Busy Busy Bee(s)

Trying to keep this post short and simple because a lot has happened in the last six days.

Friday- I went out in the field with Gray and Grace, I felt kind of useless at first, all I could really do was mark trees for plots. Like Grace said, I did enjoy learning about trees though! I was surprised how easy it is to identify some trees just by the bark, branches, and what's laying on the ground near the tree. I took some good candid pictures while the other two were being productive with data collection.

Sunday- After I got off work, Alyson and I went to the lab and picked through some of her samples. It was like I was back in the saddle again from when I did that for Mandy Bates. I always enjoy picking samples, it's like a puzzle! I think Alyson needs everyone to help when they can, even if they can only do one/two samples. She's doing a great job but she still has to ID and analyze in order to get her data!

Tuesday- Steve Polaskey helped Josh and I with NH4 sampling. We realized that NH4 is a butt. Not only are the reagents used for the analytical techniques SUPER toxic, but after all the samples are prepped, we have to let them sit in the dark for a minimum of SIX HOURS! So after everything was prepped and set up, we decided we were done for the day.

Wednesday- So we ran our samples, and we realized that we are going to have to run them all over again. You know you messed something up when all 7 of your standards read the same value. We assumed that we would need to dilute our samples down to 10% of the original because our spec only reads to 84 ug/L and according to Allyn's results, ammonium averages were in a range from 100-650 ug/L. Now we know that was a silly idea, and we also know somewhere along the lines we really messed up our standards and we need to re-make our stock solution. I don't know if I believe the instructions' metrics so i'll be double checking that before we make more. Anywho, it was a great learning experience.

Wednesday Night- The Steering Committee met today. From what I was able to attend, I feel like they are really happy with where they have gotten. They have identified areas based on their necessity to be conserved. They also want to focus on the wetland areas that are heavily forested because apparently the CORP doesn't have any regulations on timber harvesting in wetlands. One thing I did notice in the meeting is that there is an education gap between the residents and the scientists. One resident north of Maumelle was the prime example of that. He kept voicing his concern about flooding in his town, and how he thought the best action would be to dig a ditch within the white oak creek to alleviate some of this backup. We all tried to educate him that managing the wetland and preserving other parts would solve his flooding problem somewhat, but as long as development continues, the flooding in his neighborhood will worsen. He still didn't understand. We need to figure out a simple way to communicate to the residents that digging ditches is counterproductive.