Today was the grad student's 'Big Day.' How many of you have seen 'The Big Year?' The Big Year was a great movie about these two bird enthusiasts that try to defeat the world record holder in year-long bird-spotting competition. So, for the graduate students, this was a really fun day for us to practice our field naturalist skills and go out in groups to identify as many plants, insects, mammals, and birds in the Grand Teton National Park. Our team, 'Most Recently From Wyoming' identified more than 80+ species from about 7:30am - 10:30am from Kelly Campus all the way to the Oxbow Bend Turnout. Here are some photos from our 'Big Day'.'
From this morning's self-reflection on identity, I wrote, "Who Am I: I am an artistic, nature-loving, dancer who is not ashamed of wearing patterned pants all the time. I consider myself an educator of the indoor and outdoor classroom that inspires young minds to enjoy the natural world. I can quote the entire Frozen musical soundtrack and movie and does not mind eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while hiking to the top of a mountain. That is Who I Am." But I also could not help but reminisce of Alter Ego 2012's Show, 'Who Am I' as well! #throwback
For four, fun-filled days, a portion of the graduate students went to Yellowstone National Park to front country camp and explore for one of our weeks in the Advanced Elements of Field Ecology Course Design class (AEFECD). This was a great opportunity to 1.) get out of the classroom and off Kelly Campus 2.) explore and gain a deeper understanding for this wonderful place we are living in (the GYE or the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) and the easy access we have to these places, and 3.) get ideas for where we can take our students during our Summer Teaching Capstone.
You Know It's Tourist Season When...
Everyone & Their Mom is Using an iPad to Record Old Faithful's Eruption!
During this trip, we were able to explore and share ideas and places with each other that would get our students and of course, ourselves super-hyped about the FIRST National Park! I know, for someone who loves Yellowstone, I completely forgot that Yellowstone was the first national park! Crazy! Of course, we visited Old Faithful in Upper Geyser Basin. She sure is faithful to her consisted eruptions from the cone geyser every 90 minutes give or take 10 minutes.
It was also interesting, to say the least, of what types of people that are attracted to these attractions and how people enjoy them. Sure, I am completely for documenting your adventures and highlights through cameras or video, but to see people constantly on their iPhone or iPAD, recording...and not even looking up away from the screen to embrace what is LIVE and right in front of you is...kinda scary. Not going to lie. It just makes me wonder how times have changed and how our society views or portrays different ways of embracing life with not just open arms, but a iPhone screen. Weird.
Looking back, I can say (maybe with embarrassment?) I definitely used to be like that and would get made fun or ridiculed by others for constantly recording my life away through photos on my iPhone. By being here in this place, I have definitely seen the light, and have learned, some memories should be embraced in the moment, and some can be taken and recorded for reminiscing (in moderation, of course).
Anyways, soapbox over. I did record moments from our adventure and here are some photos taken through the four-day adventure through good 'ol YNP!
Old Faithful! Always a great sight to see this geyser go off!
I do not think I could ever get tired of it!
Something incredibly spectacular that we got to experience was Bee Hive Geyser. Bee Hive Geyser, also located in Upper Geyser Basin with Old Faithful, is a 4-foot geyser that sticks up from the silicious ground resembling a beehive. The really interesting fact about this geyser, is that it will erupt on an inconsistent sequence: from remaining dormant for a few years to erupting every 10-20 hours. The one great feature that Beehive Geyser has is an small, indicator that looks like a small, jagged cone-type geyser several feet from Beehive, itself. When the indicator starts spewing water, we know that Beehive will erupt soon after. The eruption will last for 5-long, awesome minutes and the eruptions are expelled more than 200-feet in the air! It was so cool!
Special Feature That Day: Bee Hive Geyser!!!
It Rarely Goes Off!
& Enjoy the Video Below!
The next stop after Upper Geyser Basin was Midway Geyser Basin. This, I believe is my most favorite place in the park, besides Mud Volcano Area. Though small, this basin has two of my favorite geothermal features: Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring.
Excelsior Geyser
Excelsior Geyser pours more than 4,000 gallons of water per minute into the Firehole River. During the 19th century, it was an active geyser that frequently erupted with eruptions that flew 100-300 feet into the air. Scientists state that those eruptions were so powerful that it damaged the internal plumbing system of the geyser, so to this day will only boil as a productive hot spring. But then in 1985, it became active away and for only 46-hours in September for several days, producing only 30-foot eruptions. Currently, Excelsior will boil to 5-10 feet high for only a few seconds. Even though the activity is not an extravagant anymore, this geyser is so fascinating in that they too, like humans, go through a life cycle.
Note I do not have a Grand Prismatic photo: trying to get a photo of this magnificent hot spring is incredibly difficult when you are in the actual basin, due to lots of steam. Plus it was really rainy and cloudy when we visited. One day: it will happen!
Turquoise Pool
For night one, we stayed at the Madison Campground. This campground was nice, lots of forested campgrounds.
The next day, we stopped at Gibbon Falls - this place was awesome! It is right on the cusp of the Yellowstone Caldera Boundary! Did you know that Yellowstone is above a hotspot?! A hotspot similar to ones we see over Hawaii, but over lots of land and continental crust. A caldera is a volcanic feature formed by the collapse of a volcano into itself, creating a large special form of a volcanic crater. A caldera collapse is triggered by the emptying of the magma chamber beneath the volcano, as a result of a large, volcanic eruption.
The hotspot has been followed through previous calderas in geologic history of the Wyoming-Idaho region. As the plate moves over the hotspot, the super-volcano that lies beneath slowly builds up heat and pressure until a huge eruption occurs to release that pressure build up. Following the calderas that result from the large eruptions are seen my researchers to be traveling in the same direction as the plate movement - southwest. Most recent found in the Yellowstone area, following the souther border in an arc through Idaho and extending west of Idaho. These previous calderas have been dated to be more than 15.1 Million Years Old. Woah!!!
Gibbon Falls - Yellowstone Caldera Bounday
Next stop - more geothermal features at Norris Geyser Basin. Although, the rain and SNOW, did not stop, it was really awesome to see this part of the park in not ideal summer weather. Learning more about the differences in geysers, hot springs, steam vents, and mud pots was really cool. And seeing what you were learning was great!
Norris Geyser Basin
Snowy Day at the Geothermal Features at Norris Geyser Basin
Steamboat Geyser
Steamboat Geyser was really interesting to learn about: it is the world's tallest currently-active geyser, having eruptions fly more than 300-feet into the air. Eruptions will last from 3-40 minutes that have powerful jets of steam expelling from the geyser, however, these eruptions are very erratic and unpredictable. The last eruption was on July 31, 2013 and the previous 9 current eruptions are incredbly sporadic from one in 2005, several in 2003, two in 2002, and one in 2000 and 1991. So random. The other really cool characteristic about Steamboat Geyser is that Cistern Spring, located near the geyser is part of its internal plumbing. The spring will completely drain during a major eruption of Steamboat and will take several days to refill.
The Entrance to Yellowstone National Park from Gardener, Montana.
Later that day, we traveled out of the park to Gardener, Montana to visit the Heritage & Research Center.
Hitching Post
Wednesday was an incredibly long day for all of us. This included waking up at 5:30 am MST and hitting the road in search of something amazing - wolves. Although our early efforts, did not land us a successful morning of seeing the wolves. We were greeted by Rick McIntrye, a biological technician, that has been very invested and a part of the Yellowstone Wolf Project and Reintroduction. Let me tell you, this man is beyond words: knowledgeable about wolves in general, knowledgeable about the reintroduction, and incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the wolves of Yellowstone. Such an excellent storyteller too! So if you ever go to Yellowstone, be on the look out for him and get him to tell you the history of the wolves of Yellowstone. He will blow your mind!
Understanding the Family History of the Wolves of Yellowstone From Rick's 'True Life' Story
Grizzly Bear On Our Way to Rose Creek Pen
The faculty decided to take us on a great hike to Rose Creek Pen - one of the holding pens for the wolves before they are released into the park. It was a really moving experience to be in a pen where wolves would roam with their pups before heading into the park. It also had an eery feel to it - similar to that eeriness that you get from watching the people explore in Jurassic Park...definitely felt as if a T-rex or Velociraptor would pop up somewhere while we were in the pen. Enjoy some of the photos of the pen & the geology:
Full Elk Skull and Rack on Our Way to Rose Creek Pen
I wanted to keep it!
Don't worry, I didn't!
Straight Silica!
Felsic Pluton!
After Rose Creek Pen and Lunch, we traveled to Specimen Ridge in the Lamar Valley and were given a special treat. A visit to a wolf den! It was such an experience! Not to mention seeing the living and eating quarters for the wolves. Very cool!
Wolf Den Near Specimen Ridge
Remnants From a Dining Area of the Wolf Den
That night, we traveled back to Hitching Post to make dinner. As many of us were getting dinner ready, Aaron, one of our faculty went alongside the river to set up scopes and check out the lay of the land. Before dinner was even done, he came running back in a frantic and excited manner - he spotted two of the wolves that Rick McIntrye was telling us about in the story. Grabbing our binoculars, we went to the scopes and low and behold, Male #925 Great Gray and Female Partner #926 Big Black were feasting on an elk carcass that they had hunted the day before.
Great Gray, Male #925
You Can Barely See Her...But Big Black is There
Female #925
Our final morning, it was a visit to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This was incredibly beautiful. Talking about Thomas Moran, a phenomenal artist who was the first artist to capture and paint Yellowstone's features, before the area even became a park (1871-ish).
The Gran Canyon of Yellowstone
Jellystone Grad Group!
Clearly, this trip was awesome! A wide variety of geology, history, wildlife, and adventure. Yellowstone will forever and always be my favorite national park...so much to explore myself, but so excited to share what I have already seen and what lies ahead with this park with students this summer!
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone!
Look Mom!!
Yellowstone will always be my favorite national park!
Wednesday and Thursday of this week was dedicated to the topic of Birds. I was pretty excited for this one because I never really took bird into a focus or an interest. Sure, I would go bird watching with binoculars and watch them fly or perch somewhere, but this week, was pretty different. Maybe because 1.) I had a new awesome pair of efficient binoculars I got for Christmas from Mom and Dad 2.) I had a pretty nifty field guide book to help me narrow down the birds to identify, and 3.) had a really patient guide with us to answer lots of questions.
Perfect Silhouette Outline of the Tetons
On Thursday, we went birding to the Kelly Warm Springs and near the Gros Ventre Jumping Rock! Let me just say I saw my first Golden Eagle at the Kelly Warm Springs!! And....it was being mobbed by a Red-Tailed Hawk! It was so cool! The adult Golden Eagle we saw was really big, I mean it appeared bigger than the Red-Tail! And its golden nape was pretty visible by binoculars too that helped give it the Golden Eagle name. Also while we were at the Jumping Rock, we spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle! Our guide, Kurt Johnson, stated the way to tell the different between a Juvenile Bald Eagle and a Juvenile Golden Eagle is the white patterns or shapes on its underside.
The Juvenile Golden Eagle will have two distinct white patches on the wing linings where as the Juvenile Bald Eagle will have white spots sort of all over the underside (like someone through paint on it and is just speckled everywhere). And after our discovery and identification, the eagle juvenile was more random with multiple white patches and led us to identify it as a Juvenile Bald Eagle! Super cool and another first!
A Sun Dog! Halo Around the Sun
While birding we saw a Sun Dog! Sun dogs are atmospheric phenomenons that create bright spots of light in the sky, and most often a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun. We did not see spots, but there was an awesome halo! Sun dogs will appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun and can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Pretty cool!
One of My Species Accounts: The American Dipper
The Only Swimming Songbird
Well, can you believe it...let me just say that I have about 4 more months left with the Teton Science Schools Graduate Program. I know, crazy. And with that announcement, the graduates have started our last class - Advanced Elements of Field Ecology Course Design. Besides having three more weeks of a spring teaching practicum, this 5-week course is pretty awesome. It includes three weeks of field ecology (including a week of backpacking/camping in Yellowstone) and two weeks that focus on course design and curriculum.
Last week, we finished one of the two weeks that encompass Course Design and Leadership. This week we are getting more into the natural history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. With this part, one of our big assignments is to keep a Field Journal that includes all of our field notes, journal entries, and field sketches. Yes, sketches! So I guess you know what that means for TheChristyBel...I get to show off and include my drawings. I bet you can tell I am super excited about this assignment. I get to draw!! yay!
Also, I am really thankful that I took the Delaware Nature Society's Naturalist Certification Course. It really helped prep me on how to write field journal entries and keep really good notes on my observations.
Learning How to Identify & Prepare Insect Collections
Monday and Tuesday we learned about Insects. I did not know there were that many orders for insects. Very cool. I think my favorite order were the Orthoptera or the Katydids, Crickets, and Mantids. I just think it is really fascinating they can make sounds and music with the rubbing of their legs. From clicks to songs each species of the Orthoptera order has a different 'voice.'
Sneak Preview of a Few Pages of My Field Journal
On Tuesday, we got to go out into the field and go more in depth with Stream Ecology with the Wyoming Stream Team Kits and Faculty. This session went beyond the water quality testing that we had done and taught in the fall. This session included exploration of the biodiversity of the streams by examining the macroinvertebrates or insect aquatic larvae in a stream.
Biggest Crane Fly Larva Ever!
This was really fun to do, plus it was a beautiful day to be outside instead of in the classroom. Macroinvertebrates that are found in the water will consist of snails, leeches, worms, and insect larvae. Many of the adult insects you may know. Bet you did not know that some insects will spend part of their life cycle in the water?!? Mind blown, I know! Dragonflies, Stoneflies, Caddisflies, Mayflies, Crane Flies, and the list goes on to name a few.
Stoneflies and Mayflies can be difficult to identify when they both have 2 tails.
Normally Mayflies will have 3 Tails and Stoneflies have 2 tails....but....
Mayflies Have 'Hairy Butts' - Their Gills Are On Their Abdomens
Stoneflies Have 'Hairy Armpits' - Gills At Their Armpits!
Pretty thankful I also taught a whole bunch of Stream Ecology programs with the Delaware Nature Society and many Stream Explorations with Teton Science Schools Outreach Program in the Fall. So examining macros was pretty easy, comfortable, and a great review.
So Form of Borer Found in the Lab's Insect Collection Under the Microscope
Photo Credit To Jordan Robinson, Fellow Teton Science Schools Graduate Student
Not only did we find a whole bunch of macros in the stream that we explored in town, but Joe and Charlie brought their rods and caught a really cool fish, a Sculpin! Never saw one of those before. It had spines on its pectoral fins and dorsal fins! So crazy! Of course I had to take a photo of one!
You’ll always remember your ‘firsts:’ your first day
of school, a crush, a bad grade, a kiss, maybe ever, your first teacher.For me, Miss Jane, my first dance
teacher.As a little girl, I’d eagerly
wait for the school bell to ring, change into my black leotard and pink tights,
and anxiously wait until we arrived in front of the dance studio.
My mom and I would sneak peaks to watch the older
girls in the pointe class finish to until it was my turn at the barre.After slipping on ballet shoes and making sure
my hair was pushed back, Miss Jane would greet me as she opened the door to let
my class in.She would hug you with kind
eyes and an excited voice asking, ‘Are we ready to have fun today?’Of course your answer was yes.
As much as I loved to spin and twirl myself around on
those hardwood floors, Miss Jane was the main reason I was there.She was beyond compassionate about her
dancers, passionate about dance, and obviously beautiful to watch.Clearly anyone could see why her little ballerinas
loved coming to class: not from the catchy music, but in the comforts of her
voice and the smiles that always ended each instruction she gave.She had deep connections with each of her
students and dedicated so much care, support, and detail to making sure your
feet were always pointed, head held up high, and you landed gracefully after
every jump.Her mantra that each dancer
deserves personal support, opportunities to succeed and learn, and realistic
experiences showed that she truly loved her job and her students.It was exceptionally obvious she always
wanted her students to succeed, but wanted you to want it for yourself first.
I trusted every piece of wisdom and instruction that
Miss Jane shared with me, whether I liked it or not.She would challenge you by testing your
flexibility, strength, and emotion in your routines, as well as testing your
determination and presence in shows based on leads or back up dancer
roles.She was fair to all her dancers,
even if that meant not being equal.But
that’s how you learned from her, how you grew.She taught us the dancing world was not always fun and easy, but hard
and challenging.You learned that if you
really wanted something, you would have to fight for it.But she made the studio a safe zone where you
would feel heard, apart of something bigger, and most of all loved.
As I got older, moved to different dancing companies
and teachers, Miss Jane’s instructions, caring voice, and lessons still flowed
deep within my dancing soul.I can hear
her words of wisdom get carried out when I teach my own students, whether it is
in dance or other areas of life and school.
I believe that my first impressions of Miss Jane and
how she ran her studio is a way that most teachers should view themselves to
their students: as a role model.Miss
Jane, being one of my first teachers, helped shape who I am today, not only as
an individual but a role model for my own students.Her mantras on making sure you follow your
passions, you are fair, having a realistic approach, and that each student
should feel heard, accepted, and loved are crucial components to a student’s
learning.Her ways of carrying her
‘classroom’ was a first for me on how I should carry myself and my
classroom.And who knows, maybe one day
I could be someone’s first as well.
