Video day

Once again I am wireless in Wawona ...

Photographer Veronica Adrover and I have had a great day in Wawona doing video work - talking to some students as they push toward the finish of their summer REU or YLP experience and enjoying the clear air, the lizards and deer, the sound of rushing water. We even did a mini hike up the Chilnualna Falls Trail to get some falling water footage (and dip our feet in a lovely little pool!) It is a paradise on earth. How lucky all of us are to be here!

Today was also a great day for media as the article I've been working for on an REU research project appeared in the Fresno Bee. It's about Dannique's hydrology research. We are pretty darned happy about that, and - bonus! - it also appeared in at least four other newspapers (in Merced, Monterey, Kansas City and Miami!). With distribution that wide already, I am crossing my fingers for an Associated Press pickup - meaning it could keep moving to other news outlets in the next few days. There's your little window into my weird PR world ...

We're going to try to catch some of the students who are working in the labs in Merced tomorrow. We originally planned to stay up here, but there are too many of you already down in the Valley! It's great, actually - it will really make the connection (nudge, nudge ...) between your work in the park and the UC Merced campus.

After that, I leave for my family vacation, so this is probably the last time I'll be in the park with everybody. It has been a blast!

I do have a lot more writing to do when I get back - lots of interviews to listen to and write up, not to mention publicity for the symposium coming up Aug. 15. So you'll see echoes of your Yosemite summer on the UC Merced Web site - and maybe in other places, too - for several months to come.

Famous!

I teach a little class of 7-year-olds at church. There's one funny girl who, whenever she's called on, pops off with, "I'm famous!" Yep, it's cute.

Well, making people a little bit famous is actually my job. But there should be payoff beyond just the attention we are trying to get you. Publicizing what everyone is doing at REU and YLP is important for a lot of reasons.

- When today's high school students learn about your work (on Facebook or on this blog or on the UC Merced Web site) they gain a little more interest in UC Merced. Maintaining our enrollment growth is one of our most important goals at the university. More students allow us to create more majors and programs and hire more faculty, which in turn draws even more students. Publicity for your work is an important piece of building the UC Merced of the future.

- When UC Merced students or other university students learn about your work, they gain interest in the REU and YLP programs. As the programs draw more interest, they become stronger and stronger.

- When we can show these programs offering you great learning opportunities and wonderful experiences, we justify the funding we have been given for them, and we hope that will help us retain that funding for the future - maybe even gain more funding so that more students can participate.

- When members of the community see that you are working to make a difference in Yosemite to improve the public's experience and preserve resources for future generations, they see the good that UC Merced can do. This increases important support for the university - we hope members of the general public will be more likely to vote for representatives who strongly support higher education and even donate to UC Merced if they can.

Everybody has been really sporting (i.e. patient) about all the photography and interviews and everything so far. I know it takes up your valuable time, but I think we can make it worth your while.

Present

I am here on the deck of the Wawona field station director's residence, which pretty much qualifies as the most serene outdoor spot I have been in for a long time, maybe ever.

The view is incredible with pine-covered mountains all around, the barest pink blush still on the sky, a little smoke rising from a wildfire over the mountain to the southeast.

The silence is profound, even healing. True, I can still hear a jet engine somewhere very distant, and some other very far-off, unidentifiable rushing sound, and a few echoes of human voices, and the occasional buzz of a mosquito. And the click of my keyboard. But that is all.

It occurs to me here that one reason we sometimes have a hard time staying in the moment in our everyday lives, is because those moments are too crowded. There's no room for us to be present.

Here, it is wide open. I'm here.

I'll be back

Hey, I wanted to give a quick heads up that I will be back up with the YLP and REU students this Thursday and Friday. So far I am planning a field expedition with a reporter from the Fresno Bee to shadow Dannique for the morning on Thursday. We'll see what else we can set up! I am really looking forward to talking to some more of you and learning about all the cool things you are working on.

You can contribute

Remember, if you are an REU or YLP student, faculty or staff member, you can contribute to this blog. E-mail Ana to get set up.

First podcast!

Our first podcast about the Yosemite programs this summer is an interview with YLP intern Orion Agnew. Check it out at http://www.ucmerced.edu/podcasts.

First Science Friday

So the second day of my visit last week was the first Science Friday for the REU and YLP students. This is a day when all the students are together in the classroom of the Wawona Field Station, listening to guest lecturers on science topics. It forms the for-credit class portion of their Yosemite experience this summer.

The classroom is next door to the main building of the field station, and looks like an antique garage on the outside, but don't be deceived. The interior has just been remodeled and it's very nice with wood floors, white walls and a wood beamed ceiling. It was quite satisfactorily functional with the laptop/projector setup the speakers needed and even had wireless Internet. Not too shabby!

I got there a bit late, just as Eric Berlow, the director of the field station, was sharing information about using UC Library resources in research. All the students are involved in research - REU students are doing mentored research with UC Merced professors and grad students, and YLP students are required to do research in the primary literature on any topic of their choice. Most of them are working on projects related to their Yosemite internships. I listened in as the YLP students described their plans, and although they're all in the very stages, they sound fascinating and fun!

During a short break I took the chance to talk with YLP student Orion about his work on Yosemite soundscapes. Naturally this makes a great fit for a podcast - so listen in soon. I'm putting the finishing touches on it right now. UC Merced podcasts are on the UC Merced site and also available on iTunes.

Then it was Glenn's turn to be the star for a little while. He talked to the assembled students about his dissertation research on groundwater/streamwater interactions in Yosemite Valley and the upper Merced River. I thought I knew this research pretty well, having been married to the scientist for coming up on 15 years, but I definitely learned some things. I think some students were more tuned in or prepared than others, but everyone benefited from the chance to think about how hydrology impacts some of the most important sustainability questions the world has to think about.

At lunch I did some more talking - I don't want to give it all away because I will be writing about all of this for the UC Merced Web site coming up. But I will tell you I talked to the two UC Merced students who are participating in REU program.

After lunch, we heard from Professor Andres Aguilar about his work in evolutionary and conservation biology with two groups of fish - first, roach and hitch (I didn't even know about those fish), and second, California steelhead and rainbow trout. I was really interested in the connections he made between ancient geological events and evolutionary branching. The fish illustrations were beautiful, to boot.

After the lectures I had the chance to talk with a few of the seasonal rangers - three truly remarkable young women who went to high school together in Atwater, California. One is now a UC Merced student in mechanical engineering, and another is planning to transfer to UC Merced. The third is still planning her path but I'm sure she'll be successful wherever she goes!



We were graciously invited to join the students and program faculty and staff for a barbecue in the evening. There wasn't much time as we had to hurry home and give grandma a break (remember I said we had 4 kids?) but we enjoyed yummy burgers and a very amazing tortellini salad with asparagus and fresh basil, courtesy of UC Merced REU student Sunny. Glenn and I contributed a watermelon to the feast but honestly it would have been just fine without us ...

More blogging from me to come when I visit Yosemite again, probably July 17-18. In the meantime, I'll also post the stories and podcasts I gleaned from this last visit, and I'm hoping (hint, hint!) some of the students will hop on board with this blog. Let me know if you would like to participate. It's a great way to document your experiences and share them with the world!