tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176905912007-10-19T19:48:14.006-04:00get up! get out! explore!Bekahnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1157478743800068012006-09-05T12:25:00.000-04:002006-09-21T11:56:18.586-04:00

Hi again! Since you folks are back in school, I figured it was time to get the blog back up and running. Lots to share! I will finish the Namibia posts first, but then you can look forward to stories from British Columbia and Hawaii! Day 2 in Namibia brought the chance to really meet the other folks in the group. We were all much perkier after sleeping off our jet lag and were excited to get

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1150993842499595032006-06-22T11:53:00.000-04:002006-06-22T12:30:42.570-04:00

After a day of frantic packing and trying to cram all of my gear into one duffle bag and a day pack (for those of you who want to be impressed, that was a tent, sleeping bag, thermarest, fleece, jacket, boots, rock hammer, field books, background reading, emergency supply of granola bars, all the little details like headlamps, first aid supplies, etc, and of course my two pairs of pants, shorts,

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1150991601291607362006-06-22T11:38:00.000-04:002006-06-22T11:53:21.316-04:00

I made it! I arrived back in California on Sunday morning after about 30 hours of traveling. Phew! Since then I have been doing laundry, cleaning my gear, and trying to get back in the swing of things here in Davis. I am excited to share all of my adventures with you, but I had so many that it will take a series of posts. I always keep a journal when I travel, so I will transcribe bits for

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1150429643553215462006-06-15T23:22:00.000-04:002006-06-15T23:47:23.570-04:00

Hey everyone! Here's your last post before Bekah gets back and can tell you all about her Namibian adventures. Yay!! As for me, I'm finished with all my finals and my first year of vet school! You'll hear more from me later in the summer when I travel to Hawaii to work on an animal sanctuary. If you want to check it out before I get there, you can visit the website at www.threeringranch.org.

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1149872109211305802006-06-09T12:09:00.000-04:002006-06-09T12:55:09.273-04:00

Some other unique animals that live in Namibia are the feral horses of the Namib desert. Wait - horses? When you picture Africa, things like lions, giraffes, and elephants come to mind. Namibia has those animals too, and I promise to tell you about some of the places they live next time. But Namibia also has a unique population of feral horses around the town of Klein-Aus Vista (since Namibia

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1149579408172514052006-06-06T00:32:00.000-04:002006-06-06T03:36:48.190-04:00

Penguins in Africa? Are you sure? Yup, believe it. Penguins aren't just found in Antarctica. In fact, there are penguins in other warmer climates too, like South America. But the African, or black-footed penguin, is the only penguin found on the continent of Africa, and even then, only on the coast of Namibia and South Africa. The African penguin stands about 50 cm tall and weighs between 2-

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1149224062450742702006-06-02T00:13:00.000-04:002006-06-02T00:54:22.470-04:00

Ready for your next Namibian fact? Today, it's about a unique plant that lives in the Namib desert. Its name is Welwitschia mirabilis - that's quite a mouthful! In Namibia, though, its more common name is n'tumbo, which means "onion of the desert." What makes this plant so unique? Well, for one thing, it manages to live in the desert, surviving mainly on the water that comes from that fog

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1148966813967528752006-05-29T21:04:00.000-04:002006-05-30T01:26:54.046-04:00

Another thing Namibia is famous for is the Hoba meteorite, which is the largest meteorite on Earth. You probably know that a meteorite is a rock that comes from space, but do you know the difference between a meteoroid and a meteorite? They're actually different names for the same object! When the rock is in space, it's called a meteoroid, and when it lands on Earth (or another object in space

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1148534371494994792006-05-25T00:31:00.000-04:002006-05-25T01:19:31.520-04:00

Hi everyone! This is Nina, with your first fun fact about Namibia. One of the things that Namibia is known for is the Namib desert, which runs along its western coast. The word "Namib" means "enormous" in the Nama language, and is what the country Namibia is named for. The Namib desert is the oldest desert in the world - it's been around for over 80 million years! It's famous for its

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1148352563895981782006-05-22T22:43:00.000-04:002006-05-22T23:11:53.203-04:00

Namibia? Where is that? Wait...is that where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are? Yes, that is what people have been asking me when I tell them about my latest bit of exploration. And the answer... yes, Brad and Angelina are there. Uh, I mean Namibia is a country in Southern Africa. It is on the west coast, just north of South Africa. I will be spending four weeks there with a fun group of

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1140141694527306052006-02-16T20:56:00.000-05:002006-02-16T21:01:34.550-05:00

Hi! Haven't posted in awhile because I am still playing catchup in the lab. I just wanted to let you folks know that while I am holed up in Davis, my superstar undergraduate Natalie is out discovering geology in New Zealand! Natalie has been working with me in lab to isolate some bacteria and grow some cool mats. In fact, many of the mats on the slime cam have been cared for by Natalie.

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1138383964221058852006-01-27T12:36:00.000-05:002006-01-27T12:49:03.626-05:00

Hi again! One of the neat things about doing science is that there are always lots of interesting projects going on at the same time! That means there are lots of cool things to discover every single day. Even though I am swamped in working up the data from the field and getting the lab back under control, some experiments continue on unabated. So even though I don't have the latest on the

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1138383358582162882006-01-27T12:32:00.000-05:002006-01-27T12:35:58.646-05:00

Whew! I made it back to Davis. Yes, for those of you keeping track, that is Davis, California! I actually flew back to Lincoln, NE and then drove to Davis. After being gone for four months, life is an absolute hysterical flurry, but I promise to make time for a few posts. I am working on setting up a web photo album so that I can share more photos of our adventures with you, but that will

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1137374034186739812006-01-15T20:13:00.000-05:002006-01-15T20:13:54.186-05:00

Wow! The lab is clean! The lab was a whirlwind of activity this afternoon as the entire team worked to pack up the samples, equipment, and supplies! We scrubbed and mopped, and are almost ready to go. We are working on the last loose ends: copying data, backing up pictures, taping up crates. Tomorrow morning we will load the boat and Karla and I will go on a SCUBA dive with the sub crew to

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1137373991485423052006-01-15T20:12:00.000-05:002006-01-15T20:13:11.486-05:00

I missed blogging yesterday because I spent all morning in the lab, took a 4 hour nap in the afternoon, and went back to the lab in the evening. I had an allergic reaction to something and needed to sleep it off. I have no idea what got me, but I pulled through.  We are getting a bit frantic around here. This is our last full day on the island, and we still have loads of samples to work up.

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1137373943817507702006-01-15T20:10:00.000-05:002006-01-15T20:12:23.850-05:00

Yesterday afternoon was my first ever dive in the front of the sub! Yay! The view is spectacular! Of course, a bubble dive isn’t just a good view. The scientist in the front of the bubble is responsible for directing the dive and making sure all the objectives for the dive are accomplished. We were searching one of the shallow sites for sample poles and that took the entire 3 and a half

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1137075364829101002006-01-12T09:11:00.000-05:002006-01-12T09:16:04.870-05:00

Work in the lab continues! We have gotten into the rhythm and are getting more efficient at collecting data. I have managed to find the time to work on my own research project which involves hunting for cyanobacterial mats that form cool morphologies/shapes. These cyanobacterial mats can grow almost anywhere underwater, but they particularly like growing on dead coral. Yesterday I hiked out

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136987904953438002006-01-11T08:53:00.000-05:002006-01-11T08:58:24.956-05:00

We awoke this morning on the island to rain and sunshine at the same time. After breakfast we walked outside to discover a fantastic full double rainbow. There are few things as beautiful as a rainbow over the ocean and palm trees! We have been hard at work on the island for a couple of days now. Our team is in the lab from 7:30 in the morning until between 10 PM and midnight. Because we

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136987557586534862006-01-11T08:43:00.000-05:002006-01-11T08:52:37.600-05:00

Finally made it to the island! I actually came over on the small boat yesterday afternoon. Yesterday morning was my sub dive. I rode in the back chamber with one of the sub pilots. The sub has two compartments: a large plexiglass bubble on the front, and a metal chamber with porthole windows behind the bubble. A sub pilot and a scientist ride in each compartment and we have headsets so

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136845223454272232006-01-09T17:20:00.000-05:002006-01-09T17:20:23.456-05:00

Well, you folks aren’t going to get to read these blog entries for yet another day. As often happens in science there have been many last minute changes in the plan. We did arrive at Lee Stocking Island early this morning, but the winds and waves were too high to allow us to transport our gear to land. Transferring heavy things from a large boat to a small boat can be very dangerous so we

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136845184403714432006-01-09T17:19:00.000-05:002006-01-09T17:19:44.406-05:00

Still on the boat! We went through customs in Freeport, Bahamas at about 1 AM early this morning, although I must admit that I slept through most of it. Members of our team worked very hard to have all the paperwork in order so we got through without too much trouble. Because so many people were up and moving around in the middle of the night, we got a late start this morning. The day is

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136845142408223712006-01-09T17:18:00.000-05:002006-01-09T17:19:02.410-05:00

We have all finished dinner and most of the scientific team is sitting in the lab. Folks are working on their laptops, most humming along happily with headphones on. Some of the head scientists are looking at samples from the last field expedition. With several years passing between each field expedition for a particular project it is often a good idea to review the experiments. In this case,

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136845039627628872006-01-09T17:11:00.000-05:002006-01-09T17:17:19.656-05:00

I am writing this while sitting in the lab on board the RV Seward Johnson. RV stands for research vessel, so it is not surprising that this ship has a full lab complete with freezers, lab benches, sinks, and places to set up our microscopes and other equipment. We have been underway for about an hour and are just now going underneath the bridges to get out of the harbor. We got on the boat

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1136387643718545222006-01-04T09:56:00.000-05:002006-01-04T10:14:03.746-05:00

Good morning folks! I only have a quick moment to post a bleary-eyed note. I am almost ready to walk out the door to catch my flight. Just like most good scientists, I procrastinated over the holidays and had to get up very very early this morning to get all the equipment ready to go. I have a suitcase full of video and camera equipment and a duffle bag of scuba diving gear. The rest of my

Bekahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17690591.post-1128974622138399152005-10-10T16:02:00.000-04:002005-10-10T16:03:42.140-04:00

Just to demonstrate that I can post pictures....

Bekahnoreply@blogger.com