The Ozark Hellbender

  Wow, two posts in one week. I can't help it. I'm really having a great time this semester. I've given my first talk (just a couple of minutes on a news item of the day), written my first lab report (plant ecophysiology), already working on my second lab report (also plant eco). That may sound a little crazy that we've done two lab reports but the first report was a short lab study of plasticity in leaf morphology and the second lab is a refresher on plant growth graphing of sigmoid curves and the math that goes with it.

    Friday we'll be visiting the site of our wetland remediation (Practicum)  for the first time which is awesome.
      
  The other major project is in Anthropology of the Ozarks and I have developed the topic for my research project. The current incarnation of my project is a literature review of the research involved in the attempt to save the Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) which was put on the endangered species list in 2011. I say current incarnation because tomorrow in class we present the outline to small groups and get feedback, input ect. After tomorrow's class the outline may change. 

Photo courtesy of the Sierra Club copied from Google Images

As always,
thanks for reading

A new semester has started

      It is the second week in the new semester and I am excited about the work I will be doing this semester. I am part of a team conducting the initial assessment of a piece of property that a local family is putting into a wetlands mitigation bank. I'll be working primarily in the plant population assessment and will also assist the other students working on vertebrate assessment. The first look at the property will take place on Friday and I'll have an update then.
       I have an independent research project my Plant Ecophysiology class that is yet to be determined. Papers to write in Religion and Pop Culture, Cultural Anthropolgy, and Water Resources. I also will be conducting an independent research project in Cultural Anthropology--the Ozarks.