting up experimental pollinator traps<\/p><\/div>\n

Another rare plant we spent a few days mapping out was Cleome multicaulis<\/em>, a beautifully tiny, spindly little forb apart of the mustard family. \u00a0It only occurs in or near very alkaline, dried lake beds. \u00a0Even though its flowers are purple and it’s about a foot tall, they’re still somewhat hard to spot at first, because they are so <\/em>thin and delicate.\u00a0\u00a0We typically found them along the perimeter of these dried lake beds, usually near or under a group of sagebrush. \u00a0One of the days we spent scouting for this plant, my partner and I had three separate encounters with rattle snakes. \u00a0We’d definitely ran into them before, being in Wyoming, but I’ll say after the third rattle… we were both a bit on the jumpy side. \u00a0I believe we called it a little earlier than we might have usually, because our nerves were shot by then.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite areas we spent time at was in the badlands of Chalk hills, where we scouted and mapped out a rare sagebrush, Artemisia porteri<\/em>, commonly\u00a0called Porter’s sagebrush. \u00a0I realize it’s a bit bizarre for someone who loves botany to also enjoy an area so void of vegetation, but I did \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0Perhaps it’s because I’ve just never been exposed to such a drastic habitat, part of me felt like I was on Mars…or at least the closest I’ll ever get to being on Mars. \u00a0Surprisingly, we saw a lot of Jack rabbits in the area, which was really cool. \u00a0We were successful in identifying the rare sagebrush, and once we got a better feel for the distinct areas they occurred, it was a very pleasant way to spend a day out in the field, in a habitat that I was so unfamiliar with.<\/p>\n

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Badlands of Chalk hills, where we found Artemisia porteri<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

We recently received very exciting news; our internship was approved for a month extension, so instead of finishing up in late September, my partner and I will work a the BLM- Lander Field Office until the end of October, which is wonderful! \u00a0Any extra employment I can get, especially during the off-season for field work, is very welcomed. \u00a0And I’m especially excited to have an opportunity to see what Lander’s like in the Fall \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0I feel very grateful right now, and look forward to the upcoming months!<\/p>\n

Becca Cross,<\/p>\n

BLM- Lander Field Office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we approach the end of August and seed collecting is winding down a bit, our mentor has provided us with opportunities to expand our knowledge and experience past seed collecting. \u00a0Throughout the summer, but particularly now, we’ve had the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80315,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80305\/revisions\/80315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}