MONDAY FUNDAY (REALLLLYYY!!)

TODAY. WAS. AWESOME.

Jake and I shadowed Tommy, a masters student working in Laupahoehoe Park which is about 45 minutes north of Hilo along the coast. It’s heavily invaded by Strawberry Guava (SG) at low elevations, but becomes progressively more and more dominated by native species as the altitude increases. The hike itself was BRUTAL – huge mudpits in the trail and incredibly dense SG on either side so we couldn’t avoid getting our shoes and calves covered in mud. I definitely sunk in to my knee level a couple times, and slipped on my hands/butt as well. It was quite a hike to say the least.

We stopped periodically to find pre-marked plots and add litterfall traps and “collars,” which are 8” PBC pipe segments that are nailed into the ground to collect rain and litter and provide more information. That part was always an adventure since our GPS wasn’t working and we had to rely on trail signs and our intuition to find them. Luckily, we found all by 3 of the plots and got everything done a little early!!

The reason that the experience was so fun was in large part because two of Tommy’s college friends from Oklahoma were on vacation visiting him and came along for the field work (see photo of them carrying a ton of gear. HAHAAA!!). It was HILARIOUS watching the three of them talk – they’re all about 23, 24 years old, still definitely college guys, and all super clever about making fun of each other. They were building off one another the whole day and I don’t think I ever really stopped laughing. Also, Tiffany, they all did crew at some point (*wink*) haha it just made me think of you!! I will admit, they were all pretty cute. It was reeeeeal nice. And the view coming downhill was amazing! The uphill was hellish and reminded me that I’m really not in great shape – but it was worth it for the fun and for the view as we left Laupahoehoe.

After we got back to the car, we realized we were running early (since when does that ever happen??) so we stopped by a waterfall off the road on the way back. We didn’t realize it would be an epic hike to get there – we had to use ropes to lower ourselves down, and then haul ourselves back up an almost vertical river bank. There were also TONS of mosquitoes!

BUT THE WATERFALL WAS SO WORTH IT. The water was the perfect temperature, and the view was gorgeous. I was hesitant to get in because I hate swimming when I can’t see the bottom, but the guys convinced me and I ended up swimming all the way to the waterfall, swimming under it, and then climbing on the rock behind it to look out. It was phenomenal, and SO exhilarating. We dove through the back of the waterfall back out towards where we had started. I’m so proud of myself for getting in the water, and I’m so glad that I did it because it was GREAT. SO GREAT.

We also searched for some shaved ice on the way back – apparently there’s a great place hidden in downtown Hilo where they put ice cream into the shaved ice and it’s delicious. Unfortunately, all the shaved ice places were closed. Apparently 5:30 PM on a Monday night isn’t a hopping time to get shaved ice for normal people, but it was kinda a bummer.

Jake and I are planning to go to the Mauna Kea Astronomical Observatory with Tommy, Chris, and Ronny tonight to see the stars, so I’m hoping that actually happens and we can see the sights! I’ve wanted to go up there since I got here, and Tommy said that a lot of his friends are leaving town so he’d be happy for Jake and I to hang out with him when we’re free.

Basically, today was everything I hoped for and more! Great people, cool research experiences, lots of bruises and scrapes (seriously I look like I’ve been slashed by a crazed whomping willow), waterfalls, hopefully some stars too, and a local to show us the sights later on. YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Oh, and my camera appears to be working again!! Let’s hope it lasts!!!

P.S. My ears are unplugged =)

Sunday Funday! Kinda...

Today Tad and I went to Richardson State Park, which has the best snorkeling around Hilo. The water was really nice and warm and the coral was beautiful, although the water wasn’t super clear. It was sunny and hot and an all-around great day for being at the beach, and there were tons of fish swimming around.

I took my camera into the water to take some sweet coral shots… and the fun ended there. Apparently “waterproof” doesn’t mean that it is actually waterproof, since my camera fizzled and is now refusing to function. GARRRR!! For those of you mostly look at the photos in this blog, I hate to disappoint but there were be a significant decrease in (or complete lack of) photos posted! It’s really frustrating – I bought the camera because I knew that I’d be snorkeling, hiking in the rain, etc… and it’s supposed to be absolutely waterproof up to 10 feet and shockproof up to five. Given that I was floating right at the surface of the water, the camera should have been working just fine. *sigh* So now I have to deal with shipping it to CA to get it replaced, having it sent back, etc… and packages can take forever to get to and from Hawaii so we’ll see how this process goes. Major frustration! I took all the component pieces out of the camera and am letting it dry a bit more – maybe, just maybe, it will recover overnight! The odds are slim but I haven’t given up all hope just yet. Even though I realize that if it isn’t fixed by now, it probably won’t be by tomorrow. *sigh again*

I’ve also discovered that I tend to get water stuck in my ears, which is an odd sensation when it lasts for a long time. Using an alcohol astringent doesn’t seem to be working, so again I’m hoping that tomorrow morning I’ll wake up and magically regain hearing in both ears! Hey, it could happen. And hopefully it will because it’s starting to give me a headache!!

In other news, I saw a gecko chilling on my window screen! The light attracts lots of moths to my screen, and the gecko was walking around eating them. It was pretty awesome, and I tried to get a photo but – oh wait, that’s right, my camera isn’t working! So you’ll have to imagine it. It was SO COOL!!!

Tomorrow we’ll be shadowing another project that’s working on the invasive species Strawberry Guava. Should be exciting!

Kona!

Last night we ended up going to a great Thai restaurant, and the eggplant stir-fry was AMAZING. It was a great meal! I introduced Eric to the movie Stardust, which Jake had already seen (and liked) and Tad wasn’t interested in watching. I forgot how much I like that movie!

Today Jake and I went to Kona with Devin and his girlfriend Christina. It was SO GREAT! The drive takes about 2 hours and we went to Hapuna Beach, which is apparently the best one on the island for waves, and we just splashed around and body surfed for about 4 hours. Everyone got pretty sunburned, especially Jake, but I’m just pink in the face and shoulders (per usual). I took my camera out into the waves to see how it works. It survived with no problems and I can’t wait to take it snorkeling in Hilo where there are less waves and better fish/coral life. Woot!

We could see Maui from the beach – apparently Devin and Christina have only seen it twice from Hawaii because it’s usually too cloudy, so that was really cool (see photo, you may have to enlarge to see Maui in the left portion). The water was so warm that I actually had to get out to cool off after I’d been treading water for awhile. It’s quite a change from California beaches! And it was really windy so the waves shot back out towards the ocean after they broke (see photo below). I tried to capture it on my camera, with limited success, but it was just gorgeous.

We also went to Costco afterwards because there’s one in Kona, and I stocked up on some necessities: a beach towel, Famous Amos cookies, peanut butter, and Babybell cheese. All important for fieldwork lunches, and for being in Hawaii. For dinner, I had a frozen lasagna and I’ve now decided that lasagna is always delicious. If the $1.25 frozen lasagna is both tasty and filling, then it really can’t be screwed up. I also stir-fried some bak choy and am feeling good to go. After putting on some lotion, I think that today was very successful and I am sosososo happy that Devin and Christina let Jake and I tag along! People here are SO nice and giving. It’s really extraordinary and I know I’m so lucky to be here in the first place that it seems unreal how everyone is also so nice. I love the beach!

Tomorrow, we may check out the snorkeling beach in Hilo. Maybe not – Jake was pretty red and he might not be up for it. But if the weather is still clear then I really want to get out there! So more updates later.

Oh Rats!

Today was a bit rainy, which we’re learning to accept might be the norm this summer even in the kipuka. We had quite the entourage because Aaron, a rat researcher, came out with us to talk about how rats might affect our research. There was a lot more discussion of ongoing, past, and future rat research than I ever expected to hear about or even knew existed. Go figure, they're kind of a big deal here! Eric also came because the graduate student he works for is currently drafting a NSF (National Science Foundation) grant proposal and so he didn’t have any supervision for work to do at Volcanoes. We put in a bunch more litterfall traps and saw some gorgeous ferns, per usual, which look so prehistoric when they’re dripping wet and lush and green!

I also saw a creepy root exposed – it looks like skin, muscle, and then bone! But it’s not, it’s just a root!! CREEEEEPPPPYYYYYY!!!!


So Eric is staying at our apartment tonight since it’s quite a bus ride back to Volcanoes and he was planning on coming back to Hilo tomorrow anyways! Yay for couches. We might all go see a movie, I’m backing Transformer’s II, and possibly try some restaurant around town. We’ve all been cooking since we got here so it might be nice to get out and see what Hilo has to offer for food options. Yummy yummy! And Tad is coming, meaning we'll have a ride. Things are looking promising!

The conference yesterday was even better than the first day!! Just like yesterday, we started off the morning with some delicious donut-like pastries. I'm not sure what kind of food they are, but they're super sugary and filled with raisins. There were also some without raisins, which were a bit lighter (relatively speaking, anyways) and still sugary and delicious.

The morning session was dedicated to group meetings, so we broke up by interest and I joined the Ecohydroloy/Paleogeochemistry group. A lot of the people in the group were discussing a specific project that’s testing core samples in a cloud forest (aka a forest located in the cloud layer) to see how climate change is recorded in plant pollination. I didn’t really understand the technicalities – a lot of the discussion was about which solutions could get rid of suspended sediment that was interfering with the desired leaf samples and the project was pretty esoteric. But I was sitting next to a man from University of Hawaii at Manoa who is both an oceanographer and a geologist! That’s like my life goal!! So we talked a bit about what oceanographers do, and I may pursue biological oceanography. This is technically different from Marine Biology because it’s more focused on microorganisms and the physical dynamics of the ocean affecting populations rather than just population relationships. But in real life, they're the same thing. I love oceans!

I also saw an amazing talk about work being done in the southwest pacific to look at mangrove contributions to carbon sequestration. Apparently on some islands, mangroves that account for only 10% of the coast can contain 30% or more of the island’s carbon. This means that degrading or removing mangroves can release a hugely disproportionate amount of carbon into local and world systems. So when I get to Australia and have to do a research project, I may work on the mangroves and see what their carbon content is, both in the wood itself by looking at density cores and then by checking layers of the surrounding soils. So I gained a research project idea and a longer-term idea of what I can do with my life! A job well done, I would say.

We went to Peter Vitousek’s house after the conference for a small-ish dinner. He lives in Volcano Village, which is right by Kilauea and Volcanoes National Park, and his house is BEAUTIFUL. It’s also a LOT colder there because of the elevation and because it’s near the dry side of island so the cloud cover isn’t as insulating. The drive is maybe 45 minutes from Hilo and it was torrentially raining on the way there but it was beautiful once we arrived. The food was great – Peter’s wife, Pam Matson, is the Dean of the Earth Systems department and she’s quite a lady. I mentioned that I really liked her potato soup and her response was, “Yes, it’s great, isn’t it? I first tried when I had a terrible hangover. It totally works!” HAHAAAA that’s awesome!! So she gave me the recipe, of course, because I'm a college student and who doesn't want a hangover cure? Everyone was super nice and I met more graduate students and researchers who are friends with Peter and Pam.

After dinner we drove to Kilauea crater to see it glowing because the hot rock/lava is only visible at night. We couldn’t see any directly flowing lava from our vantage point, but there was clearly a lot of hot rock going on and steam vents all along the road to the crater. SO COOL!

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Today there was a gorgeous rainbow awaiting us when we awoke!! And above it was a much more faded one. Both were beautiful and it was a good omen; we went into the field and finished rigging 6 trees and setting up 2 edge plots by 1 PM!! That's definitely record-speed and we were prepared for rain today so it was a very comfortable experience overall. I had some sweet rain pants so I didn’t even notice the mist (see photo. Please. I looked like a crazy kind of candy). I also found out Hilo is the rainiest city in the US. Yeah, I could have guessed that after being here for a couple weeks.

We also finished making litterfall traps and now I’m at home, full of fried rice and peanut butter M&Ms, watching the rain fall!

Hawaii Ecosystem Conference, Day 1

Today we listened to 43 talks in 6 hours. That’s a lot of talks, and a lot of sitting listening to talks. But they were AMAZING!! The research being done around the Hawaiian islands is absolutely fascinating and covers pretty much every ecological niche imaginable. It’s crazy seeing so many of the concepts from Earth Systems and Human Biology being applied in the field – things like the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were very theoretical when I learned about them in class, but researchers are using that to measure photosynthetic properties of regenerating native ecosystems. It’s been a really good experience to see all the options available for research, and a lot of the phD students who presented had really creative and inventive experimental designs. This is giving me fodder for any potential honors thesis or masters work! Yay!

I met several other Stanford students who are working on the island – Eric is working under Peter Vitousek in Volcano village, which is about 30 miles south of Hilo in Volcano’s National Park. He and I took a geology and earth systems class together so it’s really nice to see him here! I had no idea he was on the island. And he’s also going to Australia!! I also met Eugene and Linley, who are working with a Stanford phD on the Kona side of the island. Linley was in HumBio with me so we commiserated on that experience and then celebrated the end of the core.

Jake and I plan on staying with Eric in Volcano village one weekend since there’s a hostel right by the volcano crater and you can see the lava flowing at night which would be AMAZING. It’s also possible to hike to the coast and see the lava flowing into the ocean! So hopefully we’ll be able to see at least one of these phenomena, if not both. And we also want to go to Kona as soon as I get scuba certified to do a night dive with the manta rays. Apparently they’re huge and it’s an indescribably incredible experience, so I plan on making that happen if it all possible.

I also saw Don Swanson give a talk! He was one of the lead volcanologists at Mount St. Helens – and for those of you who don’t know, I just finished taking a class focusing on Mount St. Helen’s 1980 eruption. So listening to him speak was really amazing and unexpected, and I tried to find him after but he split as soon as he finished his presentation. I don’t think he cared much about all the ecological mumbo-jumbo. But maybe I’ll run into him when I go to Volcano Ntl. Park! He also had an awesome beard. I think it’s a requirement for all major volcanologists to have facial hair – Rick Hobblit, another volcanologist from Mount St. Helens, had a fabulous mustache when we visited him on our class field trip. So go figure, the trend continues to prove itself true.

After the conference, we went to the beach and had a fantastical Hawaiian dinner with the rest of the conference attendees. The food was really good, there was tasty beer, and live Hawaiian music. All in all, it was a really nice mingling event and a great way to get to know the other interns and researchers we’ll be working with. And since the community of Hawaiian researchers is pretty small, everyone knew everyone else and it was a very friendly dinner! We also got to see the sky change colors as the sun set and the clouds rolled in. It was great, and I topped it off with a handful of peanut and peanut butter M&Ms when I got back. I’m really looking forward to our research, and Tad mentioned that we’ll also be trading around interns so that we can see other people’s projects and other interns can see ours. This means that Eric, Linley, and Eugene will probably be around for a couple days in the field, and Jake and I will get to see what they’re up to at their respective locations. I love this job! It’s SO GREAT!

Tad Arrives; So Does Inclement Weather

Tad arrived yesterday and proceeded to make curry, enough for Jake and I to share a bit. YUM! I had some leftover fried rice so I mostly just enjoyed the smell of his cooking, but I fully approve of making tasty meals in excess.

Today we began field work at 8, and by 1 we decided we’d had enough. It rained pretty much constantly the whole time, and I didn’t’ have rain pants!! I was wearing my zip-offs, which are water resistance but certainly not extended-rain-proof. We were all a bit chilly and soggy at that point, although we managed to rig two trees and set up an edge plot before nature shepherded us off her mountain. I shot the crossbow for one of our tree rigs and it TOTALLY WORKED! VICTORY!!! I also observed some crazy rolled-up fern leaves (see photo). They remind me of Doctor Suess, as does much of Hawaii's vegetation.

I also managed to cut my finger – the picture looks worse than it is because thumbs bleed a lot, but it still stung a big. I was trying to shape the stakes we use for litterfall traps and my hands just slipped because it was so wet. I first tried wrapping a bandaid around it, but my finger was too wet for it to stick so I used some of Jake’s athletic tape to fully cocoon my finger. It looked a bit foolish and I felt like I was devolving because I couldn’t use my thumb like a human being. That’s what Hawaii has done to me – turned me back to my more primitive self. Soon I’ll be wandering like some wounded dinosaur through the tarantula ferms (see photo below).

Sidenote: the ferns are super creepy because the leaves bend just like tarantula legs and are covered in a very fine reddish fur that rubs off on you as you walk by. WAAAAH!!!

We came back to the apartment and changed into dry clothes, went out and bought proper rain pants (yay Army Surplus Store!) and made more litterfall traps back at the US Forest Service station. I found an awesome radio station that Jake described as “catering to the 80+ year old crowd” – lots of kitchy Hawaiian music, some obscure oldies, and bluegrass. Totally bizarre, but I liked it and no one cared enough to change the station after I’d picked that one.

All in all, this has been a moderately successful and extremely soggy day. We have to rig 6 trees and place 4 edge litterfall plots on Thursday so we’ll have our work cut out for us, but I believe in us. And I won’t underestimate the power of positive thinking!

Tomorrow and Wednesday we’re all going to Peter Vitousek’s conference on Hawaiian research, which is being held at the University of Hawaii at Hilo (the same school I’m staying at). Peter Vitousek was actually one my two professors in EARTHSYS 111 (Biology and Global Change) this past winter quarter and he’s a cool guy. It should be good! He basically invites any scientists doing research on Hawaiian ecosystems, natural processes, etc… to come and give 10 minute presentations on their work so that everyone knows what’s going on around the islands.

Jake, Devin and I will just be observing, but Tad is giving a talk about our work and we’ll be cheering for him! I voted for making a poster since it’s been too rainy to body paint, but apparently that’s not really popular at scientific meetings. Who knew…? Anyways, will update more after the talks!