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Illuminating the Diversification of Evolutionary Radiations

Adventure Log

stories of current and past fieldwork and explorations of nature.

Photos

Kenya: Homesick

6/13/2020

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I'll start out with a trailer featuring some of the best footage I was able to capture on this trip. Excuse the cheesy iMovie format! For more wildlife photos from this trip, check out the Photo Gallery.
Back in August of 2018 I had the trip of a lifetime. I went on a week-long safari in Kenya. I don’t even know how to express the beauty I beheld. I took advantage of the fact that I would be in Nairobi for a primate conference and decided to hang out for a week afterward with some cool primatologists! I always thought that if I ever made it to Africa, it would be as a scientist. And, I was basically right. While I wasn’t doing research on the two occasions I went to the continent, I was participating in professional development as a workshop participant (Cameroon) or presenting research (Kenya).
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Experiencing local Masai culture. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
I had no expectation for what I would see upon landing in Nairobi. I had travelled more than 23 hours over 8,000 miles (>12,000km) to get there. I was exhausted but excited. Nairobi was a huge sprawling city with huge billboards and tons of traffic. It was too dark to see much that night but over the next few days I would notice the colorful and musical transit vans, the vendors selling everything from bananas to wrist watches weaving between cars during red lights, the red dust that lightly coated everything (even in the city), the aggressive driving, the marks of colonialism amidst the local flare. It was complex, beautiful, boisterous, sad, humbling, intense, rich and poor.
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Quite an interesting way to transport live poultry.
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I love this photo, everyone looks like they're in motion. This was taken at a scenic overlook of the Rift Valley. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
​I arrived at the Airbnb I'd share with another postdoc after what seemed like another hour of driving. I hadn’t really known what to expect from the pictures which I was happy to find didn’t do it justice. I was greeted at the front door by a beautiful, sweet dog and shortly afterward by her charming and glamorous owner. Nikki was a stylish blond woman, about my height, who worked at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi, where as it happens, the conference was taking place. She had the loveliest British accent and I was immediately taken in by her personality. As exhausted as I was, I only had time to tell her “hello, nice to meet you, my luggage hasn’t arrived” before I crashed on a super comfy bed. 
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The next morning, Nikki had already been on the phone with the airport searching for my delayed bag. Turns out, it was lost somewhere between Chicago and London. For the next four days I would be rotating the outfit I arrived in with the conference t-shirt I got at registration and pair of black leggings borrowed from Nikki. I made due while I spent those days describing the contents of my bag to the airline and stifling the urge to scream “WTF?!” into the phone. Eventually, mostly because Nikki is awesome, my bag arrived bright and early on the 5th day at her front door.
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The infamous suitcase that almost didn't make it. Behind it, a new friend has perched.
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This blurry photo of a pied crow is not the best, but for some reason I love it. It's kind of eerie, in motion. I took this outside the window of the AirBnB.
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Souvenir shopping and making connections. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
By that point, I had given my talk at the conference and done all the networking I was capable of. I met some cool new people, and reconnected with some colleagues, best of all my advisor Jessica from graduate school. I’m going to gloss over the conference as it wasn’t nearly as awesome as everything else I got to do. But the closing banquet was pretty awesome, with all kinds of local food, entertainment and dancing. I won’t lie, I was really excited for work to be over and to start looking for animals. I had already seen Blue monkeys on the grounds of the UN but no pictures are allowed. I was itching to try my new camera lens which I had bought specifically for this occasion.
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Old and new friends at the International Primate Conference. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
​My fist adventure was organized by the conference. I got to visit a Karura forest, a fragment within the city limits of Nairobi located directly behind the UN grounds. Jessica and I went on a guided tour to find colobus monkeys with a local primate researcher, Mary. We found them but they eluded my camera. Colobus are incredibly shy monkeys that when detected engage in a freezing behavior where they remain motionless until the danger passes. It was great just seeing them though. We stayed for a while catching glimpses of movement here and there at the very tops of the canopy. We got hungry while we waited and snacked on granola bars which attracted a large male blue monkey that we had to ward off with a stick. At that point we decided to start making our way back to the conference and stopped for lunch at the café located within the park. That day and the next I saw a myriad of beautiful birds and mammals with local primatologists Mary and John as guides: blue monkeys, colobus, suni antelopes, bushbucks, sunbirds, weavers, turacos, bee-eaters, thrushes, mouse birds, flycatchers, wagtails, manakins and ibises. The fragment was beautiful and they were doing a lot of great work there, restoring native plants, relocating colobus monkeys, maintaining trails where local people walked, ran or biked to waterfalls and caves.
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Suni Antelope hiding in the brush.
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The blue monkey that wanted our snacks. Look at those teeth!
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Snapping photos of monkeys while talking to our primatologist guide, Mary. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
The coolest thing about Nairobi are these carefully maintained tracts of wilderness in the middle of city. While in the park, you can see the trains going by and the highway traffic at the peripheries. You don’t have to leave this sprawling urban center to find breathtaking wildlife. In addition to Karura forest, there is Nairobi National Park which boasts lions, water buffalo, all manner of birds (storks, ibises, spoonbills, ducks, kites, doves, etc), rhinos, giraffes, bats and zebras. And I got to see them all! In fact, in this park I saw many iconic African species for the first time in the wild. Getting to and around the park was an interesting process. We commissioned a taxi (yes, a regular taxi) to drive us around to look at animals. I was surprised at first, but Stephen (our driver) was an incredible guide and made it possible for us to see more than I’d imagined. The highlight was probably the pair of rhinos we saw with their baby! Also, I was pleasantly surprised that we hardly saw other vehicles while inside the park. Only for the rhinos were there a couple other jeeps; and only a large gathering occurred for the lions. That was my first time seeing any big cat in the wild (wait no...there was that puma in Brazil in 2015)! And it was huge deal, because like many kids who grow up wanting to be zoologist, I was a big cat fiend, with a particular predilection for tigers. But the lions were no less impressive, there were at least eight of them – some napped in the shade of a tree while a few others fed on the carcass of some poor artiodactyl. All in all, it was one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever spent inside a city.
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Rolling up on hippos like its no big thing. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
​Now, I always thought that safaris were for rich foreigners, and I pretty much still do. While I am a foreigner in Kenya, I am certainly not rich! This trip took a lot of saving and strategic credit card use but it was certainly worth it. Our first stop on the tour of non-urban east African wildlife was Lake Naivasha. We were guided by Francis who taught us a Swahili phrase, sawa sawa, which we were to use when we ready to move on.  It was here, that I experienced for the first time the exhilarating fear of being in close (enough) proximity to one of the most dangerous animals in the world – hippos. While we did see the notoriously aggressive water buffalo in Nairobi National Park, I did not feel the same surge of adrenaline as I did while approaching this aquatic mal-tempered heavy weight in a motor boat. We also sighted kingfishers and cormorants, fishing eagles, water bucks and wildebeest. On that same day, I got to visit Hell’s Gate National Park where in addition to beautiful animals like warthogs, gazelles and zebras we saw gorgeous gorges and felt the hottest water I’ve ever encountered in nature thanks to the geothermal activity manifested in hot springs and geysers.
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A tower in Hell's Gate.
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Taking a leisurely stroll through Hell's Gate. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
​The next leg of the trip was probably my favorite. The Masai Mara is rightly famous for seeing incredible wildlife: Baboons, meerkats, jackals, elephants, cheetahs, hyenas, hornbills, ostriches, vultures, crocodiles. The river there has been featured in countless nature documentaries, one of the most memorable scenes being the wildebeest crossing during migration trying to avoid the crocodiles looking to score a meal. I was fortunate to see most of the big five, except for the elusive leopard! The entire time there was exciting. from seeing beautiful cultural displays by the native Masai people to the heart stopping grunts of hippos and giggling of hyenas seemingly right outside our tents at night.
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​​Between the last destination and Masai Mara, we spent the night at a quaint hotel, Thayu Farm. It was a beautiful set of cottages with inviting fireplaces and a menu that was 100% supplied by the farm on location. Eric kindly guided us to the nearby tea farm in the morning, one of the largest (if not the largest) in Kenya. It was an interesting experience and I was able to buy my dad a bag of tea as a souvenir directly from the source. Then we were off to our next natural encounter.
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Surveying his domain.
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Posing on the bridge over the Mara River. Photo Credit: Jessica W. Lynch
Kipipiri forest is in an area with extensive degradation and suffers from complex conservation issues. The local people need to make a living, and typically do so by carving out a piece of land from the forest to cultivate crops. It is often difficult to reconcile the needs of people and protection of the environment. That is what Peter Njagi, a Kenyan primatologist, focuses his work on. With a team of local field techs, he works with the local people to help ensure the recovery and preservation of the forest and particularly colobus monkeys. He has overseen relocation projects for these primates in areas like Kipipiri and Karura forest, the fragment behind the UN that I mentioned earlier. With his help and that of the field techs, we saw several groups of this beautiful species, just far enough to make capturing photos difficult. Immediately following out time in Kipipiri, we visited Soysambu Conservancy. This was one more chance to revel in the beauty of Kenya and learn about conservation efforts in the rift valley area. Thanks to a large lake located in the conservancy, there were tons of birds including pelicans, flamingos, ducks and plovers. We got more good views of colobus monkey and black-backed jackals. We even saw a new ungulate species, the eland.
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Spotting colobus monkeys across the valley in Kipipiri. Photo Credit: Cecilia Veracini
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A black and white colobus keeps his distance in Soysambu.
​Obviously, my trip to Kenya was an incredible, life-changing dream come true. I probably have not articulated the pure happiness that I felt in every moment I was privileged to spend there. Even those first days in dirty travel clothes. I was ecstatic even when I was frustrated, tired, hungry, lost. I was welcomed so fully, I rarely felt like just a tourist. On more than one occasion a local said “welcome home” after learning I was actually American. And when I left, it felt like leaving home. Kenya, I'm homesick.
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New Job in 2020

5/31/2020

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A lot has happened in 2020. In all the chaos and confusion, I haven't had a chance to share about my new position. This past January I relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to start as a postdoctoral researcher and lab manager for the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (LSUMNS). Understandably, I was (and still am!) really excited about this job and the opportunities it offers for me to delve deeply into museum-based natural history research, which is the direction a lot of my work has headed since the end of grad school. However, my research and training has slowed down since COVID as it has for many. Right now, I would have been preparing for my first museum collecting trip in Peru! Additionally, outrage surrounding the unjust deaths of Black people has hampered my normal productivity. It is the hardest thing in my life to continue to feel like I am unsafe no matter where in the world I go, especially my own home, just because I happen to be Black. Things are hard, but as always I fight to keep going. I'm hoping you are all well, staying sane and coping with the effects of the pandemic, racial tensions and the various difficulties we are inevitably confronted with. For as long as I am capable, I'll be getting back to nature through research and adventure.
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Laying down the law leading my first lab meeting
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A sample of what I see on my bike route to work
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The wildlife in Louisiana has not disappointed so far!
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To the Motherland, and Beyond

8/14/2018

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This Saturday, I’m going to Kenya. It is quite literally a dream come true. I am so excited to see all of the cultural and natural beauty that I experienced through magazines and TV up close and personal. Going to a primate conference in Nairobi is not how I ever imagined getting there, but it works for me! In anticipation of this trip, I started thinking about my first trip to Africa, to Cameroon back in 2014. What an incredible experience. I was there for a professional development workshop (see my research page) but got so much more out of it.
The airport in Yaoundé was a little different than any other. I had to show my luggage receipt in order to get my checked bag (good thing I didn’t lose it!). There were also several money changers at the door, ready to exchange Central African Francs (cfa) for foreign currency (perhaps at a better rate than formal financial institutions). On the way home to the US, there were people administering polio vaccines at security – I’d never seen that at the airport before! But like all airports, it was filled with lots of people trying to get to their next destination.
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The lady instructors and participants of the CABAlliance workshop and COACh workshop. Photo Credit: Vanessa Apkenas
I was supposed to meet the workshop TAs, the driver and the rest of the students arriving that day. Luckily, one of the TAs was a colleague from UCLA (where I was attending grad school at the time). He recognized me, while everyone else was not quite expecting a black foreigner to be participating in the course (local students were participating but not arriving at the airport), and he teased me for already being mistaken for a Cameroonian. I didn’t really mind, and it set the tone for the rest of the trip. Everywhere I went from then on, I was taken for a local. It was interesting having people approach me and start conversing in French and being confused when my ability to communicate was limited to “ça va?”, “bon, ça va?”! On a few occasions, when I didn’t admit to my foreign posing quickly enough, some subsequently tried a few local dialects until a meekly whispered “English?” at them.
But people were mostly great and were intrigued to learn I was American. They’d ask me questions about my background and comment on how I could certainly be Cameroonian, and speculated on which ethnic group my features might correspond to. I loved being so fully embraced by a culture to the point of being claimed. Only one person ever implied that it foolish for me not to know where in the motherland I came from, and I didn’t have the energy, patience or will to disrupt all the other good vibes I was getting to explain to him why such was the case. Outside of this, and despite the occasional extortion at checkpoints by local police while traveling between cities and rarely some (understandable) impatience on the part of vendors dealing with confused foreigners – the trip was extremely pleasant for me.
The workshop in Yaoundé, organized by CABAlliance (Central African Biodiversity Alliance), lasted 7 days. We learned about various statistical methods in ecological research, opportunities to work in Central Africa and networked with local researchers and students.

​The food provided during the workshop was amazing and included local cuisine like cassava, ndolé (bitterleaf) and plantains as well as some obviously French-inspired bread and beignets. There was one restaurant “JC”, which I would call a chicken shack if it were in the US, that was hands down a workshop favorite thanks to its popular rotisserie fried chicken. I did notice though the chickens there were a lot smaller than ours here (damn US hormones!). The spices and flavors of food were so different and amazing. It was a pleasure and a blast to meet so many people and the closing party at the end of the workshop was a testament to that. I had a great time sharing a last meal and learning regional dances to local music from other participants.
After the workshop, we were able to explore a bit more of Cameroon. Our first stop was in the coastal city of Limbe. We arrived by car in the evening so we had dinner on the beach, which consisted of fish freshly caught only meters away, grilled at the shore and served with what I can only describe as a kind of chutney. So…freaking…good. There is nothing quite like seeing the process of how your food is acquired and made from beginning to end. The next day, we visited the Limbe Wildlife Centre which rescues and rehabilitates wild animals, including apes like chimpanzees and gorillas. In addition to rescue, the center is active in conservation and community programming. They also have some cool opportunities for volunteer work that you can check out here.
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Engaging in deep conversation. Photo Credit: Jen Tinsman
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Enjoying dinner with friends on Limbe beach!
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Delicious fresh fish caught off the shore of Limbe.
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At Limbe Wildlife Center, there is an awesome gorilla cutout that gives a sense of how beast these apes are!
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Seeing how I stack up against a muscle bound gorilla.
From Limbe, we passed through the coastal city of Douala (the financial capital and Cameroon’s largest city) on our way to Ebo Forest. We didn’t spend more than one night in this bustling city but it was clearly a business center and the streets were crowded with vendors selling everything from food to clothing to electronics. It was a good last opportunity to pick up any needed supplies before heading to the wilderness.
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Gorilla enclosure at Limbe Wildlife Center.
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Apparently, it is not uncommon for these very intelligent primates to occasionally escape from enclosures at Limbe Wildlife Center! Though it didn't seem that they ever wandered too far.
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Beautiful light fixtures crafted from recycled plastic and glass bottles at the Limbe Wildlife Center - Anne's Cafe.
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Gorilla enclosure at Limbe Wildlife Center.
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A "Mona monkey" at the Limbe Wildlife Center.
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Interesting cocktails on the menu...at Limbe Wildlife Center - Anne's Cafe
By far, my favorite part of the trip was the time spent in Ebo Forest. To get there, we drove from Douala to a remote village on the edge of the forest. From there, we trekked in 18km (that’s roughly 11 miles), with river crossings, to the camp site where researchers are stationed for field work. That is the farthest I’ve ever gone in one day with a crap load of gear. Luckily, the real heavy stuff was carried by hired porters, local villagers who are in the best shape I’ve ever seen humans in. They carried the heaviest stuff and still beat us there by a few hours. And this research site is the real deal. There is no fancy research station with electricity and running water. This was legit camping with tents, mosquito nets, a dugout latrine, bathing in a river and surviving in a perpetual state of dampness. I freaking loved it.  I won’t lie, I did miss the indoor plumbing, but it was so worth going without it to see this incredible forest. True wilderness. A place that not many people get to see. We spent a wonderful 5 days there.
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The local hardcore researchers' tents. Notice the tents are up on pallets to avoid getting wet during heavy rain.
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The open-air kitchen. Considering where we were, some great food came out of there!
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The common area. The only permanent structure with mosquito netting. While we were there (2014), one of the lead researchers explained they were working on getting more structures like this at the camp.
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The river where we bathed while at the research site. Upriver view.
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Downriver view.
AND we saw chimpanzees! I mean, up close! They were incredible and beautiful and terrifying. Our amazing guide found a huge group, with young juveniles. But they were not happy with our presence and let us know it. It probably didn’t help that we startled the first one we saw when one of our group slipped and fell. The noise got his attention, and he dropped like a flash from the tree he’d been napping in and ran off to the left where the rest of the group was chilling. The cacophony of their alarm calls and warnings was impressive and I admit that while totally stoked to see such an imposing animal, I was simultaneously terrified! So I hung back a bit as we followed them a ways until they crossed a valley we couldn’t navigate. It was AMAZING. It happened so fast, I don’t think anyone got photos…
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Our TA Paul shows us how to log waypoints on a GPS.
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Forest friends and gigantic trees.
On one of the day hikes, I hurt my knee after slipping on a wet rock. I had to sit out the last day of hikes as a result trapped in a graciously lent knee brace from another participant. I was bummed, but I spent the day taking in the beauty around the base camp, and for only that reason do I have any photos in Ebo at all. I was so absorbed, I had forgotten to take any during the hikes. The next day, we had to trek the 11 miles back out to the village. And that was quite painful. And everyone was so supportive in helping me through it, including one of the porters who very gently wrapped my knee, which helped tremendously. And I healed, so it was certainly worth the pain.
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Me in my tent praying that my "boo boo" healed before the hike out the next day...it did not.
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On the inside looking out, wishing I could be on the hike. At least I saw the chimps before this unfortunate accident!

Highilight Reel - A few short clips from Ebo Forest with super dramatic music

We made our way back to Yaoundé for our last day. We got to visit one last wildlife center, Mefou National Park. At this park is a sanctuary run by Ape Action Africa where they care for over 300 primates, including chimps, gorillas and mandrills. Like Limbe, they also offer volunteer opportunities that you can learn about here. They have an adoption program that allows people to sponsor the apes they care for. After our visit, we spent the last of our time letting loved ones know we were still alive, packing, saying our goodbyes and shopping for souvenirs. Haggling at the marketplace is one of the most anxiety provoking things I’ve ever done. I am a shy, sometimes awkward, person. I wanted to give the artisans the money their crafts were worth but without being taken advantage of as a tourist. I much prefer pre-determined prices! But in the end, I got some beautiful pieces, at what I hope was a fair price for both the artisans and myself.
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The two male gorillas at the Mefou National Park formed an alliance and did not get along with the male pictured right. Therefore, the keepers rotate their time in the larger enclosure.
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The Mefou National Park is home to over 300 primates belonging to several species.
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Handprints painted by resident primates at the Mefou National Park.
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Resident gorilla group at the Mefou National park. Rival male to the allied pair picture left. Notice the one female at center climbing.
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A group of chimpanzees at the Mefou National Park. Notice the two at the center grooming each other. Grooming is an important social bonding activity among primates.
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Out at the marketplace shopping for supplies and souvenirs. Photo Credit: Sorelle Sandie
Though a mostly wonderful experience, I felt quite a bit of tourist’s guilt while in Cameroon. I could feel my privilege as I saw the poverty present in many of the places we visited. While I could appreciate the beauty in the country, I wasn’t blind to its struggles. Of course, I’ve seen poverty before, here in the US, in Mexico, in Brazil. But in Cameroon, it was unlike anything I had seen before. Maybe the poor are better hidden from tourists in the other places, their more advanced infrastructure providing a mask. I don’t know. But it always makes me think about how our privileges color our perceptions of the world and what can be done. For example:
On the way here and there in Cameroon, there were several instances of people selling bush meat on the roadside. I had seen this explained on TV, but I was suddenly seeing it for myself. It didn’t make me angry, I was desperately sad. These obviously weren’t big time poachers making a fortune smuggling ivory, but everyday people in need. I could empathize with a person, most likely in poverty, trying to survive. I could understand that person turning to what they know, the forest, as the source of that survival. I saw the conflict of conservation and human need. I felt guilty as we passed by these scenes of people dangling dead pangolins by the tail – wanting to save the wildlife, but not at the expense of impoverished people. Of course I don’t want people to live in poverty. What a dilemma – what a privilege to live “sustainably” and “green.” I still struggle with my desire to protect wildlife and my knowledge that the conflicts between humans and nature is complex and difficult to rectify. And most often it’s poor people affected most directly.
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I don’t want to end the blog on a sad note, though I felt it was necessary to share that. I loved the workshop and the field trips. I loved meeting all the people involved. I was so happy to finally have made it to the continent of Africa. Cameroon, though imperfect like everywhere else, is a beautiful country. From the beaches to the forests, in its languages, in its music and dance, in its clothing, in its food and for me most of all in its wildlife.
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Dear Mexico, I Love You Too

6/4/2018

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Yesterday, in anticipation of an upcoming return trip to Los Angeles for my hooding ceremony, I reflected on the nearly 7 years that I lived there while working on my PhD. I remembered my first trip abroad after moving there, to the International Primatological Conference in Cancun, Mexico in 2012.
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View of the Caribbean Sea from the ruins of an ancient Mayan port city, Tulum. Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. 2012
​My trip to Mexico came soon after a major change in my life. I moved across the country, from western New York to Los Angeles, in September of 2011 to start a PhD at UCLA. I knew absolutely no one there. I barely knew my advisors who would hold so much influence over my life and career. It is a dangerous thing to jump into such an important relationship with your eyes closed, but that is exactly what I did. Drive and tunnel vision made me do crazy things, and those crazy things would have consequences…but that’s not what this blog is about. Less than a year after moving, I got on a plane to Mexico for the first time. I can recall so vividly my first impression walking out of the airport in Cancun that night. How the heat and humidity hit my skin and made me swoon. How the palm trees waved in the breeze. The smell of the Caribbean sea. It was heavenly and I was instantly enamored.

Some brief thoughts on the conference experience...
It was my first international science conference. The first time I’d present data on my dissertation work. I remember being nervous, very anxious about being a new-comer to the field and being relatively inexperienced. I had only been thinking about monkeys for a year at that point and I was unknown in primate circles (I pretty much still am). Although I have improved just the slightest bit over the years, I was completely ineffective at networking during my first international conference.
     But I learned. Particularly about the politics of science. Up to that point, I had never really even realized it existed. Monkeys were sexy (apparently) and a popular subject of study among biologist (a fact that would cause a fair share of problems later in my research…but that is not what this blog is about). These monkeys were marketable. There was strategy in the way they were presented to the public, and that was most evident in the “25 Most Endangered Primates” session. It was a meeting to decide which primates would make the list of most imperiled primates that year. It was interesting and strange to see passionate scientists making the case for their species of study. I wondered, could this list really be so important to the fate of these animals? I left the meeting feeling quite unnerved. The process didn’t seem all that scientific, and these were hard decisions. What were the real priorities and motivations for choosing species? How could it be that the majority of Asian primate species, probably the most endangered of all, barely make the list? What was the impact of the list on the actual outcomes for these primates?
     There are surely answers to all these questions but I still don’t have them. But I know how hard it is to prioritize species for conservation. Wouldn’t it be ideal if we could just save them all? Of course, but is it feasible with the current resources and strategies available to scientists and conservationists? Is that marketable to the public? I’m sure to some degree the species on that list serve as flagships (flagship, or umbrella species are typically charismatic species that appeal to the public and garner support for the preservation of the habitat where those species live. If that one species’ habitat is protected, all of the other organisms that it shares space with are also protected). So, in the end, I can see how conservation efforts stemming from such a list can go a long way, even for species not included.
     I survived my talk, and the conference. BUT, this blog isn’t really about a primate conference. It is about Mexico. And how I fell in love. How I want to return, and why.
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Another view of ruins at Tulum. Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. 2012
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My first international presentation was exciting and scary. But it went well and I survived. IPS conference, Cancun, Mexico, 2012.
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Auditorium for the Keynote Speakers. IPS Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 2012.

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In a boat with my advisor, Jessica, preparing to snorkel off the shore of the Tulum ruins. Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. 2012
​After the conference, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in a less touristy part of the Yucatán (Catemaco, Veracruz) as part of a post-conference field course: “Study and Conservation of Primates in Transformed Habitats: Neotropical Region” led by scientists from Veracruz University. It was a great course, geared toward Latin American students (in fact I was the only gringa student) and therefore it was conducted mostly in Portuguese and Spanish. Having accomplished a decent fluency in Portuguese by that point, I was able to keep up. I learned so much about the effects of habitat fragmentation, reintroductions of primates to the wild, safe capture methods, resource allocation, DNA sample collection, parasite monitoring and more.
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A spider monkey in a transitional enclosure, soon to be released back into the wild. Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. 2012.
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Hiking through forest. Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. 2012.
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Learning techniques for primate behavioral studies. Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. 2012
​The natural landscape was beautiful: Isla de los Monos, Salto de Eyipantla, the cloud forests, the wildlife. I got to see the ruins of Tulum, see octopuses while snorkeling. But what struck me most on this trip was the amazing group of people I met from Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Puerto Rico and all over Latin America. Everyone was so open, communicative and collaborative.
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Salto de Eyipantla, Catemaco, Veracruz. 2012
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In a boat headed for Isla de Los Monos. Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. 2012
​We had dinners together and went out for drinks at the end of the days. Catemaco was a small town, but so beautiful and charming. The food was SO good, fresh from the fishermans' boats docked at the shore. The tequila so smooth, and so cheap. And the people, everywhere, were so warm. From the course organizers, the other students, the hotel staff, the people we met on the street, EVERYONE was so open.
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Fishermans' boats line the shores along the Yucatan Pensinsula. Mexico. 2012
​The group got on so well that some of us stayed our last night at a local student’s home in the city of Veracruz. He opened his home to us, and his family embraced us, even leaving us with souvenirs for our journeys home. Again, the food was amazing! I still think the best thing I’ve ever eaten is a carne asada taco (or 5) from a street vendor in Veracruz. If I ever get the chance to return, I hope I find that man and his cart - eat 100 tacos, and bless him for his gift to the world.
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The primate conservation field course cohort. Awesome people. Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexcio. 2012
Because of my flight schedule, I spent an extra day with my new friend and his family in Veracruz after everyone else left. I feel especially grateful for their hospitality, the home cooked meal, the trip to the beach, their patience with my broken Spanish (really a blend of Portuguese and Spanish lovingly referred to as Portuñol), the invitation to return and see them again.  I will always love them for the gifts they gave me, the wonderful memories.
​     In thinking over all this years later, I realized that Mexico gave me what I needed at that time. What I’ve always needed. From the moment I stepped off the plane, to the minute I got on my return flight home in Mexico City (which I initially missed and had to rebook - even the airport staff were incredibly friendly), I felt welcomed. I have never felt that so completely anywhere else, not even here in the United States. Not even in LA, the city that I grew to love (in my experience as a black woman, loving LA is like being in an emotionally abusive relationship - I don’t say that lightly). I walked through the streets and no one stared, people smiled and said hello, people welcomed me into their homes, asked me about myself with genuine interest, showed me basic human kindness. This might seem like nothing, but to a black woman abroad, this is everything. I haven’t received this warmth so absolutely in any of the other places I’ve been, least of all at home.
​So, dear Mexico, dear Yucatán, I love you too.
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Of course you must have tequila with friends in Mexico. Catemaco, Veracuz. 2012.
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My friend and classmate (Mauricio), his friend and I checked out a car show at the beach in Veracruz on my last day in Mexico. 2012.
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A beach in Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. 2012
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Iowa Birding

3/20/2018

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Since moving to Iowa in mid-January, I've been out birding twice. That may not seem like very much, but in the six and a half years I lived in LA, I only went out birding about five times.  Here in Polk County, Iowa, there is a really cool area that I've visited with some beautiful birds: Saylorville reservoir. The Audubon Society considers Saylorville an Important Bird Area, a place that several key bird species rely on, including as a stopping point on long migration routes. For example, in late February I saw hundreds and hundreds of Snow geese at Jester Park, located on the northwest shore of the reservoir. Just two weeks later, the majority of the geese had already moved on to continue toward their breeding grounds in the tundra. There are several other waterfowl species (ducks, geese and swans) that visit this area including Canada geese, Ross's geese, White-fronted geese, Northern Pintail, Mallards, Canvasback, Redheads, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead and Common Merganser.
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Large flock of snow geese taking flight at Jester Park.
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Snow geese in flight.
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Northern Pintail flying over Jester Park.
One of the coolest birds I saw was bald eagles. This was a "life bird" for me which means that it was the first time I had seen and identified it in the wild. What was really awesome about this was not only had I never seen a bald eagle before, there were dozens of them at Saylorville reservoir the first time I went. I never expected such an iconic bird of prey to gather in such numbers like that and it was amazing to see.
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Bald eagle resting on a frozen portion of the Saylorville reservoir.
Jester park has a nice feature called a bird blind. This structure allows you to get a closer view of some smaller species of birds than they would normally allow. The blind sits behind a group of bird feeders that draws in a lot of different species. I've included images of some of the species I saw below.
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Downy woodpecker female.
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Downy woodpecker male.
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Red-bellied woodpecker.
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Red-bellied woodpecker.
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Goldfinch.
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Cardinal female.
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Cardinal male.
It's also possible to bird wherever you are. I saw a lot of beauties like the ones pictured below just driving down the road, walking down the sidewalk or looking out at my backyard.  So whenever you go outside, look up, look around and look down. There is nature where you are!
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Red-winged blackbird perched.
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Red-winged blackbird taking flight.
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Robin.
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White-breasted nuthatch.
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Alumni feature in Oswego magazine

9/19/2017

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My alma mater included me in a recent update on their awesome Zoology program!

​Find the full article by Eileen Crandall here!: http://magazine.oswego.edu/2017/08/28/wild-attraction/
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New Job for 2018!

6/25/2017

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Super excited to announce I will be starting an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship with Tracy Heath at Iowa State University this January. Can't wait to be a part of this incredible lab!! (I better finish my dissertation 😜 )
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Heath Lab. Evolution, June 2017
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Black Gold and A Beautiful Horizon

11/17/2015

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After leaving the state of Rio de Janeiro, I went on to see a little of the state of Minas Gerais.

I first visited Ouro Preto (Black Gold) and I really liked this historic town. It is mostly known for having preserved much of the physical colonial history of Brazil. I arrived on October 23 after 12 hours or so of traveling from Arraial do Cabo. I checked in with family and friends since I was doing this leg of the trip solo. I then took a nice hot shower and went out to find food. On the flight from Rio to Belo Horizonte, the Azul airlines magazine had a short piece on Ouro Preto as a destination. So, I took a copy with me and decided to check out some of the places they recommended. The first was Escadabaixo (translated as something like "downstairs"), which is a really cool pub with an awesome atmosphere. There are 3 major sections to this place: the ground floor that features live music, and the lower floor that has a bar area and a second outdoor patio area.
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A view of the city walking toward Praça Tiradentes (Tiradentes Square). Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
I chose the downstairs bar area because I thought it would be less awkward for a person eating alone to sit at the bar. I heard that Minas Gerais was a good place for 4 things, all edible: food in general, cheese in particular, doce de leite (something like caramel) and cachaça (Brazilian rum). I decided to try a mixed drink that was named after the restaurant (Escadabaixo). It was packed with fruit and spicy – I liked it. Now, I know I'm in Brazil but let's face it, at this point I have been here for 8 months, so I decided to order something that I missed dearly from the US – a cheeseburger. It was a ground steak burger with cheddar cheese, grilled onion, bacon, barbeque sauce, lettuce and tomato called the “St.Louis”. The meat was wonderfully seasoned and the fries were perfection, just the right level of crispy. The food and the ambiance was excellent and the service was the element that put this pub over the edge for me. They were só attentive to the point that when my waiter discovered I was traveling alone, he stopped by the table frequently to have short bursts of conversation without neglecting his other tables. At one point, a traveling artist asked if he could do my caricature, which I agreed to. The result was...interesting. I finshed eating and decided to try a local Brazilian wheat beer, Ouropretana, named for the city. So good. This place got a 10/10!
I ended up staying at a hostel called Antonia Rosa Hostel, which has the most perfect location in downtown Ouro Preto (across the street from Escadabaixo!). The good thing about this place is that it is close to many attractrions, shops and restaurants. But this area is also the center of the nightlife scene. So at night, there is music bumping, people yelling and plenty of traffic right outside your window. So much só that the hostel offers complimentary ear plugs.
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Escadabaixo cocktail. Escadabaixo restaurant. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
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Ouropretana. Regional beer. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
My first night I did not sleep well só I ended up starting my next day around 1PM. When I finally was showered and decent looking, I again went in search of food. I decided to try another suggestion from the magazine and went to a pizzaria (I know, also not very Brazilian) called O Passo Pizza Jazz. As you may guess from the name, this place had Pizza and other Italian fare and Jazz playing on the radio. What I did not know before I arrived is that this place was a little more upscale. Unfortunately for me I showed up in my favorite most comfortable jeans that I've basically ripped the entire right knee out of, a basic tank top and my favorite most comfortable pull over knit sweater that is unraveling at one of the wrists. I also chose to wear flip flops out of laziness, putting on socks was just too much. I didn't notice right away either how out of place I was until I realized all the other patrons staring at me as if I didn't belong there...I don't know for sure why they were staring but I'm going to give this clearly well-off crowd the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to my overly comfy clothes and my hippie jewelry made of plant materials and discarded animal parts. Maybe it was just because I was eating alone.
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Pizza! O Passo Pizza Jazz Restaurant. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
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Fancy churros. O Passo Pizza Jazz Restaurant. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
This restaurant also had various sections that could suit different moods but the magazine had specifically recommended the terrace, so that's where I sat. I had a pizza with tomatos, basil, fried garlic, and various cheeses and ordered churros for dessert. If you know me (and if you don't you will now know this) you know I am crazy about churros. I love to try different interpretations of them any chance I get but I am always a sucker for the simple crispy fried goodness that is the original (If you live in LA the churro dessert at A-Frame is amazing!). However, these churros were over interpreted for my taste and were pretty meh in my opinion. They reminded me of extremely thin bland breadsticks and I had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't even fried! What blasphemy. I'm sorry, some things are just not meant to be healthy! Haha. Honestly, the food was good overall but I was só put off by the staring and the general froo froo attitude of everyone else there that I didn't really enjoy it much and I didn't linger for the good vibes the way I had at Escadabaixo.
The next day I decided to get up early and do some exploring. I walked around a lot of the downtown and surrounding area which all pretty much looked the same: cobblestone streets, hills, classic architecture. The churches were huge, imposing and decadent. I thought I would be impressed, but they kind of made me sad in a way – só much effort and resources put into só many buildings instead of the surrounding communities who looked to them for comfort. I guess I was thinking too much instead of being wrapped up in the art of it – I didn't even remember to take pictures as a result. All that exploring made me hungry, but this time I wanted to try regional food só I went to a restaurant serving traditional foods from Minas Gerais. I walked around until I found a place called “Restaurante Chafariz.” I have no idea what that means, I think it's someone's name. Anyway, the staff was really nice and attentive...and bored. I was the only person there! I assumed they were probably more busy for dinner and the food looked good só I decided to stay anyway. I tried okra, potato soup, rice and beans (of course), collard greens, a jam-packed farofa (a flour-like condiment made from yucca) among other things. In general the food was pretty decent but I was underwhelmed. It was too salty for me and I was expecting to be wowed by mineiro food. I decided I'd try again when I got to the next city Belo Horizonte. Besides the food though, the ambiance was a little strange. The music sounded like medieval monks chanting hymns, it was dark and every inch of the walls was covered in framed photos of all kinds of things. There were old candelabras and mirrors and statues everywhere. As another couple who came in to check out the restaurant while I was eating (and decided not to stay) it was like eating in church.
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An imposing colonial age church. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
After eating I thought I should start souvenir shopping. I checked out the soapstone market and few small giftshops and got some nice pieces. Soapstone crafts are extremely common in Ouro Preto as the rock is abundant in the area. I also stopped by some street vendors (traveling hippies selling jewelry) and spent over an hour talking with them. One was Brazilian, the other from Argentina. I met a poet also. These people were só nice and carefree, loving as much as I exchanging a human experience with a complete stranger.
I won't say exactly what I bought because I want to keep my gifts for folks a surprise. After my brief shopping spree, I went back to my hostel to rest. All the walking in the sun pretty muched drained my energy. But then I got a phone call from one of my advisors about a grant that he wanted me to collaborate on. I was like “Sure!' until he said it was due midnight the next day. So I ordered a pizza for dinner and spent the rest of that night and much of the next day (my last day in Ouro Preto) working on writing the grant. I had reserved that day actually to do work anyway, só it wasn't sooo bad. But I still had to finish my presentation that I was going to give at the university in Belo Horizonte. So it was a very very long busy day of writing and powerpoint.
The following day, I took the bus back to Belo Horizonte. My Brazilian cell phone decided to completely stop working. I had just put pre-paid credit on it the day before to be sure I could call/text people should I need to but it just wasn't dialing out or sending messages! I even tried connecting to open wifi to be able to use whatsapp but even that was proving difficult for the phone to handle. The result of all that was me waiting for over an hour and a half at the bus station for my ride with no way to tell her where I was. Eventually I was able to send a single whatsapp message before the phone completely failed and we found each other. But what crap timing for the stupid thing to stop working! After a simple lunch, I was exhausted and went back to a fellow student's place to finish my presentation for the next day and crash.  The next day I was giving my talk.
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Another colonial church. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. 2015
 To explain, I visited BH to talk with a bat researcher there about possibly collaborating on a project as part of a post-doc. I know...I've had a lot of trouble this trip getting work done in Brazil, but that's why I decided to start talks with people early and in person, to really get a sense of what I could expect in terms of productivity. I was meeting with Valeria Cunha Tavares, a well-reputed bat researcher from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. As part of the visit, I was giving a talk about the first chapter of my dissertation. It went very well and the discussion/questions afterward were all very encouraging. It even made me miss working on monkeys! I met some really cool students, post-docs and professors who seemed genuinely interested in the work.

The last couple of days I spent planning with Valeria our prospective future work together. I was very encouraged and excited about the prospect of working with bat evolution and about the partnership in general. Unlike much of my recent experience with research in Brazil, I felt confident that progress would be made. I also felt like a true researcher, finally given the chance to discuss science and to communicate my abilities to contribute to it. And so we talked and talked about the possibilities and what they would involve and overall it was a very fruitful visit. But it didn't leave much time for exploring BH (hence the lack of pictures! Sorry!), so I will just have to make another trip there!
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Tripping through Brazil...

10/28/2015

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I had enough of sitting around in Manaus, I've decided to see more of Brazil! This blog is about my recent trip to the state of Rio de Janeiro.

From October 17 – 22 I had the pleasure of hanging out with fellow 2015 Fulbrighter Whitney in the state of Rio de Janeiro. You may remember Whitney from my birthday blog about the waterfalls of Presidente Figueiredo. We spent the majority of the weekend (17th and 18th) in the capital Rio since I had never been and Whitney wanted to check out a film festival (Reel Rock) that turned out to be pretty awesome, especially if you like wilderness and adventure films. I got to see the neighborhood of Lapa and Downtown, and the famous Selaron tile steps, and I hiked Morro da Urca (one of the cities very large hills). We also visited an outdoor museum of sorts, with all kinds of sculptures made from different mediums. But what I loved most about the city was all the graffiti and the juxtaposition of classic architecture with modern-style buildings. I was also amazed by how hilly the landscape was right up against the coast. But I still don't have a fully formed opinion of Rio after spending so little time there.
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Me on the Selaron steps. Rio de Janeiro. October 2015. Photo credit: Whitney
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More cool graffiti art in Rio de Janeiro. October 2015.
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Graffiti art in Lapa. Rio de Janeiro. October 2015.
I saw awesome common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) on the way to Morro da Urca! The third species I've seen from the family of monkeys I studied (Callitrichidae)! There were great panoramic views of the city. I decided to skip the usual tourist spots like Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf). I generally don't have the energy to jockey with a bunch of fellow tourists for good spots to take selfies. We had planned to hit the beaches on our second day but the weather turned and it was cold and rainy so we checked out the Northeastern market instead. This market basically celebrated the culture and products of Northeastern Brazil and feature regional music at the various stages within the fairgrounds (this place was huge). We had an awesome lunch there that came with enough meat that served us for 3 separate meals.
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A curious marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Rio de Janeiro. October 2015. Photo credit: Whitney
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A view of Rio de Janeiro from the Morro da Urca. October 2015.
We got to Arraial do Cabo, where Whitney is doing her Fulbright later that night. I showered, ate and crashed. The next day I accompanied Whitney and Linda as they went to do science at the beach. I'm not completely sure what they were doing, but they were professionals, fully decked out in wetsuits and ready to collect data. I had planned to occupy myself snorkeling around the rocky shores but my snorkel had a pretty significant leak (it was missing the stopper at one end) so instead I just walked the shore and waded around in the water – typical beach goer stuff. But it was much colder in Arraial than in Manaus where it had been consistently reaching over 100ºF, and unlike my friends all I had was a bikini and a surfer's top. I wasn't prepared – I was freezing and I had only brought my summer clothes. I survived on the gracious loans of windbreakers.
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A cat at our hostel, Mambembe, using a pineapple for a pillow. Rio de Janeiro. October 2015
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Whitney appreciating an iron sculpture reminiscent of branching coral. Rio de Janeiro. October 2015
The next day I hiked to Prainhas on Whitney's recommendation. This smaller beach is on a more secluded part of the peninsula where Arraial do Cabo is located. The walk is about 40 minutes to an hour each way. Although you can easily go there by car, I figured it would be nice to see the scenery (and it would definitely be cheaper than a cab). On the way there and back I explored some really cool (though quite steep!) trails that offered beautiful views of the ocean and some off-shore islands. When I did arrive at the beach, I found a nice secluded cove and did some reading for a while before heading back to town. Unfortunately, although I didn't know it yet, not using sunscreen or protective clothing was a bad call. I almost never use sunscreen ever, but all that time in the sun left me burned and my skin would be peeling on my shoulders and face for the next couple of days. Use your sunscreen people.
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The steps leading down to Prainhas beach. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015.
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Prainhas Beach. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015.
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View of the ocean and offshore islands from some steep trails. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015.
The next day was Linda's birthday. We hiked to a lighthouse on an island offshore (Ilha do Cabo Frio or Cold Cape Island). It wasn't the easiest hike I'd ever done. The trail was really steep so both the ascent and descent were pretty hard on my legs, and I had walked and hiked the day before. At one point, we also happened upon an aggressively defended hornets nets. Two of our party of ten were stung, and apparently it was very painful. But it was worth it (well, I can't really speak for those who were stung). In the end we got to see the remnants of a house and a lighthouse that were hundreds of years old and built by the Portuguese. On top of the lighthouse were even more amazing views of the ocean, of the beaches, of the other offshore islands and of the city of Arraial do Cabo.

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Me emerging at the top of the lighthouse on Ilha do Cabo Frio. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015. Photo Credit: Whitney
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Me, resting at the ruins on Ilha do Cabo Frio. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015. Photo Credit: Whitney
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Arriving at the lighthouse. Arraial do Cabo. October 2015.
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View of Arraial do Cabo from the lighthouse on Ilha do Cabo Frio. October 2015.
After hiking back down, we boated back toward the mainland and we ate some super fresh (and well deserved) muscles on a flutuante (floating structure) just off shore. They were so yummy! We watched the fisherman pull them out of the water, clean them up and cook them for us. There were entire ecosystems on those muscles and the lines they grew on! From flat worms (Platyhelminthes) to brittlestars and sea cucumbers (Echinodermata) to other molluscs like snails (Gastropods). It was a biologists playground that could be held in the palm of your hand.

Later that same day, we had a seafood churrasco (barbecue) at a pousada (or inn) featuring delicious grilled squid and fish and seafood risotto. Heaven. I've never enjoyed someone else's birthday so much! I was honored to have been included in the festivities. But the next day, and the last day I was beat. I decided to take it easy. We had some açai on the beach and I rested up for my journey to Minas Gerais the next day. But more about that leg of the trip in another post :)
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A mussel covered in Gastropods, Bryozoans and other delightful creatures!
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I think that is a sea spider (Pycnogonida)!
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The line covered in mussels and a plethora of other organisms! Arraial do Cabo. October 2015. Photo Credit: Whitney.
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The FLONA do Jamari

10/16/2015

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I made three working trips into the Amazon forest in two different areas over the course of my Fulbright. The first forest region was in the state of Rondônia, an area called the FLONA do Jamari. I believe that stands for Floresta Nacional do Jamari (National Forest of the Jamari). The Jamari is a river tributary of the Rio Madeira which in turn feeds into the Amazon river.
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 On this trip the goal was to assess the recovery of forest patches in areas that had once been the site of large mineral mining operations. We were conducting surveys of mammals of medium and large size in these forests that had been allowed to regrow. Remnants of the mines were still everywhere. Our job was to walk 12km of forest daily and record any animal sightings (or hearings), the number/size of the group, sex and age when possible, the distance from our trails, height above the ground, where they were spotted and to note any other interesting features of the animals. I saw some amazing creatures.
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A Wedell's saddle-backed tamarin carrying a baby tamarin. Photo courtesy of Natalia.
 My first day out I spotted Saguinus wedelli, Wedell's saddle-backed tamarin, within the first half-hour! This is one of the species I was studying! They make a chirping sound very similar to a bird's. They are incredibly curious monkeys, and although they maintain a safe distance, they are clearly visible and bend their heads side to side while thoroughly investigating researchers. They are one of the easiest monkeys to see as the stay lower on the trunks of trees whereas other monkeys tend to stay higher in the canopy, at the very top.  
 I often saw them in mixed groups with the Rondon's marmoset, Mico rondoni. This marmoset is much more shy than the similar sized tamarin and maintained much more distance from us, but was still visible and incredible to finally see. I had spent the last three years studying these and other members of the primate family Callitrichidae (marmosets and tamarins), and it was my first time seeing them in the wild!
We saw monkeys more than anything actually: capuchins, spider monkeys, titi monkeys, and we even heard some elusive saki monkeys. There were also coatis, squirrels, anteaters, tapirs and agoutis. We also saw tons of birds of course, including many of one member of my new study group, Penelope jacquacu, Spix's guan. These birds resemble a tropical version of turkeys. Incredible iridescent blue butterflies that are biological indicators of a relatively happy healthy forest. I saw a few frogs and even snakes. In fact, I nearly stepped on a jararaca.
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The pit viper I nearly stepped on, the Brazil's Lancehead. A beautiful animal that does a great job of camouflaging in the leaf litter.
This pit viper was curled up on the forest trail. The species is Bothrops brazili (Brazil's Lancehead). She was beautiful. And terrifying. But it is very rare to see these snakes, só don't let that stop you from visiting or working in forests! In fact, one student who studies them told me they were nearly impossible to find when people were actively looking for them! Lucky me :P
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A group of wild peccaries. You can see two baby peccaries in the background. Notice they are a different color than the adults. This coloration likely helps keep them hidden from predators.
We also saw two species of pecaris, animals that resemble wild pigs. The more “dangerous” species is a noisy animal that travels in large groups and are known locally as “queixada” (pronounced kay-shaw-da). I was told that they will run after researchers gnashing their teeth and biting. The only way to escape them is to climb up onto something high off the ground since they cannot themselves climb. My forest partner and I came across a particularly large group of queixada one day, which we hid out of sight from for fiften minutes until they all passed. After the experience we decided to play a trick on the other team and ran panicked to the car screaming that a group of queixada were after us. We were very convincing, perhaps inspired by the actual encounter, and they fell for it. Happily, I was never actually pursued by any forest animals.
We saw many signs of predators, including jaguars and pumas, in the area. Everything from the leftovers of kills to the paw prints of adults with cubs. Big cats seemed to be doing well in that part of the forest. The highlight of my time in the FLONA do Jamari happened after my forest partner and I stopped to record some peccaries that were behaving strangely. We stopped behind them on the trail, and when they noticed us, the juveniles (teenagers) ran circles around us, and they all stayed in pretty close proximity. 
We weren't sure what was happening but we decided to seize the opportunity to get some nice pics and attempt some footage in the weak light of the forest. I decided to walk on ahead of my partner while she continued to snap pictures. Not too much further up the trail, there was a bend and as I followed it.  I looked up and I saw a puma (Puma concolor)! She was right in front of me just 6 feet off the trail! Of course I got no pictures or videos of this rarely seen animal. The puma was gone only seconds after I spotted her stalking that group of pecari. But I was só excited and terrified to see her that in that moment I really wasn't thinking about getting a picture of her. 
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Paw print of a baby puma or jaguar. Flona do Jamari, 2015.
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Tapir track in sand near a stream. Flona do Jamari, 2015.
She was by far one of the most exciting creatures I've ever seen in the wild. I was also pretty nervous to be staring into the face of such a powerful animal. But she simply looked at me and walked briskly away from me. I loved everything about that moment. Including that I had been alone when I saw her.  ​
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Wild pineapple!
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Unidentified Amazonian Fruit!
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Unidentified Fungus!
We also spent time putting up camera traps. These cameras take pictures automatically when they sense movement. It was interesting to learn about the diverse strategies there are for placing these traps in the forest for monitoring purposes. Open areas surrounding water seemed to be a favorite spot for successfully capturing animal movement. Some models record short video in addition to taking photos which helps in behavioral studies.
 I had envisioned an off-road vehicle for traveling on roads that enter parts of the forest, something similar to a jeep or land rover. Even a pick-up. However, this everyday car was all we had.  It wasn't a car I thought should be out on the rough dirt roads full of pot-holes but hey, gotta work with what ya got.
Our last day out in the forest, our little car broke down in the middle of the forest. It was the end of the day as we customarily started around 6AM and finished our hikes around 4 or 5PM. Although we tried for over an hour, we couldn't fix it, so we had two options. Stay in the car on the trail until someone came looking for us (which they definitely would have because we were sharing our lodging with two other teams) or start walking the very very long walk (40+ minutes by car) back to our camp. I was out voted and we started walking. The sun was setting when another group of researchers came upon us in their vehicle. However, there were four of us and the car was already full with another team who's car had also broken down that day! They instructed us to stay on the side of the road while they went to fix our car and bring it back. They warned us to stay vigilent and sit back to back since it had been raining the last few days. When it rains, apparently its harder for jaguars to hunt – and they might be hungry. Now...I still don't know if this was someone's idea of a joke, as previously I was told the jaguars in this area were nothing to worry about as long as you respected their space. Still, the suggestion left me nervous.  
​
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Our Amazon Forest Cruiser. I was surprised by how well this vehicle worked for us until the last day.
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Amazon Forest Cruiser with a flat. The skilled Natalia is changing the tire. Just one of many talented women on our all female team.
The mosquitos started to come out so I started applying some repellent. I rested my right hand on the ground for a moment and felt something start to crawl over it. I reached down casually to brush it off thinking it was just another harmless bug and it turned out to be a Tucandeira (or Bullet) ant. This animal has one of the most painful stings in the animal kingdom. So much so that in the Sateré-Mawé tribe, they are used in a right of passage for young men. The young men stick their hands in mittens filled with the ants and withstand multiple bites from the ants, all the while showing no sign of experiencing pain (see the ritual here). Well...the ant bit me and I lost it. It was so painful I involuntarily shrieked and started crying. The bug repellent I'd just been using went squirting all over the road. And that was just one ant and one sting! Imagine the resolve of those young tribal members! My wrist was swollen and painful until the next day.
And so, my first time working in the Amazon forest was an adventure in all the best ways. I spent the majority of the time with some part of my body soaking wet, usually my feet, but sometimes dripping from head to toe after some rain. It was a fun and challenging time. Unfortunately, most of the footage I got was primarily scenic as my GoPro's lens doesn't zoom and is not powerful enough to pick up objects that are distant. As you can probably guess, wild animals don't typically cozy up to strange humans that intently watch them with strange objects like cameras in their hands. Some of the pictures included were graciously provided by one of the team members on this trip, Natalia.
​Anyway, hope you enjoyed this entry! Until next time.  Janet
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Me pulling my foot out of a boot full of water after walking through a flooded trail.
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Small forest stream crossing the trail. Flona do Jamari, 2015.
List of Mammal Species spotted with scientific names. Click the links to see Google images of these amazing animals to get a feel for what I saw in the forest! If you want the names of anything else, leave a comment.

Wedell's Saddle-backed Tamarin - Saguinus wedelli
Rondon's marmoset - Mico rondoni
Tufted Capuchin - Sapajus apella
Peruvian Spider Monkey - Ateles chamek
Titi Monkey - Callicebus spp.
Saki Monkey - Pithecia spp.
Collared Peccary - Pecari tajacu
White-lipped Peccary - Tayassu pecari
Collared Anteater - Tamandua tetradactyla
Coati - Nasua nasua
Puma - Puma concolor
Jaguar - Panthera onca
Brazilian Tapir - Tapirus terrestris
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    J.C. Buckner

    Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington

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