Las Cruces

The OTS whirlwind doesn't stop. We got yesterday morning off here at Las Cruces Biological Station, and it took me the whole morning to check my email and update my blog! The afternoon and evening were taken up with orientation hikes and lectures. Then I met with my last FLP group. This project is led by Greg Gilbert, a mycologist (fungus fellow) interested in disease dynamics in the tropics. Our project is asking whether plant species at higher densities also have higher leaf disease rates. We spent a couple of hours outlining the ideas and methods last night. This morning we collected leaves from 7:30 - 12:30 and then sorted and photographed them from 1:00 - 10:30 (with breaks for dinner and a lecture). I'm exhausted! Tomorrow we have to analyze all the photos -- measuring % leaf area diseased -- and then synthesize it all into 10 data points. 7 people working for 30 hours for 10 data points. Science is hard sometimes. If the answer is interesting, it will all be worth it. At the very least I'll have some new skills.

This place has an amazing number of birds, which I've been enjoying too, but no time to discuss it now -- in two days I should be able to wax poetic about papaya-munching motmots and the most beautiful tanagers the world has ever seen. I've already learned a few new plant families, too. Zingiberaceae is my favorite today.

Have I mentioned I'm considering becoming a chemical evolutionary ecologist? Last night I couldn't fall asleep, I was thinking about pollen biochemistry. What has happened to me?