How did I get here? The story of how I figured out what to do with my (grad school) life.
This post was written about a particular day I recorded in my journal during my last field season of my Master's degree in 2016.
All my friends will tell you, I don't like the cold. What's the point of needing cumbersome layers just to stay warm, when you could be somewhere warm and sunny with only swim trunks on? Migratory birds making their annual trips from the north to the tropics for the winter has always made a lot of sense to me. I love being barefoot on warm summer days with a breeze blowing, sweat flowing, and spirits high. I would take 95 degrees and humid over 35 degrees any day. At the moment though, I'm wearing three layers with a rain shell and knit wool gloves, it's a cool 50 degrees, and rain is pattering down through leaves above me onto my wide-brim hat. I am soaking wet, but haven't been sweaty in days. I'm sitting huddled on the ground, forced to stay still to keep one eye staring through a spotting scope. And I'm loving it. To understand why, though, I'll have to backtrack a bit.
I have always been interested in the natural world - specifically animals. I brought binoculars and a clipboard with me to 'career day' - in the first grade. I watched nature documentaries on replay so that I could study the natural movement of a tiger's walk just so I could mimic it while playing on all fours with my sisters. I dreamed of doing field research all over the world, spending months outside collecting data, discovering new behaviors and insights about the natural world. I followed these dreams through my college career at Virginia Tech, getting a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Science and working for multiple field research projects. After graduating, I continued doing field research, traveling across the globe to work on different projects. I kept one eye toward gaining as much experience as I could in both general life and my research career, and the other eye toward finding a sweet project to work on for a Master's degree. These two goals intersected beautifully one day in April of 2013, while I was working for a project on the Big Island of Hawaii. That intersection led me to where I sit today. In the rain. And most definitely a bit cold.
At that point in my life I knew what I loved doing, field research, but not really what I wanted to do with it in the future. I had ideas on going to grad school and getting a Masters degree, but no exacting plan on when, where, or about what I would do research on. "What is the pattern? What is the question?" is a quote I would hear in the future again and again while taking a class from one of my graduate school committee members. The thing is, when I first showed up in Hawaii, I had no idea what question I wanted to answer with my graduate research. Hell, I didn't even know what topic it should be on within the broad scope of conservation and wildlife research.
I came to Hawaii for the first time in early March of 2013. A project on the Big Island studying the the biology of all the forest birds in Hawaii got late funding, and put out a job posting for a position to start ASAP. This position was for someone who could search for and monitor bird nests, something I had recently done on another job. I had always wanted to work with the birds that live in Hawaii, since they are unique and live there and no where else on Earth. Still, I considered this job simply a quick stopover before moving on to my next research gig in Oregon. Once I started working in Hawaii however, I began to get very interested in how different the Hawaiian birds are compared with birds I had worked with on the mainland USA. They are an odd bunch of species that evolved for millions of years in isolation from the common causes of bird death - no winter seasons to migrate away from, no diseases spread by pesky mosquitoes, and no mammal or reptile predators. This isolation has meant that they evolved unique traits, like the fact that they lay fewer eggs than their mainland relatives. Also, their babies stay in the nest until a much older age than forest birds on the mainland. Most baby birds leave the nest as soon as they grow a decent feather covering, but before they are actually able to fly. However, I saw baby Hawaiian birds jumping around their nests, flapping their wings to gain strength, and eventually flying straight away into other trees!
These types of odd traits and behaviors are began to interest the part of my mind that gets really excited about evolution, and how species change over time to adapt to their surroundings. I checked nests daily, watching parents sit on eggs and feed babies and recording behaviors. I considered how their isolation from many types of predators, and the fact that they don't deal with the pressures of migrating in the fall (because if you lived in Hawaii, would you leave either?), may have really changed how they care for their young. On that day in April 2013, I met with a couple coworkers and our boss to talk about how the field work was going (this was the first year of the project). My boss was excited with our progress in figuring out how to monitor the breeding of these birds, and mentioned that he would love to have us come back the following year. Right at that moment, it started to click. Why wouldn't I want to come back? This could be the project I have been looking for to do my Masters research on. And the question? While it wasn't clearly hammered out yet, the general topic certainly was - if Hawaiian birds are so different from mainland birds in terms of their life history traits (how many young they have each year, how long they care for them, how long do they live, etc.), do they also have very different behaviors relating to how they raise their young? Further, if they do have different behaviors, how quickly can those behaviors change if their environment has changed? It will probably not come as a surprise, but Hawaii is extremely different today than it was 1,000 years ago. It is nicknamed the extinction capital of the world for good reason - humans have caused drastic habitat change and introduced lots of animal and plant species to the islands. Many bird species have gone extinct due to losing their habitat for breeding and finding food, as well as being eaten by introduced predators and dying from introduced diseases. Forest birds from the US and Asia have also been introduced to Hawaii, and these provide a good baseline with which to compare how Hawaiian birds behave.
My boss thought this topic sounded cool, and could be easily incorporated into the project as we were currently running it. So, I talked to professors, applied to schools, got accepted to Northern Arizona University under Dr. Theimer, and ended up going back to Hawaii to start doing my own research into how Hawaiian bird behaviors differed from mainland birds, and what those behaviors can tell us that can help us ensure these birds survive in today's world. I was very lucky to start working for this project in Hawaii when did, during its first year, as I could help design it and incorporate my research directly into our regular field work. This was pretty much the ideal scenario I had been searching for since graduating from Virginia Tech. A great project to do graduate research on, gain meaningful research experience, and be able to live and explore a place in the world that I otherwise wouldn't have gone to.
This leads me to today, sitting behind a spotting scope lens at 6,000 feet in elevation, in a sopping wet Hawaiian rainforest, staring at an Iiwi'i sitting on her eggs. Despite the dreary and endlessly wet weather conditions, I am loving this moment. Sitting here and staring at this bright red bird with her huge curved bill, I am struck by how amazing it is that I am here doing what I always dreamed of - traveling the world studying new behaviors and insights about the natural world.
However, field research isn't soley about the data, and the results, and saving species from extinction. Sometimes its about getting to experience life the same way the individual species you are studying does. Its about sitting in the cold rain, unmoving, just like the bird you are watching as she keeps her eggs warm. Its about watching her leave the nest and be given some food by her mate, make a couple squawks, and dutifully fly back to the nest to continue incubating her eggs. Its about simply observing nature as it is, without any other purpose. And because of these pure observations, you are in a position to find out reasons why things happen, and figure out new ways to allow a diversity of species to survive in this human-dominated world. I think field research is a beautiful intersection between gaining pure life experiences and answering some of life's scientific questions. This is why I am loving being cold and wet, wearing many layers, and not seeing hot sunshine for days on end.
All my friends will tell you, I don't like the cold. What's the point of needing cumbersome layers just to stay warm, when you could be somewhere warm and sunny with only swim trunks on? Migratory birds making their annual trips from the north to the tropics for the winter has always made a lot of sense to me. I love being barefoot on warm summer days with a breeze blowing, sweat flowing, and spirits high. I would take 95 degrees and humid over 35 degrees any day. At the moment though, I'm wearing three layers with a rain shell and knit wool gloves, it's a cool 50 degrees, and rain is pattering down through leaves above me onto my wide-brim hat. I am soaking wet, but haven't been sweaty in days. I'm sitting huddled on the ground, forced to stay still to keep one eye staring through a spotting scope. And I'm loving it. To understand why, though, I'll have to backtrack a bit.
 |
| It is often very foggy and rainy when you are at higher elevations in Hawaii |
I have always been interested in the natural world - specifically animals. I brought binoculars and a clipboard with me to 'career day' - in the first grade. I watched nature documentaries on replay so that I could study the natural movement of a tiger's walk just so I could mimic it while playing on all fours with my sisters. I dreamed of doing field research all over the world, spending months outside collecting data, discovering new behaviors and insights about the natural world. I followed these dreams through my college career at Virginia Tech, getting a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Science and working for multiple field research projects. After graduating, I continued doing field research, traveling across the globe to work on different projects. I kept one eye toward gaining as much experience as I could in both general life and my research career, and the other eye toward finding a sweet project to work on for a Master's degree. These two goals intersected beautifully one day in April of 2013, while I was working for a project on the Big Island of Hawaii. That intersection led me to where I sit today. In the rain. And most definitely a bit cold.
 |
| Looking at birds is a lot more difficult in a foggy rainforest than in many other places I have worked! |
At that point in my life I knew what I loved doing, field research, but not really what I wanted to do with it in the future. I had ideas on going to grad school and getting a Masters degree, but no exacting plan on when, where, or about what I would do research on. "What is the pattern? What is the question?" is a quote I would hear in the future again and again while taking a class from one of my graduate school committee members. The thing is, when I first showed up in Hawaii, I had no idea what question I wanted to answer with my graduate research. Hell, I didn't even know what topic it should be on within the broad scope of conservation and wildlife research.
 |
| graduate students trying to figure out how to answer 'the question' in Field Ecology class |
I came to Hawaii for the first time in early March of 2013. A project on the Big Island studying the the biology of all the forest birds in Hawaii got late funding, and put out a job posting for a position to start ASAP. This position was for someone who could search for and monitor bird nests, something I had recently done on another job. I had always wanted to work with the birds that live in Hawaii, since they are unique and live there and no where else on Earth. Still, I considered this job simply a quick stopover before moving on to my next research gig in Oregon. Once I started working in Hawaii however, I began to get very interested in how different the Hawaiian birds are compared with birds I had worked with on the mainland USA. They are an odd bunch of species that evolved for millions of years in isolation from the common causes of bird death - no winter seasons to migrate away from, no diseases spread by pesky mosquitoes, and no mammal or reptile predators. This isolation has meant that they evolved unique traits, like the fact that they lay fewer eggs than their mainland relatives. Also, their babies stay in the nest until a much older age than forest birds on the mainland. Most baby birds leave the nest as soon as they grow a decent feather covering, but before they are actually able to fly. However, I saw baby Hawaiian birds jumping around their nests, flapping their wings to gain strength, and eventually flying straight away into other trees!
 |
| young i'iwi that recently left the nest |
These types of odd traits and behaviors are began to interest the part of my mind that gets really excited about evolution, and how species change over time to adapt to their surroundings. I checked nests daily, watching parents sit on eggs and feed babies and recording behaviors. I considered how their isolation from many types of predators, and the fact that they don't deal with the pressures of migrating in the fall (because if you lived in Hawaii, would you leave either?), may have really changed how they care for their young. On that day in April 2013, I met with a couple coworkers and our boss to talk about how the field work was going (this was the first year of the project). My boss was excited with our progress in figuring out how to monitor the breeding of these birds, and mentioned that he would love to have us come back the following year. Right at that moment, it started to click. Why wouldn't I want to come back? This could be the project I have been looking for to do my Masters research on. And the question? While it wasn't clearly hammered out yet, the general topic certainly was - if Hawaiian birds are so different from mainland birds in terms of their life history traits (how many young they have each year, how long they care for them, how long do they live, etc.), do they also have very different behaviors relating to how they raise their young? Further, if they do have different behaviors, how quickly can those behaviors change if their environment has changed? It will probably not come as a surprise, but Hawaii is extremely different today than it was 1,000 years ago. It is nicknamed the extinction capital of the world for good reason - humans have caused drastic habitat change and introduced lots of animal and plant species to the islands. Many bird species have gone extinct due to losing their habitat for breeding and finding food, as well as being eaten by introduced predators and dying from introduced diseases. Forest birds from the US and Asia have also been introduced to Hawaii, and these provide a good baseline with which to compare how Hawaiian birds behave.
My boss thought this topic sounded cool, and could be easily incorporated into the project as we were currently running it. So, I talked to professors, applied to schools, got accepted to Northern Arizona University under Dr. Theimer, and ended up going back to Hawaii to start doing my own research into how Hawaiian bird behaviors differed from mainland birds, and what those behaviors can tell us that can help us ensure these birds survive in today's world. I was very lucky to start working for this project in Hawaii when did, during its first year, as I could help design it and incorporate my research directly into our regular field work. This was pretty much the ideal scenario I had been searching for since graduating from Virginia Tech. A great project to do graduate research on, gain meaningful research experience, and be able to live and explore a place in the world that I otherwise wouldn't have gone to.
This leads me to today, sitting behind a spotting scope lens at 6,000 feet in elevation, in a sopping wet Hawaiian rainforest, staring at an Iiwi'i sitting on her eggs. Despite the dreary and endlessly wet weather conditions, I am loving this moment. Sitting here and staring at this bright red bird with her huge curved bill, I am struck by how amazing it is that I am here doing what I always dreamed of - traveling the world studying new behaviors and insights about the natural world.
 |
| I'iwi singing from an ohelo bush |
However, field research isn't soley about the data, and the results, and saving species from extinction. Sometimes its about getting to experience life the same way the individual species you are studying does. Its about sitting in the cold rain, unmoving, just like the bird you are watching as she keeps her eggs warm. Its about watching her leave the nest and be given some food by her mate, make a couple squawks, and dutifully fly back to the nest to continue incubating her eggs. Its about simply observing nature as it is, without any other purpose. And because of these pure observations, you are in a position to find out reasons why things happen, and figure out new ways to allow a diversity of species to survive in this human-dominated world. I think field research is a beautiful intersection between gaining pure life experiences and answering some of life's scientific questions. This is why I am loving being cold and wet, wearing many layers, and not seeing hot sunshine for days on end.
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