California Biome tour: Ecology and Conservation Biology
One of our students, Dion, traveled to Hawaii with us earlier this year where she was inspired to organize and plan a summer trip to California. She had never been out of the Twin Cities until she went to Hawaii and had never been on a plane. She decided then that she couldn't continue to sit back and live the same routine without getting out of her element a little. She wanted to try new things, lots of things, anywhere and everywhere she could. She mentioned that she had never been camping before, so naturally I showed her pictures of Yosemite National Park in California, and a few minutes later we were looking for flights to San Francisco! In just a couple of days she pulled together a preliminary trip proposal on a powerpoint with a mission statement, budget, itinerary, etc., which she proposed to the school board in January. They voted to allow the trip, pending fundraising. Since then the students have pulled together a variety of awesome fundraisers. Check them out on the "fundraising" tab. Below was the preliminary plan that Dion presented to the board. Things have changed drastically since then! She has RE-PLANNED this trip several times to make it the best, most educational trip she could.
The Plan is official!
Dion spent the last couple of months since proposing her trip plan to the board, researching the area and refining the details. There have been a few minor bumps in planning along the way, but it is coming together nicely. Dion has worked hard the past several months organizing fundraisers and ironing out the details of this trip, and now our flights are officially booked. We will be taking off to San Francisco on June 12, 2013.
PRE AND POST STUDIES
Ecology Pre-Seminar: I started an ecology pre-seminar this week. For the next six weeks we will be diving into the concept of biomes, ecosystems, communities, populations and species. They will learn about predator/prey relationships, food webs, niche, competition, carrying capacity, symbiotic relationships, k-species, r-species, succession and other important concepts. The students will design their own experiments based on observations they've made in the field. They will explore the variety of field research methodologies including population sampling, time/energy budgets, radio-telemetry tracking, capture and release, GPS tagging and GIS technologies, and more.
Group Summary Project: The students were required to create one, large group project on ecology in connection with this trip. The students traveling with me to California decided that their project would be to compare and contrast the ecosystems found in Minnesota and California. They will do this by visiting the different environements in both states. At each location they will collect the following data: temperature, humidity, altitude, wind speed, dominant plant species and dominant animal species. They will then map their results and decide if their data correctly matches up with the descriptions of those ecosystems in which they will visit. Some of the habitats they will study include grassland/prairie (MN), coniferous forest (MN/CA), deciduous forest (MN/CA), chapperal (CA), desert (CA), mountain (CA), coast (CA) and more.
Daily Blog: The students and myself will keep a daily journal documenting our educational experiences and adventures while on this trip. We will update daily starting June 13. Check back right here on this page, and follow us on our journey through California.
PRE AND POST STUDIES
Ecology Pre-Seminar: I started an ecology pre-seminar this week. For the next six weeks we will be diving into the concept of biomes, ecosystems, communities, populations and species. They will learn about predator/prey relationships, food webs, niche, competition, carrying capacity, symbiotic relationships, k-species, r-species, succession and other important concepts. The students will design their own experiments based on observations they've made in the field. They will explore the variety of field research methodologies including population sampling, time/energy budgets, radio-telemetry tracking, capture and release, GPS tagging and GIS technologies, and more.
Group Summary Project: The students were required to create one, large group project on ecology in connection with this trip. The students traveling with me to California decided that their project would be to compare and contrast the ecosystems found in Minnesota and California. They will do this by visiting the different environements in both states. At each location they will collect the following data: temperature, humidity, altitude, wind speed, dominant plant species and dominant animal species. They will then map their results and decide if their data correctly matches up with the descriptions of those ecosystems in which they will visit. Some of the habitats they will study include grassland/prairie (MN), coniferous forest (MN/CA), deciduous forest (MN/CA), chapperal (CA), desert (CA), mountain (CA), coast (CA) and more.
Daily Blog: The students and myself will keep a daily journal documenting our educational experiences and adventures while on this trip. We will update daily starting June 13. Check back right here on this page, and follow us on our journey through California.
Trip ItineraryWednesday, June 12:
Travel Evening arrival to San Francisco Int. Airport Camp north of San Fran Thursday, June 13: Acclimate to time change! Tour San Francisco Bay Area - Little Italy, China Town, Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, Telegraph Hill, Haight/Ashbury (everything we can crush into one day!) Boat trip to Alcatraz, night tour of the famous prison Camp north of San Fran Friday, June 14: Golden Gate Park/Bridge - Urban Ecology Lab Muir Woods - Red Woods Ecology Lab Camp north of San Fran Saturday, June 15: UC, Davis California National Primate Research Center - -4 hour workshop and tour with research primatologists Mount Tamalpais Summit - Mountain Ecology Lab Camp north of San Fran Sunday, June 16: Move to Pinnacles National Park California Condor Conservation - Interpretive program provided by Ventana Wilderness Society Talus Caves, Bear Gulch Cave - Cave Ecology Lab Chapperal Hike - chapperal ecology lab/activity Monday, June 17: Move to Pfeifer Big Sur State Park - beautiful drive along coast on hwy 1. Stop at to view migrating humpback Hike to Pfeifer Beach - Coastal Ecology Lab Snorkel at Pfeifer Beach Jade Cove Trail and Beach - short hike to cove where the students can legally find and collect jade Camp at Pfeifer Big Sur State Park Campground in the red woods Tuesday, June 18: Last day! Move north to Monterey, CA Monterey Bay Aquarium - famous! Monterey Bay Kayak Excursion - Intertidal Ecology Lab Cannery Row if time Camp in Monterey Wednesday, June 19: Move back up to San Fran in the A.M. Head home! |