July 3, 2023
Delia Cortez - 2023 Fellow
Hello everyone, my name is Delia Cortez. I am a kindergarten teacher from Riverside, California.
Science Blog:
Today our group traveled to Rose Mountain to help Ph.D candidates collect data for their fieldwork. The elevation was 8,911 feet above sea level. The climate was noticeably cooler and more comfortable than yesterday and there was still noticeable amounts of snow on the ground. Our group was divided into two groups and off we went. My group hiked about 1/2 mile up the mountain to the research site. Boy, I started to notice my breathing was getting heavy and I started to feel winded from the high elevation that I am not used to.
Arriving at the research site, we were given a brief informational botany talk about the plants that would be involved in the research. We then participated in several data collecting activities.
When done, we collected all of our materials and hiked back down the mountain, then returned to base camp (Incline Village) with caterpillars in coolers and plant clippings for them to eat. It was a productive day.
Personal note:
I was pleasantly surprised that by the amount of snow that was still on the ground, because it is already July! I picked up some snow and made a snowball. The snow was not hard packed but soft and slushy. I enjoyed the work today but the best part for me was just being in nature, enjoying the beautiful scenery and feeling the fresh air on my face and skin! It was very relaxing.
Did you Know?
A caterpillar can eat so much that it doubles its size in just one day !
Hello everyone, my name is Delia Cortez. I am a kindergarten teacher from Riverside, California.
Science Blog:
Today our group traveled to Rose Mountain to help Ph.D candidates collect data for their fieldwork. The elevation was 8,911 feet above sea level. The climate was noticeably cooler and more comfortable than yesterday and there was still noticeable amounts of snow on the ground. Our group was divided into two groups and off we went. My group hiked about 1/2 mile up the mountain to the research site. Boy, I started to notice my breathing was getting heavy and I started to feel winded from the high elevation that I am not used to.
Arriving at the research site, we were given a brief informational botany talk about the plants that would be involved in the research. We then participated in several data collecting activities.
- We identified several plant species and beat them individually to collect the caterpillars that made their residence on that host plant.
- We looked for and counted caterpillar predators such as spiders, ants, and ladybugs that were found on the same plants that hosted the caterpillars. Recording this data was like a game. It was timed, and you called out the type of predator found on the plant as someone recorded the count on a sophisticated counting machine.
- A third activity tested our math ability to count large numbers. We were asked to observe and count the leaves on the varied species of plants from the first two activities and record. This was a bit tedious but important data.
When done, we collected all of our materials and hiked back down the mountain, then returned to base camp (Incline Village) with caterpillars in coolers and plant clippings for them to eat. It was a productive day.
Personal note:
I was pleasantly surprised that by the amount of snow that was still on the ground, because it is already July! I picked up some snow and made a snowball. The snow was not hard packed but soft and slushy. I enjoyed the work today but the best part for me was just being in nature, enjoying the beautiful scenery and feeling the fresh air on my face and skin! It was very relaxing.
Did you Know?
A caterpillar can eat so much that it doubles its size in just one day !
Rachel Vallee - 2023 Fellow
Hi! My name is Rachel Vallee and I teach 8th-grade integrated science at Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, CA.
Science Blog:
Today, our team once again split up into two smaller groups. Myself, Nika, and Kristen joined Chloe to collect caterpillars from one of her research sites. We drove about 1.5 hours towards Topaz Lake and enjoyed beautiful views of Lake Tahoe on the first segment of our drive. Luckily for my group, today’s site was only a short distance from the main road, so we did not have to endure the off-road adventure we had heard much about from yesterday's group. During the drive Chloe, who is a PhD student, explained her research to us and shared other useful information about the local area and site. I learned that the pinyon (or piñon) pine trees carry a lot of significance to local indigenous people, many of whom rely on the nuts as a food source. Today’s site was a recent burn site, having been affected by the 2019 Canyon Fire and the center of the site was a burnt pinyon pine tree. The most abundant plant at the site was cheatgrass which is an invasive species that tends to be the first plant to grow in an area after a fire. It also sticks to everything (I expect that I will still be pulling pieces of cheatgrass out of my shoes for days). After marking the boundaries of the site, we got to work looking for caterpillars. Chloe had warned us that we would probably find very few caterpillars in this area based on her data from last year. Our collection methods included conducting visual searches as well as using the beat sheets. Since there were 3 of us, we each took a separate quadrant and worked together on the last quadrant, walking up and down to be as thorough as possible. We were pleasantly surprised to actually find some caterpillars: we found a variety of colors and sizes on the plants (some of which larger caterpillars than I had encountered on day 1 of collecting at the Tahoe campus). While we collecting the caterpillars and storing them in cups with some of their host plant, Chloe went to each of the quadrants to document the different plant species that were growing at this site. On the way back to campus, we stopped at a park to eat our lunches in the shade and upon arrival we were given the rest of the afternoon off.
Personal Note:
Although I teach science, I do not have a lot of knowledge on ecology so everything that we have learned in the past few days has been new to me and I have learned so much about caterpillars and their host plants! It has been really beneficial to collaborate with the other teachers on the trip and I can’t wait to bring what I learn back to my classroom! I also came on trip having a fear of caterpillars which I am slowly starting to get over the more I learn about them :)
Did you know?
Pinyon pine trees only produce seeds every 4 to 7 years?
Hi! My name is Rachel Vallee and I teach 8th-grade integrated science at Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, CA.
Science Blog:
Today, our team once again split up into two smaller groups. Myself, Nika, and Kristen joined Chloe to collect caterpillars from one of her research sites. We drove about 1.5 hours towards Topaz Lake and enjoyed beautiful views of Lake Tahoe on the first segment of our drive. Luckily for my group, today’s site was only a short distance from the main road, so we did not have to endure the off-road adventure we had heard much about from yesterday's group. During the drive Chloe, who is a PhD student, explained her research to us and shared other useful information about the local area and site. I learned that the pinyon (or piñon) pine trees carry a lot of significance to local indigenous people, many of whom rely on the nuts as a food source. Today’s site was a recent burn site, having been affected by the 2019 Canyon Fire and the center of the site was a burnt pinyon pine tree. The most abundant plant at the site was cheatgrass which is an invasive species that tends to be the first plant to grow in an area after a fire. It also sticks to everything (I expect that I will still be pulling pieces of cheatgrass out of my shoes for days). After marking the boundaries of the site, we got to work looking for caterpillars. Chloe had warned us that we would probably find very few caterpillars in this area based on her data from last year. Our collection methods included conducting visual searches as well as using the beat sheets. Since there were 3 of us, we each took a separate quadrant and worked together on the last quadrant, walking up and down to be as thorough as possible. We were pleasantly surprised to actually find some caterpillars: we found a variety of colors and sizes on the plants (some of which larger caterpillars than I had encountered on day 1 of collecting at the Tahoe campus). While we collecting the caterpillars and storing them in cups with some of their host plant, Chloe went to each of the quadrants to document the different plant species that were growing at this site. On the way back to campus, we stopped at a park to eat our lunches in the shade and upon arrival we were given the rest of the afternoon off.
Personal Note:
Although I teach science, I do not have a lot of knowledge on ecology so everything that we have learned in the past few days has been new to me and I have learned so much about caterpillars and their host plants! It has been really beneficial to collaborate with the other teachers on the trip and I can’t wait to bring what I learn back to my classroom! I also came on trip having a fear of caterpillars which I am slowly starting to get over the more I learn about them :)
Did you know?
Pinyon pine trees only produce seeds every 4 to 7 years?