Today was our 3 pm meetup at Jackson Hole airport, which is actually within Grand Teton National Park. So far, I can say it's going to be a good group. Five are volunteers sponsored by UBS, and five are ordinary folks from all over the country. One man mentioned that it was his 19th Earthwatch expedition! Another is an amateur birder who keeps a "life list" of all the birds he's ever identified. More on the team as we go along, I promise.
We bumped our way down an unpaved road in the Teton Science school van to our lodging, set in a small valley between two hills covered in sage. Four words to describe it: high class. Low maintainence.
Built 5 years ago, each building is passive-solar and environmentally friendly. Our rooms are shared, with a bathroom and shower. Everything is clean, bright and neat as a pin--not like the spidery, mildewy camps of my youth. My roommate, Laura, is an amiable research scientist from Baltimore on her holidays.
After we arrived, we were admonished to drink more water. Apparently, getting dehydrated is a common tourist mistake here at 6000 feet. I gulped it down. We moved on to a tour, found the dining hall, and had an informal skills assessment (who can use GPS? Two-way-radio? Excel?) I'm proud to say the UBS volunteers had the Excel skills covered.
We bumped our way down an unpaved road in the Teton Science school van to our lodging, set in a small valley between two hills covered in sage. Four words to describe it: high class. Low maintainence.
Built 5 years ago, each building is passive-solar and environmentally friendly. Our rooms are shared, with a bathroom and shower. Everything is clean, bright and neat as a pin--not like the spidery, mildewy camps of my youth. My roommate, Laura, is an amiable research scientist from Baltimore on her holidays.
After we arrived, we were admonished to drink more water. Apparently, getting dehydrated is a common tourist mistake here at 6000 feet. I gulped it down. We moved on to a tour, found the dining hall, and had an informal skills assessment (who can use GPS? Two-way-radio? Excel?) I'm proud to say the UBS volunteers had the Excel skills covered.
Then, we were each issued binoculars and assigned daily tasks. Guess who has slop hound duty at dinner tomorrow?
Tonight, my duties are to read through the protocol information we were given today, covering the finer points of searching for nests and recording the data when we find them. (Tip: Use all your senses!)
Tomorrow is Skills Day. Basics of birding, species identification, and using satellite photos to identify terrain.
I can't remember the last time I went to bed this early on a Saturday night, but I'm not complaining.
1 comment:
I am thoroughly trained in all forms of GPS (Trimble PRO-XR, Trimble Geo Explorer, etc.); GIS (ArcMAP; ArcGIS) and have extensive two way radio experience (ReCal and King -- both digital and analog). So, you can pass on that there is one UBS employee down with it.
That is why I could not figure out the application when people referred to GPS and GIS here at UBS.
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