Kalysha Clark: Experience

Showing posts with label Experience. Show all posts

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!

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

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!

As of July 25th, I finished my first ever internship. After 10 weeks of turtle tracking, raptor training, spiderwebs to the face, and mosquito bites, I am happy to have gained many relevant skills toward my career and to have expanded my professional network.

I'd like to give a huge shout out and thank-you to the following people, who donated their hard-earned money to help support me through my unpaid internship. Your contribution was truly appreciated and helped me greatly!

Evelyn Parker

Jason Hubert

Jill Nichols

Laurie Ard

The Biology Awards Committee at NCSU and the Harkema Fund

Check out some of the photos below from the internship.

Kellogg the Corn Snake and I.

Nessie, the Bearded Dragon.

Otus the Eastern Screech Owl. He was having a small
retreat inside the cabin while his blood feathers grew out.

An outreach event at the Nature Research Center.

Myself with Jade, the Greenish Rat Snake, at the
outreach event. The Greenish Rat Snake is a mix
between a Black Rat Snake found in the triad and the Yellow Rat Snake found on the coast.

Myself with Pigwidgeon, our newest Eastern
Screech Owl. As you can see, his is missing
his left eye, which was removed at the Blue
Ridge Wildlife Institute (part of Lees McRae college) after being hit by a car.

A large part of my internship was marking box
turtles and recording their information as part
of the Box Turtle Connection. To find out how to
become a citizen scientist and to help with the
Box Turtle Connection, click here. This turtle
is likely a female, because of its muted colors,
brown arms (versus yellow on males) and brown eyes
(versus red on males). Also, based on the number
of annuli (grooves in one scute), she is around 11 years old!

Overall, my internship was very rewarding and I'm very glad I was able to have such a great experience. I plan to continue raptor training so I can progress to the other Barred Owl Lily, our Red-Tailed Hawk Ivan and our Kestrel Artemis.

Since I want to work in conservation, it's important to realize that the biggest aspect of conservation is education! While on my trip to Asheville for my wildlife rehab workshop, I shared a hotel with a lady who is currently getting NCEE certified. She showed me the website and I decided it might be something worth doing! You have four years to complete the certification after paying the registration fee. I haven't paid yet, but I can count workshops from up to a year before I register.

There are five criteria:
I. Instructional Workshops (70 hours)
II. Outdoor Instructor-led Experiences (50 hours)
III. Knowledge of Environmental Education Resources and Facilities (30 hours)
IV. Teaching Experiences (30 hours)
V. Community Partnership Program (20 hours)

It is an extensive program, but I think it will be fun. The only down side is that I do not plan to live in NC after graduation, but I feel like the resources and knowledge I gain from the process will be very valuable and easily applied to wherever I go.

I will keep you updated!

I had the awesome opportunity to take part in a basic wildlife rehabilitation workshop over the course of two consecutive weekends. The workshop was packed with seminars, hands-on activities and guest speakers.

The workshop was held at the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville, NC.

We were given three reference guides and a kit with the essentials of rehabilitation, which included syringes, needles, feeding tubes and feeding nipples. (The second manual to the right is my own.)

We learned about enrichment and broke into groups to make different types of enrichment for the animals at the nature center. Here is one of the otters with his enrichment. Inside the floating ball is a treat that he has to reach inside to get.

My group did enrichment for the grey wolves. We took large paper bags, filled them with wool and stuffed a dead baby quail inside. This was a sensory enrichment.

Here is one of the wolves, happily taking off with his enrichment.

We practiced subcutaneous and intramuscular fluid injections on cadaver animals.

Here I am practicing on a dead baby Robin.

We got to listen to Animal Ambassadors from the center talk to us about their education animals.

Here is Art, the Barred Owl, another education animal.

We got to release a snapping turtle that had been rehabilitated.

Here is a baby snapping turtle.

Comparison to my hand.

Comparison to the turtle we released.

Snapping turtles can be pretty vicious. If you see here, her legs are pretty much exposed and her shell does not offer protection. This is why they are so "mean", as a way to protect themselves. Snapping turtles can reach all the way around to their back legs, so if you hold one, make sure you are behind the legs!

Learning about a variety of caging and restraint methods.

The workshop also covered topics such as:

Rabies Vector Animals

Toxic Plants

Specific Methods of Rehab for Squirrels, Opossums, Rabbits and Reptiles

Euthanasia

and many other wildlife rehab-related topics.

And in the end, I received:

Kalysha Clark

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