tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25932958914319894692024-03-13T14:28:32.491-07:00Jessica's Summer Field WorkJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-76858600196421888622008-07-27T20:01:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:52.443-08:00Finished!27 July 2008<br /><br />We packed a bunch of work into a very few days this past week, and now we're recovering at home! First, we finished up the new excavation in the cave. By a stroke of luck, the floor of the excavation coincided almost exactly with the length of Liz's arm, so we were able to fully excavate the new deposit and not feel like we were leaving material behind. We spent a few days sieving the rest of the material, then went back to the cave one last time to fill in all the deposits, including my deposit from last year! It was so strange to see the pit filled in with rocks, and we all were fairly sore from lugging rocks into the various pits. Here's a group photo of the excavation crew- from left: Becca, Jessica, Uma, Liz, Clara, Tony, and Ariel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzuYV5gePtZ0iAuqaMSggouPnazh_l_MjCcGZZhBpZQpYKUc3j_loZaBisVNB7KzfF58-GilUk4DUnDa9Vwk-S55Qkr06iZdeDdfcWs294EvzoIN47AIv8CpnRITviNvo-ojgOfyr-2gY/s1600-h/DSCN5541.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzuYV5gePtZ0iAuqaMSggouPnazh_l_MjCcGZZhBpZQpYKUc3j_loZaBisVNB7KzfF58-GilUk4DUnDa9Vwk-S55Qkr06iZdeDdfcWs294EvzoIN47AIv8CpnRITviNvo-ojgOfyr-2gY/s400/DSCN5541.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227910223364458066" /></a><br /><br />We also did some extra mammal trapping, both at the cave and at a high elevation site near Castle Crags State Park. The extra trapping was worth it! We caught (and released) a ringtail (<span style="font-style:italic;">Bassariscus astutus</span>) at the cave, which we think is leaving scats in various pockets of the cave. We also caught some chipmunks, a flying squirrel, and a rabbit at the high-elevation site! Here's the full species list from the summer, first the species we actually trapped, then the species we saw:<br /><br />Trapped:<br />Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse)<br />Peromyscus boylii (brush mouse)<br />Neotoma fuscipes (dusky-footed woodrat)<br />Microtus californicus (California vole)<br />Mephitis mephitis (striped skunk)<br />Spermophilus beecheyi (California ground squirrel)<br />Bassariscus astutus (ringtail)<br />Tamias sp (chipmunks)<br />Glaucomys sabrinus (Northern flying squirrel)<br />Sylvilagus sp. (bachmani?) (brush rabbit)<br />Sorex trowbridgii (Trowbridge's shrew)<br />Scapanus latimanus (broad-footed mole)<br /><br />Saw:<br />Sciurus griseus (western gray squirrel)<br />Tamiasciurus douglasi (Douglas squirrel)<br />Odocoileus hemionus (mule deer)<br />Lepus californicus (black-tailed jackrabbit)<br />Urocyon cinereoargenteus (gray fox)<br />Ursus americanus (black bear)<br /><br />--------------------------------------------<br /><br />I published a bunch of field photos on my picasa webgallery, so check out the full range of photos from this summer's field season!<br /><table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicablois/Shasta2008MammalTrappingAndExcavation"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/jessicablois/SIvz4R4WxmE/AAAAAAAAAoc/BMJPCoPV0vk/s160-c/Shasta2008MammalTrappingAndExcavation.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicablois/Shasta2008MammalTrappingAndExcavation" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Shasta 2008- Mammal trapping and excavation</a></td></tr></table>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-20877251901675015912008-07-20T12:09:00.000-07:002008-07-20T12:19:26.761-07:00Busy Week!20 July 2008<br /><br />We had a very busy week, full of new people and new things to do! On Monday and Tuesday, we were joined by 5 new people: Becca Terry, who will be starting a post-doc with the Hadly lab in the fall, Liz, Tony, and Clara, and Uma Ramakrishnan, a visiting researcher/collaborator/former Hadly lab post-doc who is now an assistant professor in India. We started a new excavation in Samwel Cave- actually two, since one of them did not go down very deep, so we finished it almost as soon as we started! But, one excavation is still on-going, and it looks like it will be a fruitful deposit. We found an artiodactyl jaw with some teeth in it on Friday! <br /><br />Excavating is hard work, though, and this year's excavations are much more difficult than last year. We are generally excavating while laying on our stomachs, which limits arm movement. So, we were all pretty sore for much of last week, though Ariel and I have been sieving bones rather than excavating for the past few days, so we both have more or less recovered. And, it looks like we'll be done with field work a bit earlier than planned, perhaps by Friday. So, this might be the last post from the field! And luckily, once I get home I will be able to upload photos from my camera, so stay tuned for the next post!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-44934274352891160162008-07-14T11:48:00.000-07:002008-07-14T12:00:41.742-07:00Quick update14 July 2008<br /><br />Just a quick update about our most recent activities. We had a pretty uneventful couple of days. We were trapping at a higher elevation site (Hirz Mountain) and all we caught were some <span style="font-style:italic;">Peromyscus</span> mice. This was our last trapline for a while, so we'll switch to excavation and sieving for the next few weeks, with perhaps a little bit of targeted trapping- there's a chipmunk I want to catch around the cabin!<br /><br />What is more eventful than trapping, actually, is the Redding library. The library is a wonderful resource- free wireless, air conditioning, lots of plugs, and Ariel and I spend a lot of our time in Redding here. It's also a great way to observe the local citizens. We are now among the regulars, it seems- every time we come here, we observe the same folks, with slight variations, and I'm sure they notice us. Today, however, the local Redding library dwellers are providing particular amusement. There's the normal guy who sits in a chair near our regular table and appears to stare at us the whole time we are here, with occasional cigarette breaks. There's a new guy sitting behind us with headphones blaring. He did turn them off to call his parole officer to check in, though. There's also the woman wandering around the library talking on her cell phone about her very stressful weekend, and the guy at the elevator door who is impatient at having to wait 2 seconds for the doors to open (the elevator went downstairs just moments before he walked up), and is now punching the button repeatedly and muttering about the wait (it's only one short floor to the main doors). Oh wait, now he's leaving to walk down, and the doors just opened behind him... Lest you get the idea that we think the town of Redding is full of nutjobs, there are of course many entirely normal people in the library, they're just not as fun to observe!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-22944685443897278832008-07-10T10:30:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:53.598-08:00Heat, squirrels, and swimming holes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo2QVBqYlBlGQOiwMlkyNzF1OQQEwVjRga0zLk4R64lNrO_JjVeXhpegjyEf7dUBpJz8_9Bli4OrlI2GhNXjiTUUpcvz3YCPi1lIPDMNgK-rfntXvVAL1LaHNdWe5CfgB3OxMs354qqpc/s1600-h/Jessica_Book_in_river.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo2QVBqYlBlGQOiwMlkyNzF1OQQEwVjRga0zLk4R64lNrO_JjVeXhpegjyEf7dUBpJz8_9Bli4OrlI2GhNXjiTUUpcvz3YCPi1lIPDMNgK-rfntXvVAL1LaHNdWe5CfgB3OxMs354qqpc/s200/Jessica_Book_in_river.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221440404431937330" /></a>What a week it’s been! We finished up the two traplines near Samwel Cave on Friday and were joined on Sunday by Targe Lindsay, a local Palo Alto teacher and Jasper Ridge docent who has been in the Hadly lab over the past several months researching raptor diet using pellets. Targe arrived just in time for a major heat wave to hit the area, with temps between 109-114 deg F during the day (cooling off to 104 deg in our bedroom at night-we switched to a tent!). Luckily, we managed to situate our third trapline right next to a great wading hole in the McCloud River and have been wallowing in the cold water each afternoon before setting our traps for the evening! Fieldwork’s tough, huh?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdr7pWuYz93TIXhbdU47o0mNhCylS2k-dtzDWr2dXZ73ehe5iKB0KBA3PIgbAk5ZUwHaaJ3-rMCcMb8C6_d_vPyDdxVjcUKF0Ex_R6Q28t8ASzVOwnE8tNieqsua08EXPsmKWNBEHFGno/s1600-h/beecheyi.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdr7pWuYz93TIXhbdU47o0mNhCylS2k-dtzDWr2dXZ73ehe5iKB0KBA3PIgbAk5ZUwHaaJ3-rMCcMb8C6_d_vPyDdxVjcUKF0Ex_R6Q28t8ASzVOwnE8tNieqsua08EXPsmKWNBEHFGno/s200/beecheyi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221440736873757058" /></a>This trapline was uneventful in terms of the species we caught- the normal overabundance of <span style="font-style:italic;">Peromyscus</span>, with some shrews and squirrels. It was pretty cool to actually capture squirrels in our normal trapline, but man, are they big! Most of the individuals we caught were juveniles, but they were still difficult to handle. Here’s a cute little guy biting my glove! And, a more typical photo of Ariel and I trying to figure out whether one of our captured animals was <span style="font-style:italic;">Peromyscus maniculatus</span> or <span style="font-style:italic;">P. boylii</span> (the big debate of the summer, along with whether Facebook is or is not a time sink). <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwHL8wXONob75oUgI4jHS8rrm3MvFlb0YZTjtV-inEV12550No8IIuTAOinjMhN1lT9_qf8A6H1KesaTnXv9edv0V9rv5dl6dWTR3SMPqGZox1croeb8CtehI04jBtUB2mts0fk-idfQv/s1600-h/JessicaArielPeromyscus.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwHL8wXONob75oUgI4jHS8rrm3MvFlb0YZTjtV-inEV12550No8IIuTAOinjMhN1lT9_qf8A6H1KesaTnXv9edv0V9rv5dl6dWTR3SMPqGZox1croeb8CtehI04jBtUB2mts0fk-idfQv/s320/JessicaArielPeromyscus.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221441044179377090" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmjuhcyZ8jdq35z_5Nmg2gzMP-jydpKkqwtaeqxF6pty41_mmWP8Gggrc8n3bQ0sijuIh04Fe5KzBOA4fIOA0EuyM4-Q0eIy92G9YnD_w6S28MNVu0ofCTpTmJdoW-Tu4_n3PHTquQdoh/s1600-h/Targe.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmjuhcyZ8jdq35z_5Nmg2gzMP-jydpKkqwtaeqxF6pty41_mmWP8Gggrc8n3bQ0sijuIh04Fe5KzBOA4fIOA0EuyM4-Q0eIy92G9YnD_w6S28MNVu0ofCTpTmJdoW-Tu4_n3PHTquQdoh/s200/Targe.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221443877096195602" /></a>So, all was fairly typical, with days spent trapping and skinning (here’s Targe starting to make a study skull out of a squirrel we unexpectedly had to euthanize—see below), and nights trying to keep cool. <br /><br />However, something was disturbing the traps each night, with some of our traps being carried over a hundred feet and visible bite marks on the outside of a few Shermans. The degree of disturbance has been escalating over the past several nights, and yesterday morning we found a Tomahawk trap with a California ground squirrel whose hind right leg had been chewed off. It was horrible to see and horrible to know that our traps inadvertently caused such an injury, so we euthanized the squirrel and decided to pull the traps a day early, since whatever is getting the squirrels knows exactly where to go for a nice meal and is just going to keep hitting the animals in the traps. <br /><br />So, after another day spent in Redding, on to the next trapline! We will be heading up to (higher) elevation- the top of Hirz Mountain, where there is some Douglas-fir forest. This trapline should finish Monday morning, just in time to be joined by three more people next week- Liz, Uma, and Becca!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-45126759992055297902008-07-05T16:19:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:53.877-08:00Field Work Makes Me Glow!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeR6YmGmbqI6dxzwDLzoOtdvLCw8UTV_gr-sCP7T0NG4IsTUPcB_TStn787V4oB8CnxNjAMqGYGVfRF1QcUUjPdGHqU6Qu2ejCffCyjIFzkBzswjiTHqpOMzcS4x94iciWbAHlTTgx6Aws/s1600-h/Jessica_Glow.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeR6YmGmbqI6dxzwDLzoOtdvLCw8UTV_gr-sCP7T0NG4IsTUPcB_TStn787V4oB8CnxNjAMqGYGVfRF1QcUUjPdGHqU6Qu2ejCffCyjIFzkBzswjiTHqpOMzcS4x94iciWbAHlTTgx6Aws/s200/Jessica_Glow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219679648438459890" /></a><br />5 July 2008<br /><br />Well, we've finished our 2nd trapline and had quite a pleasant week. The temperatures dropped about 10 degrees into the low 90's, the smokey skies cleared a bit, and the trapline itself was much easier than the first. So, it was a great week! <br /><br />Overall, we didn't catch quite as much as on the first trapline- lots of <span style="font-style:italic;">Peromyscus</span> again, and some voles, but no other species. I think we are generally checking our traps too early to catch the squirrels, since they are late risers and like the warmer daytime conditions. So, we did an afternoon of trapping on Thursday to target squirrels, and ended up catching 3 California ground squirrels. They are such beautiful animals! They are also much bigger than everything else we have caught, but after one escapee, Ariel and I managed to perfect our methods and we ended up collecting two squirrels. Skinning them was quite a chore- their tails are very difficult to remove and we both struggled with skinning for a number of hours, but managed to finish just in time to head into Redding for the Fourth of July! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DhesYs-z5bYQ3zZLylC4GCMK1Pk0IbP890Xn-wMxTC81thV4v3uLkfYfN-Dm0WT9b9vOIMxqDc_5NOjSaxaX5FD2g_Kv-78vy0hCZess9bGA6OgFxVpmu0SP4bNd49jBMZ3tCXJJgkBE/s1600-h/ShastaLake.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DhesYs-z5bYQ3zZLylC4GCMK1Pk0IbP890Xn-wMxTC81thV4v3uLkfYfN-Dm0WT9b9vOIMxqDc_5NOjSaxaX5FD2g_Kv-78vy0hCZess9bGA6OgFxVpmu0SP4bNd49jBMZ3tCXJJgkBE/s200/ShastaLake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219679781454146370" /></a><br />The Redding fireworks celebration was canceled due to the fires, but my labmate Brenna was in town visiting her parents, who live in Redding. So, we went over to their house and had a very nice dinner and were able to sleep in this morning (and tomorrow too!). There has been a lot of car/boat traffic at Hirz Bay as people arrive for the holiday weekend, but overall it's relatively quiet, probably because the lake is so low. Both Ariel and I have been envying the boaters their nice water though. Anyone want to bring up a boat so I can waterski and Ariel can wakeboard? We can provide lots of entertainment as you watch us try to skin mice and squirrels!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-26712670528138896992008-06-29T13:25:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:54.357-08:00Skunked! (and not playing cribbage...)29 June 2008<br /><br />Well, we had quite a morning today! After setting up our first trap line and trapping a bunch of <span style="font-style: italic;">Peromyscus</span> mice (a cute, trap-happy, nuisance species), we were excited to see one of our larger traps closed and occupied this morning. Unfortunately, there was not one, but two skunks in the trap!! It was a small female, plus a baby skunk that was outside the trap, but had stayed next to mom. Well, I was a bit flummoxed about how to get the skunks out of the traps without getting sprayed, but I remembered a conversation with another grad student about getting skunks out of traps. Fortunately, it was a cooler morning, so I had a fleece jacket with me, which I threw over the trap to block any spray. The minute I did that the skunk started to release her odor, so I waited until she had calmed down again, then very carefully approached the trap and propped it open. I removed the fleece and Ariel and I left the skunk to find it's way out of the trap while we checked the other traps. Close call, but not a disaster, though that trap needs to be cleaned and I threw out my fleece jacket!<br /><br />The excitement didn't end there (at least for us, though some of you reading this might not find the rest so exciting!) We added to our species list today! Besides the usual complement of <span style="font-style: italic;">Peromyscus</span>, we also caught a vole (probably <span style="font-style: italic;">Microtus californicus</span>), a shrew (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sorex trowbridgii</span>) and a woodrat (<span style="font-style: italic;">Neotoma fuscipes</span>). Here are a couple of photos of my field assistant, Ariel, in action: setting traps and weighing specimens!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1ft70b8n6ZZFE90Hiz2UbS5dtD82w2aiW1r6-TSVv-lqK5rQhMFbjBoUHnI0jOK2Ca8tmLpCWagbSL2UYjDRViN9e7guKuFIZ6EvQWhboQR1Rr5HMALXmFvjPFS17hXTinsvg9dZB5oL/s1600-h/Ariel_PB.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1ft70b8n6ZZFE90Hiz2UbS5dtD82w2aiW1r6-TSVv-lqK5rQhMFbjBoUHnI0jOK2Ca8tmLpCWagbSL2UYjDRViN9e7guKuFIZ6EvQWhboQR1Rr5HMALXmFvjPFS17hXTinsvg9dZB5oL/s320/Ariel_PB.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217412322366408530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLMGyX51WAcYIE1r96rn8T4fveM_w499rkqvA_zVUgfXB1pCF9Iw7hE0_D5HT3LW5NRt66hmoj1po7CIf4e-7jFXYqhDJ6UA8BEnEDRK_ES88g6SZA4AEVCktmtFooBHlWtfg7gfowSi4/s1600-h/Ariel_weighing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLMGyX51WAcYIE1r96rn8T4fveM_w499rkqvA_zVUgfXB1pCF9Iw7hE0_D5HT3LW5NRt66hmoj1po7CIf4e-7jFXYqhDJ6UA8BEnEDRK_ES88g6SZA4AEVCktmtFooBHlWtfg7gfowSi4/s320/Ariel_weighing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217412327135566770" /></a><br /><br />So, we're pooped from all the early mornings, heat, and hiking, and are back in Redding for the afternoon resupplying our groceries and making contact with the world (via blogging, skype, and other means...aren't we technologically savvy!?). The fires in northern California aren't affecting us too much, though there has been a lot of haze in the sky for the past two days. Air quality in Redding is much worse than out at the cabin, which is lucky for us.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-2276374580281347222008-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:002008-06-23T11:44:05.522-07:00Field Season 2008Well, it's a new year and a new field season. I'm leaving today to head back up to Lake Shasta. This summer, I will be trapping small mammals to get an idea about the composition of the modern mammalian community to compare with my fossil data from last year. I have a great field assistant again this year, Ariel Marcy, who is an undergrad at Stanford, and my advisor Liz and a collaborator from India (Uma) will be coming up in July. So, it should be an interesting summer and I'll try to keep this blog up-to-date so you can follow my progress!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-80531868774638054032007-07-22T21:28:00.001-07:002008-12-12T16:20:54.836-08:00Finished!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxv18cEQ6O7XjpwuCntF2DEbYs57E9dQ_-UHwYQS26GZhVHrTdHl3QFGTCyQmSGC9h-QaOvXTtvKn8XCkv3VDKakV5pvpOioJRy42XI_vONv-REXnxFpP6FNjdNqEiFSO1SpObLGepW1J/s1600-h/DSCN4784.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxv18cEQ6O7XjpwuCntF2DEbYs57E9dQ_-UHwYQS26GZhVHrTdHl3QFGTCyQmSGC9h-QaOvXTtvKn8XCkv3VDKakV5pvpOioJRy42XI_vONv-REXnxFpP6FNjdNqEiFSO1SpObLGepW1J/s200/DSCN4784.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090250410459765154" /></a><br />22 July 2007<br /><br />Well, we finished excavating and sieving and closed up the pit (at least temporarily)! We had quite an interesting last week. We got some visitors to our sieving site last week from a houseboat that was docked nearby. There were quite a few kids and they were very interested in the bones and the sieving process. It was very fun to show them what we do and they even helped us find bones on the sieves. We also had some visits (to our neck of the woods, not to use personally) from DEA agents looking for marijuana plantations. It's not every day you can follow humvees full of men in camoflauge holding machine guns on your way to work! In the middle of this, we also saw a wakeboarding video being filmed right in front of us. It was great to see some top wakeboarders, but after a while the boat wakes and the helicopter noise from the camera crews got to be tiresome. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YnujuHuhWYpfkGyFFxs8KOxfgXr42fd_18kYOd5PrZ_G49dLtZQQIKS_DArlmw7JoSqqlbBeQI8fXlY-JmpSlHh5I2zB_4RUbu8iVV20LVcw2MZ7gBLBwmAi_amq3KNB76VGV_kMejFr/s1600-h/DSCN4805.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YnujuHuhWYpfkGyFFxs8KOxfgXr42fd_18kYOd5PrZ_G49dLtZQQIKS_DArlmw7JoSqqlbBeQI8fXlY-JmpSlHh5I2zB_4RUbu8iVV20LVcw2MZ7gBLBwmAi_amq3KNB76VGV_kMejFr/s200/DSCN4805.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090250655272901042" /></a>Luckily, the middle and end of the week was quiet and fun. We got a lot of rain, with lightening and thunder, on Wednesday, so Ronny, Xue and I drove up to the town of McCloud to see the upriver portion of the McCloud arm of Lake Shasta. We stopped at Castle Crags State Park on our way back and did a quick hike. It would be great to go back to CCSP for a full day because it seems like a great park! On Thursday, an intern with the Forest Service Public Affairs Office joined us for the day- he is planning on writing an article about what we are doing. Finally, on Friday we closed up the pit and finished sieving! (Here's a photo of me coming out of the cave for the final time this season) It was quite a long and momentous day. <br /><br /><br />And now, I'm back home. It was quite a feat to pack everything into the truck. All of our stuff barely fit, but luckily we were able to close all the doors and made our way home safely. Now it's time for the identification to start!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-41796312344302945452007-07-14T11:39:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:55.242-08:00Our last week<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPuYuVAPSaWrv7n-qOpgK8TmpY0GNumj49bs3BKe1N6NvXm9dEr9hHjGB0e4uX8Xt85BgKzB5hVXxOIQJMx6lFEo9Wt8pTasV_mYoFG-Yqodg2pklyDjBUyCdS1FONGJES_otBd3ztKjdc/s1600-h/DSCN4554.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPuYuVAPSaWrv7n-qOpgK8TmpY0GNumj49bs3BKe1N6NvXm9dEr9hHjGB0e4uX8Xt85BgKzB5hVXxOIQJMx6lFEo9Wt8pTasV_mYoFG-Yqodg2pklyDjBUyCdS1FONGJES_otBd3ztKjdc/s200/DSCN4554.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5087125916396425890" /></a><br />14 July 2007<br /><br />Well, now it really is the home stretch! I got to the bottom of the pit on Thursday (pictured at left), so all we need to do is map the stratigraphy of the pit and shore up the walls so we can close it up for the winter. I'm not going to fill it in completely, in case we need to get additional samples, but I am going to put a top on it and disguise the location so people can walk all over it and never know! Not that many people will be walking around in that part of the cave!! So, we're in Redding today buying wood and groceries. We also have some sieving left, and tomorrow we are going to explore the inner part of the cave!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNsBw6_VLkGC-tKHLdupop3_kotICIgaeUTo3PHF90rEtBEC3IP1ko3Fj1FZd7HTcR1tBcDzPvgAWXZp8eq7fU5h6K_ZtS5ApuE_KrRHZN2dOO4aHrH0Q6klhBlgCuhdwAtYD31AXtrk2c/s1600-h/DSCN4506.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNsBw6_VLkGC-tKHLdupop3_kotICIgaeUTo3PHF90rEtBEC3IP1ko3Fj1FZd7HTcR1tBcDzPvgAWXZp8eq7fU5h6K_ZtS5ApuE_KrRHZN2dOO4aHrH0Q6klhBlgCuhdwAtYD31AXtrk2c/s320/DSCN4506.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5087126247108907698" /></a><br />I am getting anxious to get back to Palo Alto and start looking through the matrix. Luckily Xue and Ronny will still be with me for 4 or 5 more weeks, so we can charge through it together. They have been busy mapping out the floor plan of the cave, which will be a great visual to have for conferences and papers. We also have all been trying to learn the trees and shrubs of the area (a maddening experience for non-botany types!!). Luckily, my friend Andrea came up to visit recently and showed us a couple of plants before she had to get back to her real botany job!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-28898208245439204862007-06-29T12:22:00.001-07:002008-12-12T16:20:55.427-08:00home stretch?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCK_tC2s4YIJAgGLr9qGxSnI4maNHaaasE6bCFuWnTF28Rg3hFK1YKDNd9x4HOSLY8MjDlqt98XIc7BljmqbSnvuwvMR_DGsj2LbBzt0OAGwXxSeIZwq_SxZArEkfL_UED5nIdeMkZVo1/s1600-h/DSCN4283.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCK_tC2s4YIJAgGLr9qGxSnI4maNHaaasE6bCFuWnTF28Rg3hFK1YKDNd9x4HOSLY8MjDlqt98XIc7BljmqbSnvuwvMR_DGsj2LbBzt0OAGwXxSeIZwq_SxZArEkfL_UED5nIdeMkZVo1/s200/DSCN4283.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081569083688634274" border="0" /></a><br />29 June 2007<br /><br />Well, it feels like the home stretch to me. Carrie left on Thursday and Xue and Ronny arrived early in the week, so we now have the “permanent” field crew in place. We excavated and sieved this week. We are down to Level VIIb, which is where we found the horse tooth in the main deposit. We haven’t found anything quite so flashy again- in fact, we’re not finding many large animal teeth at all. Tomorrow, we will probably go back to the pit and see if we can hit bottom. After that, it’s time for all of the little details necessary to finish up the summer (with the possibility of additional excavation)- vegetation surveys, mapping the floor of the pit and the cave, characterizing the stratigraphy of the pit, etc (with breaks for 4th of July and my friend Nicole’s wedding!).Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-69544452390147910622007-06-23T22:04:00.001-07:002008-12-12T16:20:55.997-08:00lots of help!!23 June 2007<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWbWXLliEqUrhR6pWtgCMGDwRCUIkE_f_TtrwCV5klMdO57mPoZB1y3B4NLdexH6xdCd6QKmmGLBA59bZrH3Y_XMVI0aaxIptK-L4otAF_8s4kX6lh9ihpRJw2s-JJw9dyi9ixHjhqqWU/s1600-h/DSCN4233.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWbWXLliEqUrhR6pWtgCMGDwRCUIkE_f_TtrwCV5klMdO57mPoZB1y3B4NLdexH6xdCd6QKmmGLBA59bZrH3Y_XMVI0aaxIptK-L4otAF_8s4kX6lh9ihpRJw2s-JJw9dyi9ixHjhqqWU/s200/DSCN4233.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079495090722511138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well, I had quite a week and lots of help. We hit the floor in a large part of the pit, so we decided to extend the pit east about 50 cm and start anew from the top. I had four wonderful field assistants to help me do this: Bob Feranec, Carrie Glenney, and my parents (Steve and Barbara Blois). Bob and Carrie excavated with me in the beginning and the end of the week, and my parents got into the cave on Thursday. By yesterday, we were about 50 cm deep and seemed to be glimpsing the top of the floor in the new location. I am hopeful that we can get another 20 cm down before we hit the floor again.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyLLz-g-cMl5voTiQh3W1enETLOSU8KaJfgOJkzsTVb1UQ0ivfKxDnEurxVgetVPSlk5clVvtJVkZNc7yFgSBlFS8ZOUdBRyd94cdSljb82qnXiO8JEGNdEiZjKYdw-q8p3C657sx_v3G/s1600-h/DSCN4215.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyLLz-g-cMl5voTiQh3W1enETLOSU8KaJfgOJkzsTVb1UQ0ivfKxDnEurxVgetVPSlk5clVvtJVkZNc7yFgSBlFS8ZOUdBRyd94cdSljb82qnXiO8JEGNdEiZjKYdw-q8p3C657sx_v3G/s200/DSCN4215.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079495095017478450" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyGOk4wgMFWpAPMmfOkusUPYMmWy6x6WwsZ3YH4uDJS5c3zvaOo8odnPj9uHcvIe90ZwjDYSsAFmm8GXbzFSRxefBqYNoedvVcbGgSyJ7L3dMQEsoBLqDLfdR3sWTYDgu-ymOQB9tvf-T/s1600-h/DSCN4198.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyGOk4wgMFWpAPMmfOkusUPYMmWy6x6WwsZ3YH4uDJS5c3zvaOo8odnPj9uHcvIe90ZwjDYSsAFmm8GXbzFSRxefBqYNoedvVcbGgSyJ7L3dMQEsoBLqDLfdR3sWTYDgu-ymOQB9tvf-T/s200/DSCN4198.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079495099312445762" border="0" /></a>The sediment is really interesting- it’s very dry and loose, and very easy to excavate. Sometimes it’s so easy, it makes it difficult to avoid going to deep! We found quite a few intact jaws as we were excavating on Friday- a <span style="font-style: italic;">Lepus</span> (probably the black-tailed jackrabbit), a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sylvilagus </span>(a bunny rabbit), and a sciurid, probably <span style="font-style: italic;">Spermophilus beecheyi</span> (California ground squirrel). It will be interesting to see if we find more stuff while sieving. I head up on Sunday or Monday with Carrie and Xue, a Stanford undergrad who will be helping me the rest of the summer. And Ronny, another Stanford undergrad, will join us on Wednesday. It will be great to have so much help to finish the excavation and the other small little details of wrapping up!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-83344189810906453652007-06-15T15:06:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:56.279-08:00Pleistocene??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAecRw1YXTl4_ru-K4-0CO5RWkw0HmxHFnOJP9bj9hQTRpWhnPlKar1Y5BQ14-If87_lDiisizCY3c1vYnScgD29bV87WZMP_IFjDgs0ZP_AB5biERnQroBRy3FBFy1zt-2K2vTbr78H7/s1600-h/DSCN4159.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAecRw1YXTl4_ru-K4-0CO5RWkw0HmxHFnOJP9bj9hQTRpWhnPlKar1Y5BQ14-If87_lDiisizCY3c1vYnScgD29bV87WZMP_IFjDgs0ZP_AB5biERnQroBRy3FBFy1zt-2K2vTbr78H7/s200/DSCN4159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076427195582978194" border="0" /></a><br />15 June 2007<br /><br />I was up in the field earlier this week with Liz. We started sorting through some teeth and found...a horse tooth! This is really significant because it means we have transitioned into the Pleistocene! We may have found some other things- a bovid and an extinct pig- but those ID's are more tentative. I am very excited and can't wait to get back into the field on Monday to excavate some more!!!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-76999675194694435472007-06-09T13:45:00.000-07:002007-06-09T13:47:28.956-07:00New blog element9 June 2007 <br /><br />Well, I'm back home for 2 days and have been organizing things. I added a link to this blog in the upper left corner that takes you to my Picasa photo gallery. I'll try to post photos from each trip on Picasa so everyone can access the photos.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-13491538916546766282007-06-05T13:53:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:56.441-08:00busy week and weird teeth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZ5jG5WDfvCyoDjsRVcZsTT7hDw3Uo90T9-jYF8Sy2oYLrfGUk_fwMNaM57iSpibCIEU4ooIctfLpozsrprlTxHsv_-abzp4lByRvd9nX9rZ0IWEmCeuAC3k9DMO2hFgze8wR4qO7oQ5q/s1600-h/DSCN4118.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZ5jG5WDfvCyoDjsRVcZsTT7hDw3Uo90T9-jYF8Sy2oYLrfGUk_fwMNaM57iSpibCIEU4ooIctfLpozsrprlTxHsv_-abzp4lByRvd9nX9rZ0IWEmCeuAC3k9DMO2hFgze8wR4qO7oQ5q/s200/DSCN4118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072687979875210866" border="0"></a><br />5 June 2007<br /><br />I'm back up in Shasta with two wonderful assistants from UC Berkeley (Kelly (left) and Lauren). We have been busy excavating and sieving. I am past the 1/2 m mark in the pit and may have just hit the floor. There is a very large rock ~20 cm wide that spans the pit, though there is still sediment on either side of the rock. So, we'll see how much farther I can go down! On the sieving front, Lauren and Kelly found some interesting things yesterday- a large deer tooth, something that looks like a worm cast, a carnivore canine, and a completely unknown piece of bone/tooth. So, things are getting busy up here!<br /><br />It poured down rain last night, but we were nice and dry in the cabin. Today, we're in Redding resupplying our groceries and checking our e-mail. More soon!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-2993788423441917582007-05-24T18:27:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:56.577-08:00Reprieve after a busy week<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcejr041TMhuAqL_7TJvOWJLsS_Z05yRuljhZFT-kRt-mgSPJ5_HEBYauLxqd8jM9oE3eu0FudKLO8BqMz8bBzNk25onbVepwjhhypoj0TyDvy7MV9RlIf3fi9UggPQUqKsjUCjR-xkv5/s1600-h/DSCN4094-cropped.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcejr041TMhuAqL_7TJvOWJLsS_Z05yRuljhZFT-kRt-mgSPJ5_HEBYauLxqd8jM9oE3eu0FudKLO8BqMz8bBzNk25onbVepwjhhypoj0TyDvy7MV9RlIf3fi9UggPQUqKsjUCjR-xkv5/s200/DSCN4094-cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068304551468568178" border="0"></a><br />24 May 2007<br /><br />Well, I’m back after a bit of a blogging lull. I have had a whirlwind week. After excavating and sieving last week, Jeremy and I flew down to San Diego Saturday morning for my friend Debbie’s wedding this past weekend. It was great to see all of my college roommates and see Debbie marry her wonderful husband Mark. On Sunday, I went back up to Shasta with two great volunteers- Lily and Dan (pictured sieving). We spent three days in the field and got a lot accomplished. I’m now back at Stanford for the next week. It’s nice to have a bit of a break. I have managed to strain a muscle in my back and the week off will help it heal, plus I can regroup and get some paperwork stuff done. Plus, there is a fire that started 7 miles northwest of my field site and the Forest Service is using the area in and around my cabin as a staging area for fire crew! Overall, it’s a good time to be out of the field!!!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-18953460399035809722007-05-14T11:22:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:56.765-08:00Happy Mother's Day!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPYEWo02nykoYKdtkkg0GDiRZwcLBf5DAyqycq90iVigF2q-yZgRZlMRUEH99oXn_uxB7eI_huD8FGoaN4TP5B_Cl82ETxVjPj3U1sOmzeomqUd5n2tMLgvptAiBG9Gi8f5yRlB5-V-cn/s1600-h/DSCN4027.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPYEWo02nykoYKdtkkg0GDiRZwcLBf5DAyqycq90iVigF2q-yZgRZlMRUEH99oXn_uxB7eI_huD8FGoaN4TP5B_Cl82ETxVjPj3U1sOmzeomqUd5n2tMLgvptAiBG9Gi8f5yRlB5-V-cn/s200/DSCN4027.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064483855368176034" border="0" /></a><br />13 May 2007<br /><br />I am taking a day of rest…well, physical rest at least. I am sitting in my cabin, typing away at a grant proposal, and listening to the birds chirp and crickets click outside my door. It’s a beautiful day up here! I also got a chance to review some of my photos. Here’s a great photo of a theoretical population geneticist doing field work! It’s not every day that this happens, and I was fortunate to capture an image of this rare event. Thanks to both Emily and Jeremy for coming up to help and keep me company! Well, my computer battery is about to die, so I think I’ll sit on the porch and sort matrix. One of the unexpected benefits of living in a cabin without electricity is not being a slave to my computer. (An ironic thought for someone writing a blog!)Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-55984781459492571342007-05-10T12:38:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:57.045-08:00Larger bones!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtHW0sCSAENZsjQhWvWBlTweajuqegniBTFygoz0VgzP-D-jVgkzKBNzW5KfODj09dxsF8U2uZln7yif1J9iefGrZ0uc2cs4jsu58-9-5eqBigGBa9jcj8XC-38klYtL5m2dsR5ITgUbt/s1600-h/DSCN4001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtHW0sCSAENZsjQhWvWBlTweajuqegniBTFygoz0VgzP-D-jVgkzKBNzW5KfODj09dxsF8U2uZln7yif1J9iefGrZ0uc2cs4jsu58-9-5eqBigGBa9jcj8XC-38klYtL5m2dsR5ITgUbt/s320/DSCN4001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063020504175853970" border="0" /></a><br />10 May 2007<br /><br />The excavation is going really well. We have started to find some larger teeth, not all of which I can identify! But, it looks like there are some deer teeth, possibly an artiodactyl canine, some squirrel teeth, a carnivore canine, and a claw. These recent finds have added several species to our overall list, so we probably have over 20 species in the deposit. As of yesterday, the deposit is about 1/2 meter deep and it's getting difficult to excavate. Our next step is to start opening up the deposit so we can continue to go deeper. We'll need to start excavating down along one of the walls to make the pit wider. I'm not sure how all of this will work in such a tight space, but Paula is coming up next week to join me again and we'll come up with a plan!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-83497180506745164232007-05-03T14:09:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:57.289-08:00Paula's in the cave!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMjf0hYs0vwhORrrjwwFxahjKnCjSnYLvQ_2OBCazArH_tLnA_d75Tujr0OsTkgRwI37ZC2MHVRSYrWhYWM_VTvKqelq5DJXMwUuf5oeJVbArCQPyJLeTYb7ZCPN3DAsNKuHloc63nRW7/s1600-h/DSCN3957.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMjf0hYs0vwhORrrjwwFxahjKnCjSnYLvQ_2OBCazArH_tLnA_d75Tujr0OsTkgRwI37ZC2MHVRSYrWhYWM_VTvKqelq5DJXMwUuf5oeJVbArCQPyJLeTYb7ZCPN3DAsNKuHloc63nRW7/s200/DSCN3957.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060445894620201346" border="0" /></a><br />3 May 2007. <br /><br />Paula was up in the field with me during the early part of the week, which was wonderful. She left on Tuesday, but will be back in a few weeks. Here's a great photo of her in the cave. She is pointing to one of the corners of the pit. You can see that the pit goes through an archway. Luckily, you can squeeze into the back of the archway to excavate the other side of the pit, which is where I am taking the photo from. Paula is also holding the main tool we use- a trowel- and you can see part of a dustpan in the bottom of the photo. Generally, we slowly remove layers of dirt into the dustpan, then empty it into a bucket to be hauled outside and up to the car. It's very physical work, and definitely helpful to have someone else in the cave with me!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-67747315942680788672007-04-29T15:43:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:57.536-08:00Sieving<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsglDrSloDBkMQMqRR_aOKdcZDquL6ugbXa32w3LHLPDNT_MDMNAO2ter6GL0KgZ_XEH9Jgnt2Ez0zAi3lD1qJDqczRvxp5NRDrjWYbKVupYnZtbC2kxl0Oin26v4uVlZ5cDfgK1jm3dV1/s1600-h/DSCN3945.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsglDrSloDBkMQMqRR_aOKdcZDquL6ugbXa32w3LHLPDNT_MDMNAO2ter6GL0KgZ_XEH9Jgnt2Ez0zAi3lD1qJDqczRvxp5NRDrjWYbKVupYnZtbC2kxl0Oin26v4uVlZ5cDfgK1jm3dV1/s200/DSCN3945.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058984931429695858" /></a><br />28 April 2007<br /><br />I learned how to sieve today! We found a great spot next to McCloud Bridge and spent the day sieving the material from yesterday. My dad made me a wonderful set of sieves and a great stand with adjustable legs. Everything worked really well and sieving is pretty fun because you can see the bones emerge as you are running water through the sieves. Based on the material from one day of excavation, we already have a species list that includes 16 species! We found mammals, birds, salamanders, snakes, frogs, and fish. It will be interesting to see what the lower levels reveal!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-4072677097737597542007-04-29T15:41:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:57.826-08:00First excavation day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP-yun7hLuZuJa_zVhJ0uJ9FRCqFsQblISg_8dd2VJs44wq-NwdrBnsY4Dx3VKNvLZl76sPfbVggykMObIcHa69Md1MF4-Zn1RqFDrtGUE0Llf1yYXP9bLP4P6UfH2wrQpIjInbVXy4BV/s1600-h/DSCN3939.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP-yun7hLuZuJa_zVhJ0uJ9FRCqFsQblISg_8dd2VJs44wq-NwdrBnsY4Dx3VKNvLZl76sPfbVggykMObIcHa69Md1MF4-Zn1RqFDrtGUE0Llf1yYXP9bLP4P6UfH2wrQpIjInbVXy4BV/s200/DSCN3939.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058984394558783842" /></a><br />27 April 2007<br /><br />My first day of excavation! We had a great day. Paula (my labmate), Liz (my advisor), and Gail (a Stanford art professor) are up here to help me get started. Gail and Liz are collaborating on a project that combines art and science, so Gail is video and audio-taping small vignettes associated with the excavation. It will be great to see the results of that project. One thing I will do is take a picture each day of the excavation pit from the same location, so at the end we can make a time-lapse video of the excavation.<br /><br />Today, we set the datum for the excavation, staked out the corners and started excavating. The datum is a fixed point on the rocks from which we can measure the height and distance of any point in the pit. Once we had the datum set, we staked out the four corners of the pit, and then started excavating! We took off the top layer of the pit (~3 cm) and then started excavating in 10cm depths. We got down through part of the second layer and then quit for the day. We are all really sore this evening and we’ll see where our bruises pop up!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-27410858911508904782007-04-29T15:40:00.000-07:002007-04-29T15:41:02.372-07:00Arrival...25 April 2007<br /><br />Well, I finally made it up here! I am staying in a Forest Service cabin on Hirz Bay that is great. There are three bedrooms, a nice kitchen, a large deck, and hot water! It is really quite an ideal field set-up. I’ve been told the main problem I may encounter is bears sniffing around for food, but it hasn’t been too much of a problem at the cabin in the past. And as long as the bears stay outside and away from my truck, I’m ok with them! <br /><br />This evening, I walked down to the lake (about 5 minutes away) and sat on a dock to soak my feet in the lake. The evening temperatures are very pleasant here and it’s nice to sit outside and enjoy the sun (though the mosquitos detract from the ambience a bit). Amazingly, I also get cell phone reception at the cabin. The open expanse of water must act as a corridor for cell signals because I don’t get service anywhere else around here unless I am in the I5 corridor. All in all, a great start to my field season!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-1173840543329544822007-04-11T20:23:00.000-07:002008-12-12T16:20:58.156-08:00Delays...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHrhJQQQpZwqRldFnMq5n-dzwD-lX0RWMctEKgiteZbPafIyPXx80PDscSG3bDNn02cOZIJG0_Y7GLLxsXh_niU-lz1x8OfercxPvSaFHRfp02x6cCj2m01AAMioaLwY-jxP9zpRB9CS_/s1600-h/DSCN3930.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHrhJQQQpZwqRldFnMq5n-dzwD-lX0RWMctEKgiteZbPafIyPXx80PDscSG3bDNn02cOZIJG0_Y7GLLxsXh_niU-lz1x8OfercxPvSaFHRfp02x6cCj2m01AAMioaLwY-jxP9zpRB9CS_/s200/DSCN3930.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052380456445122322" /></a><br />Well, as with most field work I've done, everything takes a bit longer to get started than you think! After setting a "firm" date of Saturday, April 14th for leaving and running around like mad trying to make some last minute purchases, my plans were upended just a day later. So, now I am heading to the field on April 25th. There are some advantages to waiting 10 more days. First, it's supposed to rain this weekend! Plus, my advisor (Liz Hadly) will have a bit more time to spend in the field with me initially, one of my labmates (Dr. Paula Spaeth!) will be able to come up, and it gives me a bit more time to spend with my friends in Palo Alto. On the minus side, the pile of stuff continues to pile up in the corner of our living room (see photo)! So, no posts from the field yet...but soon.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2593295891431989469.post-67312863754436897462007-04-02T09:46:00.000-07:002007-04-02T09:49:45.816-07:00Opening post...Well, I am trying to enter the new world of technology with this blog. Hopefully I'll be able to find an internet connection consistently enough to post...<br /><br />Hopefully, this blog will allow me to share some photos and thoughts with those of you who can't get up to my field site to visit. My goal is to post about once a week throughout the field season. We'll see if this experiment works!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12179456460305908661noreply@blogger.com1