Kalysha Clark: 2014

Today was my last day of classes for the semester. That's crazy. I just have to make it through three exams and then I am done until January!

This semester was very busy, but I had some awesome opportunities.

I got to present my summer research at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. This was my first ever professional poster presentation.

I have also been interning with The Nature Conservancy, working under Dr. Sheila Reddy, Senior Scientist for Sustainability, on a project focusing on living shorelines.

These are two amazing opportunities that I am glad to have had extended to me. I am excited to finish exams and head to NYC to visit my best friend before the holidays.

And I can't wait to see what my next (and final!) semester holds for me!

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My university, North Carolina State University, won a contest with Cosmopolitan Magazine which gave us the opportunity to have a party bus filled with male models to shuttle students to the closest polling location.

I and a friend decided we would check out the event, grab a free t-shirt and take our picture with a hot male model. Because let's be honest, free stuff is a college student's best friend.

Some people, mainly the right-wing conservatives, aren't exactly happy about Cosmo's effort to Get Out the Vote. Take a look at this. The rest of my post will be in response to that article. That's me in the photo (in the center) flanked by my friend Jason (on the left) and a super hot male model (on the right).

There exist many people in these great United States who are shallow, unintellectual, and easily influenced by whatever is socially acceptable. And it’s precisely these people who will turn out to vote for the promise of a neon “Voting is Sexy” t-shirt.

I suppose that my want for free t-shirt is definitely an indication of my shallow, unintellectual and easily-influenced nature. Except it's not. Anyone who knows me would describe me as the opposite of those things. I could take a second to mention that I graduated in the top five percent of my class in high school and that I am attending on of the top 100 universities in the United States with a GPA good enough to allow me to graduate with honors. But it's not just that.

In a perfect world, the masses would be politically engaged, watch candidate debates, spend time over scotch and cigars discussing the issues du jour and then head to the polls to make a careful and rational decision on who should represent their interests.

So just because I showed up to take my picture with a hot model means that I didn't do those things? Incorrect. I actually did watch the candidate debates and spent extensive time online doing research on the candidates and their platforms because there's a lot at stake for this election: women's reproductive rights, clean air and water, education, and more. Trust me when I say that I did what you imagine individuals would in a perfect world (save for the scotch and cigar because I'm not really into alcohol or smoking. Besides, I wouldn't want to impair my judgement before I went to the polls!).

To the former, I’m not sure the intelligentsia are the ones flocking to snap a pic with a buff model holding a “CosmoVotes” sign

Except they are! Which is exactly why my friend Jason and I were there.

Those already polically engaged in college are likely in some way, shape, or form, tangentially involved in a campus political club

Wrong. We can't all be involved in as many clubs as we'd like. Some of us have to work multiple part-time jobs to pay our way through school while also juggling full-time schoolwork AND clubs that are relevant to our careers. So just because I'm not in the College Democrats Club at my school doesn't mean I'm not politically engaged in college.

Also at issue here is the nexus of “feminism” and a Cosmo-style GOTV push. “What kind of message does it send to young women when they’re bribed to vote by hot men?!” the right posits. “How hypocritical is the left that the cry feminism and then use sexuality to lure votes!?”

I think you have the wrong definition is feminism. At its roots, feminism is about equality among the sexes. In a world where women are frequently sexualized to sell items and ideas (see here as just one example), it's rare to see men being sexualized. And in our case, at least everyone kept their clothes on and it was for a worthy cause.

At the end of the day, I’m not opposed to having a party bus full of hot male models accompany me to the polls to make my careful and rationally decided ballot choices. Sounds like a great time.

If you're not opposed to the event, then why did you feel the need to call out and tear down its attendants? It was a great time. I got a free t-shirt, a photo with a sexy male model and voted for candidates that I wanted to vote for based on my own research and decisions.

I've made it halfway through the semester! Woo!

One thing I'm doing a lot of this semester is working on projects! I thought I would take just a minute to talk about some of the ones I'm working on.

For my conservation biology class, I am a part of two group projects. One studies wildlife presence on golf courses and compares the rates at which wildlife are captured on camera traps across three different landscape types - rural, exurban, and suburban. The second project is a conservation controversies discussion. Our controversy is the Red Wolf Recovery Program, which is currently under review by the US Fish and Wildlife Program. Our discussion plans to approach the topic from a couple different stakeholder perspectives and ultimately try to answer whether we should continue or cancel the program.

I am also involved in a group project for my human-animal interactions course that will research elephant-human conflict and look at a couple ways to solve mitigate those conflicts.

In addition, I am continuing to work on my independent research project that started over the summer, which focuses on perceptual range in cliff chipmunks. I plan to present my research at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research & Creativity Symposium at the end of November!

Lastly, I was just given an awesome opportunity to start working with The Nature Conservancy (very exciting!!!) on a project that looks at how municipal governments talk about climate change. I'm super excited to get the opportunity to not only gain more research experience, but also get to expand my professional network.

With all that said, I'm super busy. But who isn't? I just take it one day at a time.

Wow, it's hard to believe I'm already a senior in college. My final year has come and I hit the ground running. In the first month of senior year, I've already had an exam, quizzes, group projects and more. I'm also interning with a nonprofit this semester called AniMall, which is a nonprofit retail store with a mission to save the lives of homeless animals.

I got a dog this year as well. It's been a long road and he's not perfect, but thanks to some help from the local German Shepherd Rescue, we've been able to make a lot of great changes.

I've also been involved in Roots and Shoots again this semester, which makes this my second year as Vice President. We recently got to go out with the Turtle Dogs - a couple Boykin Spaniels who find turtles to assist in research efforts.

The turtle dogs found five turtles in 2 hours. On average, one
person will spend 4 hours and find only one!

I also plan to present a research poster at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium using the side project I worked on over the summer.

Needless to say, senior year will be just as busy as ever, but it will be worth it. Stay tuned for more updates! :)

Photos taken by Jennifer Merems.

It is my last day in Arizona and I thought I would reflect upon my summer research experience.

I learned a lot about myself and what I want in a job after I graduate. I learned that field work is really difficult when you're doing it for ten days in a row. But I know that I want to work with wildlife and I don't see myself doing anything else (except maybe working with dogs) so it's important that I experienced this summer so that I can find a job that will suit me.

I really missed my family and my boyfriend. It was difficult being away from them for ten weeks.

I was able to mostly overcome my fear of port-o-potties (as long as it's daylight), which is quite an accomplishment.

I also learned a lot of technical skills, including small mammal trapping and handling, biangulation, orienteering, and how to use software for data analysis.

I was also able to work on an independent research project (though I only got about three days to work on it. Paperwork requirements for working with animals can be finnicky. Another thing I learned.)

Here's some pictures!

Marking a new capture with ear tags.

Sexing the chipmunk and checking the reproduction status.

Side project

Working on the side project.

Lots of data entry!

I would like to issue a huge thank you to the following people:

My parents, Tami and Neal, my sisters, Aly and Megan, and my boyfriend, Blane, for supporting me and always being there to listen to me when I needed it most.
My cousin Nishelle for helping me take risks and encouraging me to accept the research position in the first place.
Leigh Ann Walker, Maysen and Olenma Alvarez for their monetary support, which enabled me to buy groceries and pay for housing.
Paul, Katrina, and Jen Merems for so kindly allowing me to stay in their home for the majority of my time in Tucson and for being an amazing host family.
Jen, Pearl and Michael for being my friends
Allyssa Kilanowski for allowing me to be a part of her research and for mentoring me during my first ever independent research project.

My host family! Jen, Killer, Me, Paul, Foxy, Katrina, and Fatty.
Not pictured, Zena, because she and Fatty don't get along. :(

Zena!

And so as I would sign off of my radio at the end of a call, I will sign off of my summer research experience in Arizona. 58 Alpha clear.

Before this position, I always wondered what field researchers kept in their bags. I decided I would share with you guys what I’m usually carrying.

Map and compass
Field notebook
Pencil and sharpie
Flagging tape (for when we find a new nest)
Bait for trapping (Roasted, unsalted peanuts)
Trapping kit

Data sheets
Scale
Metal ear tags
Pliers to attach ear tags
Mesh bag for handling
Alcohol pads

Tissues and hand wipes
Neosporin and chapstick
A small container for trash
Hand sanitizer
Chewing gum
Poncho or rain jacket
Sunblock and bug spray
Water bottle
Radio

On some occasions, I also carry the following:

Radio telemetry antenna and receiver
Binoculars

Pictured from top left --> bottom right:
trapping kit, map and compass, field
notebook and compass, pencil and sharpie,
flagging tape

L-R: Hand wipes, hand sanitizer, tissues,
cooling towel, neosporin

This past session was mostly filled with telemetry. I needed up to 15 points for some of the chipmunks, so there were at least four different days where I was tasked with that. The good news is, after the first few rounds, I was able to devise an order and a system that allowed for a smooth flow from one animal to the next. Plus, I was taking points with a second person instead of doing it alone, which made it much easier.

I was also able to start the side project this session and do about four trial runs. These runs gave me an idea of what all I would need to do to conduct the tests, how I might need to tweak it, how long each test should take, etc.

Essentially, I will take a chipmunk and place it in a glass aquarium (an arena, if you will). The arena will be placed in an open field and one end will be closer to the neighboring forest than the other end. Once the chipmunk is inside the arena, I will video record its behavior in an attempt to determine whether the animal is able to detect the forest that is closer as within its perceptual range.

Here's a short clip of one of the trial runs. Originally we had down paper and ink

pads. When the animal crossed over the center, they would get inked. We could

then use the paper to discover which side had a higher percent coverage and

determine the chipmunk's perceptual range abilities that way. We decided just

to focus on the behavior through video.

The session was also filled with the usual morning observations (though not as many!), trapping and reproduction checks.

Gogo Squeez applesauce is perfect for
morning observations.

We drove up to Riggs Lake (although it's really more of a pond than a lake) for lunch one day. While it was small, I did enjoy the change of scenery.

One of the biggest things that happened this session was that a saw a bear! Yep! I saw an actual black bear. I was hiking up to close some traps and heard some loud cracking and snapping of branches. When I walked around to check it out, I saw a big 'ole bear butt. I quickly closed my traps and got out of there. In hindsight, that's not what I was supposed to do. For black bears, you're supposed to make noise (clap, sing, whatever) to indicate your presence so the bear doesn't suddenly notice you and get scared. But I got out of there without harm and that's what matters.

Next session is my last! I fly home in less than two weeks. :)

We have juvies! Since the research I am working on focuses on dispersal behavior, we need to trap juvenile chipmunks so we can 1) radio collar them to track their movements and 2) analyze their behavior to see where they fall on the spectrum of curiosity and aggression. This past session was my third trip on the mountain and we finally caught some juvies. Three, actually.

Juvies through the binoculars during my
morning observation.

We caught one! Here we have her in the bag
so we can process her - take her weight, gender,
tag her ears and put on a radio collar.

Here we are analyzing a juvenile's behavior.
We place the juveniles in the arena to the
left and watch through a webcam that is
hooked through the computer. For seven
minutes, we see if the juvie is interested in
the false bottom holes in the arena. This
measures their curiosity. For seven
additional minutes, we see if it is interested in
the mirrored wall of the arena, which measures
their aggression.

Since we have juvies to track, I also began radio telemetry this session, which is where I listen to their collar signal through a receiver and antenna from two different locations and pinpoint the whereabouts of the animal. I also spent this session searching for night nests, also using telemetry. This allows us to find where the radio collared nursing females are nesting at night, so we can observe for juvies the next morning.

Searching for night nests!

Some other fun things that happened this session:

One of the interns found this awesome

lizard. He is a Madrean Alligator lizard.

We found a mountain lion print!

And of course, a battle wound! I smacked my
leg on the branch of a log while trying to
step over said log.

I have also been working on the side project. We are hoping to start trial runs in the next couple sessions!

There are a couple different ways that my day can go while I’m on the mountain doing research. Below is a tentative schedule that gives you an idea.

Possibility One:

5:15 Wake up, eat breakfast, pack lunch

6:00-8:00 Nest observations

8:00-9:00 Set traps up (anywhere from 4-7 locations)

10:00-11:00 Check traps*

12:00-1:00 Check traps

2:00-3:00 Check traps

4:00-5:00 Check traps

6:00 Check and close traps

7:30 Return to camp (usually by foot), eat dinner, etc. etc.

8:00-9:00 Go to bed

While I have here that trap checks are an hour each, depending on how spread out the locations are and how far into the woods they are, the checks can take up to two hours. This means that, while I am expected to work 8 hours a day, sometimes, I’m working 10+.

Possibility Two:

7:30 Wake up, eat breakfast, pack lunch

8:00-9:00 Set traps

10:00-11:00 Check traps

12:00-1:00 Check traps

2:00-3:00 Check traps

4:00-5:00 Check and close traps

5:30-6:00 Return to camp, eat dinner, etc. etc..

7:15-8:30 Night nest checks using radio telemetry

9:00 Go to bed

As you can see, my days are pretty packed. I try to go to bed pretty early because more times than not, I am waking up at 5:30 AM….. Once the juveniles start to emerge, we will be doing more observations, including behavioral observations. I think I will also start working on the side project soon.

Morning observations! It's cold on the
mountain on the mornings!

As I type this, I am sitting in my boss's house. I flew back to Tucson this morning after a short trip home for my sister's high school graduation. It was so nice to see my family and my boyfriend. I hate that I was only there for three days. It felt so short.

Alas, I must get back to work. I got my first paycheck for one week of work and it was nice to see the hard work pay off.

I struggled during my first week on the mountain. I felt unprepared for all the work and was constantly exhausted. I didn't realize I would be up every morning at 5:30 AM. And while I realized that there would be hiking involved, I didn't realize how much and I certainly didn't consider that there would be less oxygen at 9,000+ feet elevation, making it harder to breathe.

We go back up on the mountain tomorrow. I am hoping my second session is more successful (and has less early mornings) than the first. That being said, I am still excited to be learning the techniques that I am learning and to be involved in hands-on research. It really is a great experience.

I have been reading up on scientific papers for the last several hours in order to decide how I want to approach the side project I will be working on. The project will be focusing on perceptual range, which is the distance from which an animal can perceive key landscape elements (Zollner and Lima 1997).

It looks like we will likely be trapping the chipmunks, dusting them with fluorescent powder and then tracking them with a UV light after displacing them into a new habitat. This will show us from which distance(s) the chipmunks can detect habitat.

Also, I've got some photos. Check out below.

As always, I will keep you all posted and updated. Thanks for all your warm wishes so far!

The community cabin.

The desk area with the computer that has
internet access.

Kitchen area in the community cabin.

Our two fridges. Left is electric and right is
propane.

The sitting area of the community cabin.

The bait shed (right) and trap shed (left) and
our bathrooms (AKA port-a-john's).

My cabin from the outside.

The view when you walk in my cabin.
My "room" is to the right around the corner.

My (roughly made) bed with Harvey.

My terribly messy bookshelf, which houses all
of my things. Since it was the end of the session, all
of my clothes had been worn and packed up to be
washed.

My toiletries hanging on the wall.

And lastly, a chipmunk selfie. :)

Allyssa and I went grocery shopping today to get all of our food for the mountain. Each person gets a shelf and a space in the fridge, but I still wanted to pack light when it came to the food. I also wanted to keep meals simple because simple tends to be cheaper. I was happy to find that food in Arizona is basically the same price as food in North Carolina. We did our shopping at a store called Fry's, which is wonder by the same company that owns Kroger (and apparently Harris Teeter as of recently). The bagger at the store was from Raleigh too, so it was nice meet someone from the same area.

All of our food, ready to prep.

Below is my grocery list:

Bananas
Tortillas
Carrots
Granola
Doritos
Velveeta Macaroni Cups
Granola Bars
Dr Pepper (gotta have my soda fix!)
Mayonaise
Yogurt
Chicken Breast Tenders
Herb Butter
Cream Cheese
Bread
Bagels
Cheese Sticks
Green beans
Peanut Butter

I brought the following items with me:

Knorr Pasta Sides
Tuna Packs
Luna Bars
Trail Mix

We also got the following fresh produce for a total of $10, which we then split between the two of us:

Small Watermelons
Spaghetti Squash
Yellow Squash
Oranges
Honeydew
Fonzy Melon
Red Bell Pepeprs
Tomatos

All in all, my groceries cost me about me about $58. Most of the food will last me for several sessions on the mountains. Check out my meal plan below!

Breakfast

Yogurt w/Granola
Bagel w/Cream Cheese and Banana
Peanut Butter Toast and Banana

Lunch

Entrees

Peanut Butter Sandwich
Turkey Sandwich
Cream Cheese and Turkey Wrap
Macaroni
Tuna (on crackers or sandwich)

Sides/Snacks

Cheese Stick
Granola
Trail Mix
Carrots
Fresh Fruit (Bananas, watermelon, honeydew, etc.)
Granola Bar

Dinner

Entrees

Chicken sautéed with Herb Butter
Chicken with peppers
Tuna
Spaghetti (with noodles made from the spaghetti squash and sauce made from the tomatoes)

Sides

Green Beans
Knorr Pasta Sides
Sautéed Squash

All in all, I am confident in my abilities to make the most out of the groceries I have.

Kalysha Clark

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