Fieldwork to capture pygmy rabbits
Kiwi, Me, Miranda, Dodo
Leopard lizard
A long exposure of the milky way over Austin, NV
Gopher snake
A local bee feeding on thistle
Sphinx moth
Finding cell service requires using 4WD to climb giant hills
Accidentally captured a long-tailed weasel!
Kiwi found a way to carry the PIT tag scanner
Horned lizards call this place home as well
Bull Elk
Columbia basin frog
Spotted Towhee
Barn swallow dancing on a pond
ground squirrels ran the campground
bobcat skull
cow skull
bluebells
Collecting fecal samples
Weighing a pygmy rabbit
Checking up on a pygmy rabbit
Collecting ear biopsy punches for DNA
American avocets at the Jiggs reservoir
My tent with the ruby mountains as a beautiful background
Life in the Sagebrush Steppe
(April to September 2019)
(April to September 2019)
After traveling to Nevada, I quickly befriended my boss (Dr. Miranda Crowell) and two new coworkers, both named Sarah. We quickly decided the Sarah's needed nicknames, so they became lovingly known as Kiwi and Dodo. Our main goal was to locate and trap the elusive and adorable small pygmy rabbits throughout various parts of Nevada. Not only are these creatures fast, but they also are only found in remote landscapes with no available housing nearby. Thus this work required more patience, endurance, and resilience than any of us could have imagined.
(to be continued)
From Tennessee to Nevada
In 2019, I got my first seasonal job offer outside of Tennessee!
I packed up my Prius and drove 2,000 miles to Jiggs, NV.
Population: 2
I packed up my Prius and drove 2,000 miles to Jiggs, NV.
Population: 2
Undergraduate Classes
During college, I spent my first two years taking basic courses at a community college to stay close to my family and save money. Later on, I transferred to Tennessee Technological University where I began taking classes focused on ecology and wildlife sciences. Such as: genetics, botany, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, dendrology, and more!
Photo: Red-cheeked salamander (Plethodon jordani) from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. More photos from the GSMNP below.
Old Mill at GSMNP
Old barns at GSMNP
Bear research at GSMNP
Landscape view from GSMNP
pygmy salamander
pygmy salamander
Creek leading to roaring river and the boil WMA
Eastern shooting star
Delphinium tricorne
eastern bluebells
Mountain bluets
Me looking for birds in GSMNP
Dr. Dan Combs at Wheeler Wildlife Refuge
Botany class
2016 to 2017- Undergraduate Research Project
A Comparison of Three Models of Wildlife for Small Mammal Surveys
2016- My first job with wildlife!
I was hired by a mammalogy professor and his PhD student at Tennessee Technological University to study bat populations in west TN. This required working long nights alongside biting insects, raccoons, and other nocturnal creatures. I didn't have a great camera at the time, but I was still determined to document as many things as I could to share my experience with others.
Our main goal was to determine which bat species were living in the area, and we did this by setting up multiple mist nets near waterways and checking them every half hour for captured bats. We also captured many invertebrates, a few birds, and a flying squirrel!
This job was when I had my first moment of "AHA! THIS is what I am meant to be doing with my life!"
(Picture: Dr. Jessi Vannatta checking the wing of an eastern red bat)