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That's a Wrap

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Wow, what a trip!  The expedition to Arizona has been an amazing experience.  We started as strangers united with a common goal of educating our students and promoting environmental awareness, but we left as friends.  Yesterday was our last day of the trip before we all got on flights to our respective cities.  Even though our group of teachers varied by subject and geographic location, we learned so much from each other that will transform our classrooms.    I loved being immersed in nature and surrounded my individuals that are passionate about learning and inspiring others.  Being in Arivaca and Portal, AZ was good for the soul.  In addition to the breathtaking views, it was amazing to see how plants and animals survived in this ecosystem.  I live in D.C. so this was a big change from my typical view.  I could look at these mountains all day.  These poppies were my favorites.  I could not believe how colorful and full of life it was in southern Arizona. We were blessed with beautifu
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Keep your friends close, but your pupae closer!

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It feels both like months and mere moments since we started our trip with Earthwatch; and either way, our journey ends tomorrow morning. We have learned too many things to count on this trip and I feel humbled by the vast knowledge and kindness of our scientists. Their desire to investigate the world and its diversity at all sizes and shapes is truly something to be grateful for and admire.  As a resident of Arizona, I was shocked that my idea of what southern Arizona’s nature looks like was dead wrong. Living in Phoenix had started to skew the way I view desert ecosystems and I am so glad I made it out here to see the diverse beauty in this state. W e drove through the beautiful Chiricahua mountains, splashing through running waterways and climbing around cliff faces. As someone who has never been interested in off-roading, I have plans to do that drive again just for those views and the joy of driving through water :) On our final full day, we traversed the rocky dirt roads of the Co
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I'm Off the Beaten Path!

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The immense gratitude I feel while on this trip comes from a path that is still revealing itself to me. I fell in love with a school garden that my students and I, along with two other science teachers created as a school project. Thus, I committed to honor this planet via my actions. This Earthwatch expedition feels like a big thank you from Mother Nature. I never thought my learning space could be like the image below.   The energy that I am receiving from the natural world, dedicated scientists, and professional educators is fueling me. During this expedition, w e have had several presentations regarding the research that we are contributing to. Dr. Lee Dyer presented on "Ecology & Evolution of Tritrophic Interaction Diversity." Graduate student Danielle Salcido, presented on "Long-term Trends in Interaction Diversity in a Tropical Lowland and Tropical Highland Forest." It was fascinating to hear about the diverse life histories of how parasitoids, such as wa
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Gratitude

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  I am so grateful to be part of the Earthwatch expedition to study Climate Change and Caterpillars in Arizona. In the heat of the the southern Arizona desert and woodlands, I've come together with other teachers. We have spent time in the forest, the grassy plains and the desert gathering and identifying caterpillars, butterflies and food plants, and time in the laboratory helping scientists with their research. I've developed first hand experience that I hope to pass onto my students. It's fascinating and exhausting! I hope to get my ESL (English as a Second Language) students excited about science and the environment. I am developing a strong, personal connection to the environment  and feel empowered to help my students from a marginalized community to understand what is climate change and how they can address this problem.
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¡Buenas Dias, Arivaca ! Before arriving here, I joked that the name Arivaca might be short for arid vaca (cow, in Spanish). While this Southeastern Arizona town is indeed ranch country, the name, I've just learned, courtesy of the Visit Arivaca   site, has native roots: The O'odham (Pima and Tonono) Indians, possibly descendants of  the Hohokam, occupied the valley for many years, and named the  area; "Ari" (Ali) means "little," "vaca" (wahia) refers to a place  where water comes up. Lake Arivaca is nearby, but there are plenty of refreshing discoveries and food for thought right here at Pandora Ranch, where our second and final mobile research station is abuzz. Tasks include photographing caterpillars, "zoo-ing" them (removing frass and feeding them), organizing host plants to make sure caterpillars have what to munch on, and recording recording caterpillars' life history stages, which include: instar, a very young caterpillar that
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The Bear Necessities of Science

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By Thomas There's an old habit in the teaching profession. We sometimes find ourselves reminding students in a variety of metaphors that a grand journey can begin with a single step. On the third day of our grand journey here at Southwest Station @ Cave Creek Canyon, we found ourselves doing many steps--so many that our devices alerted us constantly.  But more to the point, we found ourselves embarking on some pretty radical discoveries, and like the metaphors we tell our kids, those started off small--about the size of a caterpillar, in fact. Our day began with setting a plot at about an elevation of 7000 feet. Hiking up through the lush desert, chased by heavy clouds of moisture, we saw the rising sunlight over the hilltops. Choosing an ocotillo cactus as our focal point, we then applied our previous training with Danielle, PhD grad student extraordinaire, to crisscross our plot ropes, setting essentially a square area in which to work in. Then, we set to work with beatsheets, an
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Poop, Pupae, and Photography - oh, my!

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Yesterday, we spent time in the field collecting specimens within a plot of Juniper Monosperma trees. Today we started our day in the classroom with a talk by Dr. Lee Dyer. The research we are helping with is being conducted in Arizona, Ecuador, Nevada, Florida, and Costa Rica and has been going on for decades. The project we are working on with Dr. Lee Dyer and PhD student Dani Salcedo studies natural enemies of caterpillars that are called "parasitoids." These include many species of wasps and flies that kill caterpillars by depositing their eggs IN or ON the caterpillar. This ensures that the parasitoids' offspring will have a safe place to grow (inside the caterpillar) and plenty of food to eat (caterpillar tissue). The research being conducted by Dr. Lee Dyer has spanned decades. It includes the rearing of over 300 species of caterpillars, caring for them, recording data and recording the mortality rate caused by parasitoids. By comparing results from the different r
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