In case last week’s Field Notes left you wanting more, researcher Alexander Vining provides some “supplementary material” about what it is like to migrate amid a pandemic.
Category: Field Notes
Field Notes: Research in the time of COVID-19
COVID19 has been a tough pill to swallow for everyone, from teachers, to parents, to everyday employees. The global pandemic has caused unprecedented impacts not only on the workforce and economy, but everyday life as well. Academic research has both suffered and flourished in new and surprising ways under the heel of COVID19. Last month, as we were all adapting to stay-at-home orders, we highlighted some of our animal behavior researchers’ pandemic version of “the field.” For this month’s field notes, we are checking in with them to find out just how the pandemic has impacted their research for worse, or for better.
Field Notes: Leaping Through the Year with Lemurs
Seasonal changes in the rainforest? ABGGer Meredith Lutz recounts the seasonal shifts during her latest 8 month stint in Madagascar.
Field Notes: The Inconvenient Truth (about field work)
Hello Ethogrammers! Maggie and Karli here, your editors who work behind the scenes with all the wonderful Field Notes writers each month. For many of us, field seasons are fast approaching, and while Field Notes gives you the glamorous, adventurous parts of our contributors’ science adventures, there is a lesser-known but equally important part of…
Field Notes: Listening to Whales.
NOAA researcher and marine mammal acoustician, Arial Brewer, shares her fascination with animal communication and love of the sea!
Field Notes: Jungle Prozac
Jungle Prozac, my mom calls it. A potent drug, elements unknown. Possible components include the slurry of plant-produced volatile compounds infusing the air, the pleasing fractal dimensions of so many trees, adventure-induced hormone cascades, frequent exercise, a vegetative buffer from the anxieties of society, and a palm-framed view of Lake Gatun, Panama. Whatever its true…
Field Notes: PhD Research or Arts-n-Crafts Hour… Why Not Both?
When you’re in the business of making nearly a thousand clay caterpillars by hand, there are a few must-have investments: Spotify premium (for hours’ worth of podcasts), ludicrous amounts of alcohol wipes (to scrub your stubbornly ink-dyed hands), more Copic marker refills than you think you would ever need (so you don’t have to drive…
Field Notes: Breaking up (with your study species) is hard to do!
They say you never forget your first love, and I know that to be true…for birds. If you’re a regular reader of the Ethogram, you know that we put our hearts and souls into our study species. I’m often asked “Why that bird?” and while it’s easy to respond “Because they’re awesome!” there are actually…
Field Notes: There is something in the water.
Splish-splashing for science? Researcher Amelia Munson shows the benefits of working in a different type of “field” environment!
Field Notes: Singing Titi Monkeys
A typical morning of titi monkey vocalization recording starts off with a 4:30 AM alarm. I roll out of bed, start coffee, and am out in the door in under ten minutes. The 20-minute drive goes by quickly as I mechanically drink my coffee. As I gather my recorder, microphone, and camera, interns begin to show…
