My Experiences Studying and Researching Abroad: Operation: At least a hyena

Finished my first full week here :) And it’s been a very busy one. So here’s the week in review (sorry for the long post):

Monday: We (Tyler, Renata, Eric, Ben and I) went into Nanyuki in the morning. It’s about an hour drive from the center. One of the main reasons we had to go in was to buy dirt, because Tyler wants to grow his own Barleria (it would be much easier to study if you could manipulate it in a greenhouse rather than having to go out to the field every time). So we stopped at a nursery outside the town first to pick that up. In town we stopped at an ATM to get money, the supermarket for other supplies, and the hardware store. The supermarket was actually surprisingly big, and had pretty much whatever you would want. Common things to be requested from supply runs are peanut butter, hot sauce, and beer. After that we got milkshakes, which were so good. Right when I got to JFK, pretty much, I had a craving for ice cream and hadn’t had any since then, so I was very happy.

We were back at the center for lunch, which was delicious. There was chapati and veggie stew, and then ice cream for dessert. So we made chapati ice cream sandwiches. After lunch Eric and I went out with Tyler to get some Barleria cuttings and then we came back to the center to plant them. We didn't have an actual greenhouse, so one of my tasks for the time when we were back was to construct one with a productivity cage (basically a mesh cage that you can put over an area to prevent anything from eating the stuff inside), the plastic bags that the dirt comes in, and duct tape. Lots of duct tape. So far the plants seem pretty happy, and we’re hoping they stay that way.

Tuesday: Eric and I went out with Rob and Moody (his field assistant) in the morning. Rob has been working with termite mounds and how they affect ecosystem spatial patterning around Mpala for a few years (check out his paper here and an article about his findings here). He’s continuing to study them, and we went out to look at the productivity on and off mound. We were looking in the KLEE (Kenya Longterm Exclosure Experiment) plots. There are three areas with plots (North, Central and South) and a variety of different things that are allowed within each plot. One treatment is that nothing is allowed in (no animals at all), one is that everything is allowed in, and one is that mega herbivores (e.g. elephants and giraffes) are excluded. And then with each of those treatments, there’s one plot where cattle is allowed in and one where it isn’t. The plots are located on black cotton soil, which is very high in clay content. That leads to extreme cracking when the soil dries out, which makes it really hard for some plants to live there.

Before we started working, we took a detour. Rob wanted to show us some bush babies. We saw them, up in a tree sleeping, and they were adorable. There was also a nest there, with a bush baby baby. Then we got to work, with Rob showing us how he wanted the measurements done so we could come back out in the afternoon with Moody. One of the things that was really cool about being out there was seeing the different ant species that live on the acacia out there. Todd Palmer, a professor at the University of Florida, had given a lecture in the fall when I was taking Rob’s class about the mutualisms that occur with this one species of acacia (acacia drepanolobium) and four species of ants (google ‘Todd Palmer ant mutualism’ and you’ll get a variety of papers that he’s published on the topic). After lunch, we went back out with Moody to keep working.

Rob had found out in the morning that Eric and I hadn’t seen any predators yet, so he offered to take us on a game drive that evening. He, Corina, Renata, Eric and I all went before dinner. He called it “Operation: At Least a Hyena.” We were unfortunately unsuccessful in finding any predators, but we did see some buffalo and an owl (that we hadn’t seen before), plus other things. Rob opened the roof hatch at one point, so we were in the back seat standing up, riding along and following a group of elephants. It was incredible.

The last thing on Tuesday was Disney Movie Tuesday! Alex and I both brought Disney DVDs with us, so we decided to make it a weekly thing that we watch one. We (probably about 12 of us) watched Tangled this week in the classroom at the center, so we could use the projector. I shared some of the candy I brought with me (again, thank you Mom!) and it was so much fun. A perfect ending to the day.

Wednesday: In the morning, Eric and I went out with Moody to keep working on the termite mounds. On the way, we saw some giraffes necking. It totally reminded me of this video. Also, I don’t know if that’s what it’s actually called, but it’s an appropriate term. It was a pretty lazy afternoon (read: I took a much longer nap than intended…), and then we went on a sundowner at 5:00. That’s basically where you drive someplace (this time, it was Twiga Rock. Twiga means giraffe in Swahili) and hang out, with snacks and drinks, watching the sun set and the moon rise. It was a beautiful location, on a group of rocks that we could climb around on. There was popcorn, and chatting, and wildlife viewing. As the sun was setting, Alex and I found many pictures in the clouds (like a viking hat, Hokusai’s The Great Wave, and Mickey Mouse).

After dinner, I started working on the camera trap photos Ben and I need to go through. We’re basically going through a whole bunch of photos taken at different locations, and marking down which species we see in them and how many individuals there are. Which could be tedious (and is in some cases), but for the most part it’s looking at animals I’m still not used to seeing, which is awesome. And I’ve seen some animals in the photos that I haven’t yet seen in real life, like a white tailed mongoose, a leopard, spotted hyenas, and an aardwolf.

Thursday: Props to you if you’ve made it this far! Eric and I went out with Moody in the morning to work on the termite mounds again. We were sharing the car with Renata too, so I got to see her traps and one of the mice that she’s studying. We were back at the center for lunch, and I spent most of the afternoon working on camera trap stuff.

Friday: I was back with Tyler and Ben today, and we (with Ibrahim) went to North this morning for a full day of field work. Today we were doing work looking at how much defense the spines on the Barleria plants give them. Fun fact: spines are pointy. Really, really pointy. And fingers are soft. We were at North until about 2:00, and then we went to Central and South to collect some other grazing data. Back at the center, I went for a run before dinner. After dinner, a whole bunch of us watched The Lion King. We all sang along, and it was awesome. I think for a little while at least, we’ll have Disney Movie Tuesday and Friday.

Phew. That was a lot. But that’s everything I did this week in like two pages. Hope everything’s going well for everyone at home. (This post was written on Friday night, but not posted until Saturday night due to internet/time constraints)