Here's an example of our schedule-

7:30:  We meet for Breakfast in the dining hall. It's very cute and the food is great!


Those are models of honeypot ants! They eat a lot of nectar then hang around in the nest (literally!) and feed the other ants.
8:30:  We meet in the lab to go over our plan.


Out into the field!

We collect the caterpillars by holding these "beat sheets" under the plant and whack the branch. The caterpillars fall on to the sheet and we put them in a cup and label them. They go back to the lab.

12:30:  Back for lunch. Some days we brought bagged lunch.

   

Then back to the lab to enter all the caterpillars into a spreadsheet. They each get a number. Then we photograph them. Would be easy if they would just stand still :) 

Supper at six. In the evening there are presentations by the scientists about ecology topics such as caterpillars and their role in the food webs. So many other organisms depend on them for food!

I gave a presentation on ecology to students outdoors in the schoolyard. 

Bed around ten! We sleep in dorm like cabins like Nature's Classroom :)

  

Southwest Research Station

We are now in the Chiracahua Mountains way down in Southeastern Arizona. We are at the Southwest Research Station. Again we are hunting caterpillars but are seeing a lot of amazing things! 



We have been looking for caterpillars on the plants and trees and taking them back to the lab. It is important to document what kind of plant they are on and where you find them.
We have seen a couple of roadrunners, deer, and today a big rattlesnake!! A little scary but you just have to be alert and careful. I was about four feet away when it started to rattle so I had plenty of space to get a good look.


There was a big forest fire here in 2010. The forest will probably change because climate change has made winter a bit warmer so other trees will move in. This will affect what kinds of animals and insects live here. The forest will come back but it will be different.