Whidby!

Well, I made it to the island!  I've been here since Sunday, after a couple days in the Seattle area. It's freezing here!  The first couple of days of work here at Pacific Rim, the temperature was in the 40's, with the afternoon in the 50's.  The last couple days have been a bit warmer, afternoons getting into the mid-60's with a little bit of sun to warm me up! 

Pacific Rim Institute is where I'm living and working, which used to be Au Sable Institute's Pacific Rim campus.  I'm helping out with general maintenance of the grounds, as well as prairie restoration work, managing the garden, and helping with some research data collection.  I'm loving the variety of work, especially the opportunity to learn some native plants and birds of the ecosystems of the Pacific NW.  I also love that I can eat fresh lettuce and spinach from the garden! While I'm not directly involved in research, I do help collect data for some ongoing projects. This morning I learned about trapping voles and mice! Two other interns and I learned how to collect the necessary data from each animal that was trapped; especially how to hold the voles so that they don't bite you or escape while taking the data! The small mammal trapping is used to figure out the population size and distribution of these animals on the prairie, especially the voles, which eat grasses and other plants.

I'm blessed to be sharing an apartment with Holly, a friend from a summer at Au Sable Michigan where we both took classes.  It's fun to be cooking together, and trying new recipes.

Now that I've been in the states for almost a month, I'm mostly adjusted to life here again.  The update from life before Whidby is that I'm Wilderness First Responder Certified! And my stuff at home is mostly packed into boxes, except for some clothes in the closet, meaning that "my room" is not really mine anymore. 

 Looking forward to the rest of the summer, I have decided to give this blog a rest until I get back to Belize.  After all, blogs are horribly one sided, and I now have the opportunity to communicate cheaply by phone!  Of course I still have email, but I really want to used this summer to have phone conversations and catch up with you all.  Email me if you want my phone number and we can set up a time to talk!

Joelle