Oregon Field Work
Every summer, as part of the UO Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, I do fieldwork in Oregon’s amazing fossil record. Our field studies document both the spatial and temporal changes in the faunal assemblages found throughout Oregon. Our aim is to understand how mammalian communities have responded to climate change in the Oligocene and Miocene of Oregon. If you want to read more about our field work check out our 2016 trip to Bill’s Pass post.
Death Valley
In 2014 during my junior year at Mount Holyoke College, I took a field course that focused on the geological processes and history of Death Valley National Park. This course had the goal of teaching us field techniques while also exposing us to different geological formations. The course culminated in a research project that we designed and investigated while at the National Park. We traveled to places like Titus Canyon, Racetrack Playa, and Mosaic Canyon.
Svalbard
During my undergraduate studies I jumped on an opportunity that took me to the far reaches of the arctic. In Svalbard, Norway, I was part of a team of students and professors who were studying the fast disappearing Linné Glacier. Through Mount Holyoke College, I applied and obtained my own funding, bought field gear, and prepared to learn as much as possible about what it meant to be a geologist. This experience was my first time in the arctic and my first time doing field work for an extended period of time. After 24 hours of traveling, we arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and were greeted by the shining rays of the never-setting summer arctic sun.
During my time there in 2013 our team set up equipment such as cameras, temperature loggers, and weather stations around the valley. We also collected lake sediment cores from the glacial lake within the valley. These sediment cores were later used in a number of senior theses.
The small projects we decided to undertake were part of a larger effort to document how the melting glacier was being recorded in the varved sediments of the lake. I came away from this internship with fieldwork experience and a greater understanding of the scale of large research projects. I also designed and presented an independent study on the lake sediment plumes. Importantly, I learned that other scientists are valuable resources for input and support when working on tough projects.