She is in hog heaven


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Posted by Ballpark Frank (24.237.84.227) on 10:12:24 03/26/14

In Reply to: Ballpark posted by katjh

Hi Mom,

Years ago, I had lots of seasonal interp friends who spent the offseason engaged in a variety of activities similar to what Carolyn has been doing.

Some of them, typically those with (1) lengthy tenure and (2) formal or informal backgrounds in education, worked in the Expedition Yellowstone program that the NPS Environmental Education people run for students in grades 4 through 8. The program runs in the fall and spring, which worked perfect for NPS seasonals subject to the 1039 limitation on annual hours. One of my pals managed to work in that program and help out with the intensive wolf studies on the Northern Range traditionally conducted in December and March. He may still be associated with YA. I know he was leading a bunch of the lodging and learning classes a few years back.

With Carolyn being situated where she is now, I'm sure she is aware of the various opportunities. The proximity to MSU results in any number of studies being conducted in the park at any given time, everything from Thermal Biology Institute research on life in the hot springs to aspen ecology to dendrochronology in remnant trees up high on cliff faces. Carolyn's problem, if there is one, would be trying to decide what direction to go in, if she were interested. I know the Craighead Institute has a study underway on pikas that is far flung geographically throughout the northern Rockies.

That's just some of the research "stuff". Then there's the environmental education opportunities via the NPS, YA, and instituional outfits, like Teton Science School.

Just like on college campuses, researchers are always looking for grad students to exploit. I met a lot of them over the years in Yellowstone. The cool thing is to see them years later, after they get their Ph.D., and they come back as leaders of studies.

I will be real interested in seeing what other opportunities Carolyn takes advantage of, while she is in a position to do so. (It's hard to keep up with cougars and lynx later in life.)

Ballpark



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