With a little help from my friends ...

I never said it would be easy to pursue a PhD while remaining a full time employee of the BC Forest Service, however, there appears to be things that I had thought would be easier to accomplish then they turned out to be. In order to get 6 GPS collars deployed on horses across the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area, it did prove to be a logistical challenge that would not have been acheived if it hadn't of been for some very talented, kind, considerate and supportive friends and colleagues. I would like to recognize you here as contributors to our work and I would like to thank you for being there at the precise moment when I needed you the most:


Lotek www.lotek.com/update.htm - Stewart Strathearn who did a fabulous job in getting the GPS collars to Fort Nelson in such a short time


Central Mountain Air who went above and beyond in their customer service, saved me a drive in the middle of the night to Fort St. John and flew the collars up on their first plane to Fort Nelson on thursday morning. Fly CMA!

Don Lewis out of the PG Fire Center who rigged up a radio receiver for me at the very last minute and sent it up from Prince George with CO Nathan Smienk.

Conservation Officer Nathan Smienk who allowed me to play a really good joke on him but then ended up saving the day by picking up the receiver from PG and almost being the ultimate champ of picking up the collars in Fort St. John except that they didn't make it there in time ... the lesson learned here is that if you ever need to fly something quickly from one location to another, make sure that you send it express or priority and not just general delivery. General delivery allows for your GPS collars to sit all day and night in the Pearson airport in Toronto and then after finally getting to Vancouver, it also allows them to miss 2 out of 3 flights to northern BC which really, really makes people attempting to do research loose a lot of sleep!!!! Nathan - you're a life saver! I'm glad you're part of the north country crew.

Marten Geertsema who picked up and dropped off the receiver from PGFC to CO Nathan after a large workload kept him very busy - thank you for doing that Marten and thank you for talking me through my intense distressed phone calls that felt like they were quite numerous over the past 2 weeks!!!

Gator - Zone Protection Officer - who I'm not sure what I would do without and who never appears to get rattled - thank you for coming up to help me get those first 2 collars connected and helping to figure out the receiver to check the VHF frequency on the collars! Thank you for your patience Gator and for your support.
Gator helping to test the VHF frequency before deployment.

Ladies at Greyhound who helped with the shipping to the Yukon and loaded the box as the bus starting to load ...

Darwin and Wendy Cary of Scoop Lake Outfitters who provided logistical support and patience in waiting for the collars to arrive in Watson Lake for their pickup!

Brady Allred for the last minute question that I realized I thought about right before I put the collars on the bus - does it matter the sex of the animal to be collared?!

Ty Schippmann who saved the day literally by helping me put the collars together the right way and siliconing them! Not sure how to repay that good catch that I had missed ... doesn't matter if I have a PhD or not - somethings are just natural intelligence eh? Good thing Ty was there to make sure the collars got put together right!!!
Ty working on the collars at my desk

Blaine Anderson who provided amazing technical support just in the nick of time

Peter Hisch and Dave Gasper – Peter put us in touch with Dave out of Rocky Mountain Forest District/ Fire Center who helped teach Gator and I how to run the receiver so we could hit the frequency of each collar
Testing the collars

Michelle Edwards and Stephanie Wilkie – box makers and support staff extraordinaire! Thanks for having my back Edwards - your boxes were awesome!
Stephanie and I heading to the aiport to ship the last 2 sets of collars out to the mountains

Peter Villers and Tracy at Villers Air Service who were kind enough to fly the 2 boxes of collars out to the mountains for me. Amazing pilots - great people!!! http://www.villersair.com/ Fly Villers!!!!

Larry and Lori Warren of Tuchodi River Outfitters for helping with the logistics of collar deployment!

Barry Tompkins, Gwen and Vicki of Big 9/ High and Wild Wilderness Safaris for their logistical support! Thank you ladies for being in such great communication with me as I was getting things figured out. I send good thoughts so that the collars can be deployed as soon as the wind dies down!

Brent Bye, Gator and Stanley from the PG Fire Center and Fort Nelson NIFAC for getting me up in the air to start figuring out how I'm going to do my vegetation work and mapping, as well as to Stanley for teaching me about fire behaviour and Gator for talking about carbon with me.

Additional technical (and emotional) support: Ranger Al, Jeff Scott, Liard River Adventures' Schippmanns, Mum and Trevor, Chad Nixon and Laura Hickman, Conrad Thiessen, Laurie and Barry Dolan, Shelly Boulton, Stephanie Smith and Lana Lowe.

And for their above and beyond support, I can not thank the following 2 enough:
The BC Range Program - I can't say enough about the wonderful people in the range program and especially at Range Branch who are helping me out. Thank y'all!!!

Dr. Sam Fuhlendorf for giving me the reins to steer through some really thick brush and then arriving out on top of the big country overlooking the rangelands that we all cherish so much. Thanks for the support from so far away - it was a tough ride but I think I hung on for the whole 8 seconds ... where's the belt buckle?

And the data collection begins!!

Nice collars! (3300L from Lotek)

I couldn't do this without a little help from my friends across the Province. I tip my hat to y'all and thank you sincerely very much for being part of the ride with me!I know this was a big push to get this part of the research up and off the ground and that it really only has taken shape in the last 30 days, but, we almost did it - as long as that last set of collars makes it safely to Big 9 ... the winds really should die down soon I hope for you Barry ...

Back in the land of the midnight sun

It's hard to say what has happened to my brain in the past 6 months but something sure has.

I made it back home to the north country after some intense final exams of which I am thankful for having had the opportunity to write as odd as that may sound. I was fortunate to join Sam in attending the US Forest Service National Grassland Manager's AGM at Quartz Mountain in western Oklahoma. It was a very unique opportunity to connect with my counterparts in the USFS and although we manage different ground, there were many things that united us. Obviously the biggest one was the use of prescribed fire. It would appear to me that the US is very progressive in their use of fire from ranchers to scientists to government agencies including the USFS.

We had the good chance to tour the Black Kettle National Grasslands and visit a research site where they have demonstrations of prescribed fire plots which Dr. Dwayne Elmore and Sam lead us through. I thought I was really going to get zapped by a snake there. Conditions were perfect.

A very early late night and early morning saw me hoping onto my plane out of Oklahoma City with the sun shining brightly but my heart feeling a bit heavy leaving my new friends and extended family in the US for my family, true love and home, in Canada.

I never expected the return back home to be as challenging as it was. I have been home for a month now and have been hastled by a few folks for not keeping on top of the last bit of school. Life happens and I am just now getting back into the swing of things - reading books again and thumbing through some stellar papers that I am desiring to read soon ... the latest flavor that I am enjoying on my mind is landscape ecology mixed with heterogeneity. I may have gotten bitten by a bug that is thinking that those are some key words to carry us forward into the future.

To say that I am continually challenged with the search for science to support management decisions does not quite hit it. How can we be expected to appropriately, effectively and efficiently manage the land remotely? What happens when we place economics over biologic and ecologic principles, demands, desires and needs? Consumerism, materialism, over indulgence, greed, a society so dependent on buy and use without care - that is where I find myself and as sick as it makes me, I am my own worst enemey driving a vehicle again (after 4 months without it), cooking and heating with natural gas and realizing that I am surrounded by petroleum products.

The Horn River play continues to fuel the world around me up here and I struggle without knowing what the baseline data for our water, air, vegetation and wildlife communities are. If I am consuming beyond my needs and drawing on the products that are being extracted from the shale in the earth's core up here, how can I possibly expect to be part of a solution?

Perhaps this may all sound far from range management and statistical analysis but after reading Holechek's range management text book (every single word from front to back), I take away with me the emphasis that he and others are placing on rangelands to help provide for our future generations. And part of that is maintaining biodiversity - clean water or even just plain old water. I resist becomming a paper pusher because I believe we all have a vital role to play in the future of our land. Aware that naivete runs rampant through my veins, I know what I propose is a task that consumes more than myself.

So for now - I look to the wildfire management branch, to the ecosystem restoration team leaders, to my research team and our BC wide project, to my guidance at Oklahoma State, Range Branch and to my family - my mum and Trevor - to help us through this research that I believe in, which I vision will provide information for appropriate, effective and efficient management of the natural resource. Like the famous Red Green says: "we're all in this together ... keep your stick on the ice." This one's for you Brent Bye - Senior Protection Officer, Prince George Fire Center - a friend of fire, a man with guts and one hell of a friend!

The final sprint!

Master's Women 2x with Regina Montag heading into the final leg of the Gorge Head Race, 2001.

It was always an exciting part of the race when we would shift into the last 500m. All that work that had been done in the first 1300 to 1600m of the race was past us and that final reach to the line was approaching. Stroke by stroke, winding it up and moving together, (ideally in unison!) with guts wrenching and blood pumping through bodies that were soaked with lactic acid. Perhaps not as physically intense as rowing a 2km race, my last week here at Oklahoma State has reminded me of those races and how it felt to leave it all out there having rowed the best I could row on that day, in that boat, on that water, in those conditions with that crew.

Vikes Women's Rowing Team 2004.

National Champions Danny Buchanan and Keith Siklenka on the podium at the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Championships putting Belmont High School on the map.

UVic Men's Novice Alumni at Monster Erg 2005.

Vikes Varsity and Junior Varsity Men with the Vikes Women racing in Oregon.

Lorena Campbell and I after the Sr. Women's 2x at the BC Championships Regatta on Elk Lake in 2004. One of the best partners and friends I have ever had the honour to know.

UVic Junior Varsity Heavy Men's 8+ in Oregon.

We won races. We lost races. We trained hard and we raced even harder and smarter. Here at Oklahoma State University, I have been pushed harder than I have ever been pushed before. I now understand that it is not enough to work hard. Critical thinking and analysis along with scientific breadth and depth are vital to success as a scientist. I am coming back to Canada with more questions than I had when I left and with the realization that I now know how little I really do know. My greatest reflections here that I will continue in the north country are around carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, conservation and biodiversity, "proper" range and grazing management, invasive and alien species management, the aesthetics around disturbance, the desire and need to keep fire in ecosystems, and how we can incorporate our scientific knowledge with political and social decisions.

My role model, friend and mum giving me some last words before I push off. Howie Campbell told me once that you never forget where you came from. You are so right Howie.

Bitter sweet - 2 weeks to go!

Who would have thought that 4 months in America could have been such an interesting ride? As I march my way through the last few assignments and readings I am gearing up for my final exams. It has been intense to say the least! I am definitely ready to go home, but I know I will leave with a slight heavy heart. These are really good people down here in Oklahoma. They are polite, kind and generous. The graduate students who surround me are very bright, interesting and highly intelligent human beings. The lively (often very lively especially in our office) discussions that we have range anywhere from theoretical to practical science, the definition of raw v. cooked food, religion and evolution, whether or not mushrooms are truly edible to lowtek collars and carbon sequestration capabilities of the invasive and encroaching (but native - just for my forestry class) eastern redcedar which is actually a juniper. I have never been so challenged academically or intellectually as I have by these good people - including professors.

This past week, Dr. Wes Jackson from the Land Institute was the sponsored speaker by the NREM Grad Student's Organization. This is Steve introducing Dr. Jackson.

I still wonder why we use the word recover after a disturbance and I imagine that I will keep realizing that things I have said in the past are not truly right but that is adaptive thought isn't it?! I thought I would come down here and work my fingers to the bone and my brain to mush, getting scientific breadth and depth. I can say that the journey for those quests has started, but even more significantly, I have found a community of people - professors and fellow students alike - who have proved to me that there are good people everywhere. To say that I will miss these good folks (even the foresters and "snakey" guys) is an understatement. These people have made this experience truly amazing and I am already looking forward to my next trip back down here.

I had the good fortune to partake in the 2010 Zoology Crawfish boil. It was interesting. I might rather eat mushrooms.

Saw my first possum although it was squished.

I had the amazing opportunity to experience one of the world's largest migrations of Sandhill cranes, snow geese and other birds. Thanks to Steve for this incredible experience!

Stephen Winter, Sam Fuhlendorf, me and Jamals John outside our blind on the Platte River, Nebraska.

On the same trip to Nebraska, Steve took us to an amazing dream come true of mine: native seed production at its finest! http://www.prairieplains.org/restoration_.htm

At Steve's tallgrass prairie that he has been restoring at his home in Nebraska.

It is good to be here - it has been an interesting 4+ months. I will be sad to leave, but it is time for me to go home. I look forward to being back inside of a comfort zone, back in my home with my community and to see my family. Back in my country - our country - true north strong and free where the beaver dams the river and the lightning brings beautiful fire! Always proud to be a Canadienne.

Klemme

Klemme Range Research Station in Western Oklahoma where my good friend and fellow grad student Emily Hiatt is doing her Master's research on patch burning.
http://www.oaes.okstate.edu/field-and-research-service-unit/marvin-klemme-range-research-station-1

Out on the range with Sam, Emily and Isis.

Incredible cacti!


Bouteloua sp. - Grama grass

Canadian wildrye - Elymus canadensis

Anemone

One of the larger lakes at Klemme - strong contrast of the red dirt and the redcedar.

Emily Hiatt, Graduate Research Assistant and MS student also working with Sam.

Transition zone between riparian and mixed grass prairie.

Emily and Sam discussing sampling methods and experimental design.

Nightshade!!!!!

Isis in the tallgrass

Windpower down here as well.

Sam, Emily and I out at Klemme.

Bravery and pride

"What about this? Is this a healthy riparian area? Is it functioning properly?"

"And tell me about this one - is this a functioning riparian area?"

And this is the look that Sam and Isis give me when I try to answer the question(s) about riparian areas. Basically, I didn't know to begin with and now I definitely have no clue what a functioning riparian area should look like!!!!

3 months in America and I still wake up wondering where I am. It remains a challenge to be surrounded by crowds of people with some folks walking so closely behind me. Maybe I've gotten bushed living up in the north country, but this civilization thing sure is different then getting out into the high hills with the freedom, vastness and openess that Robert Service also felt so passionately about. I also wonder a lot about what I'm doing here - pretty much on a daily basis! I'm looking at my latest purchase off of Amazon.com which is Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change by William H. Schlesinger and I find myself thinking - wow - this is so cool and exciting and interesting, how come we don't talk about it more at work?!
Patch burn pastures

I am aware that what I am about to type will sound silly to most folks, but taking 4 grad classes is fairly time consuming. Sometimes it does feel like school gets in the way of research but then I remind myself that when I get home, I will have plenty of time to read and research, sitting on my lazy boy in my new house!
First spring flowers at the Cross Timbers Experimental Range

I'm currently plowing my way through our latest Forestry exam. I think that it's funny that Rod has made Stuart and I sit further apart in class because we are on each other constantly about range vs. forests. It's funny also to think about that discussion in an even larger sense - we all manage natural resources so we should all be aware of the system as a whole. I can see even better now how there has to be a balance between politics, society and science. Although, I would also argue that we need the science as a base - a logos to balance out and root our mythos in.
Were these one tree a hundred years ago or were there 3 trees there before? Who knows? Out at CTER last weekend.

The new languages that I am learning are starting to become more familiar. SAS coding in statistics is not like a second language yet, but it sure is slowly starting to make a bit more sense than my minimal knowledge of mandarin. We are being introduced to coordinate systems and the world of mapping in GIS. That language is not quite on the tip of my tongue either! Range management however, is starting to spill out of my mouth and I am able to understand where a lot of our range work in BC is founded and why the legislation reads the way it may for reasons of soil conservation and water health.
Carbon sequestration.

Do we seed crested wheatgrass in BC? Matthew Braun of the Range Branch has caught my attention at my potentially over-generalized statement on an earlier blog. I had seen crested wheatgrass on our range readiness criteria list as well as SMOOTH BROME! I have been learning that they are both highly invasive species and my comment was to reflect the concern that we may be planting non-native invasive species on our rangelands since we measure RRC for them. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/HRA/Publications/brochures/Rangeland_Health_Brochure11.pdf
The chewed up and spat out magnolia tree outside my windown with windchills down the -10C which I normally would have laughed at but somehow, that was a bit chilly!!

Seriously, this is 24 hours after it was +23C!!! Thought I was back up in Nellie.

So, after it was +23C on the friday before spring break, then there was a blizzard and total white out just about the following day where I apparently forgot how to walk on ice, then it hit +21C 24 hours later. That was last week. This week I almost melted on my way to hunt for lunch and then I saw that it was +28C and went up to +31C by the end of the afternoon. Then it hailed the other night or at least I thought it did, but when I woke up, there was nothing white around which was weird - I must have been dreaming. When I went outside I realized that it had hailed but that it was so hot that it all melted so fast. This is crazy Wx! Right now it's +18C and it's almost midnight. I guess my vacation in the deep hot south has just begun?!
Holechek comes with me everywhere, even in blizzards!

Finally found me some food without pepper in it! My first meal on my "camping trip" in Drummond Residence

I have convinced myself that I am just on a camping trip and that has helped me make it through some of the tougher days. I'm sleeping in my sleeping bag on top of all my sheets and I'm pretending that the small hot plate I just purchased at one of the two local WalMarts is my campfire. I make things like rice and kraft dinner on it and in the mornings, it even provides me with some hot water. I didn't think that some of the things about being here would be as challenging as they have been. One of the greatest things that I have re-discovered is that bravery comes at a high cost. I was also reminded by a couple good friends that it's OK to admit when things are not going great and it's OK to rely on those around me to help me through it. So I'd just like to give a shout out to Sam and Steve. And defintely also to my mum, Trevor and Karla. Red Greene was so right when he said we're all in this together eh?

Ray Moranz's PhD defense - "The Prairie Butterfly: how does a disturbance sensitive species survive in a disturbance-prone ecosystem?"

Dipesh - a fellow grad students - is from Nepal
Regina Henry and I at Cultural Night - thanks for a great night Regina!!!!

Although I have my head slammed in my books for most of the time, tonight I was invited by Regina Henry of the International Students and Scholars to the Cultural evening on campus. It was an absolutely phenomenal event with dancing, drumming and performances from all over the world. Not only did I leave with my jaw dragging on the ground from being in such awe over my fellow international students, I also came away with the reminder of how proud I am of being a Canadienne. Our country is so amazing and we are so fortunate and blessed to live in such a land. My name is Sonja and I AM CANADIAN eh?!
Guess what this is? SNAKE SKIN!!!!! Where there's snake skins there's snakes!!!!