Dr. "Jess" Parker of the Smithsonian Institute sat with us today in the Earthwatch office and explained that the research happening here couldn't be done without volunteers. We are the first group of teachers to work here, but people from other professions have been coming. A large bank has been sending its employees to learn about the science of climate change. Maybe the leaders of this bank understand that it is wise for the success of their business to begin educating themselves about the changing earth. Fortunately, this large company also understands the importance of funding programs to bring teachers like me here to learn. A new group of teachers, maybe from seven different states, will be arriving next week. They will be picking up where we left off, out in row 7, column 7 of the hectare where we were last measuring and identifying trees.
When I return to San Francisco, I will do my best to educate my students and family and friends about what I've learned here. Our earth is magnificently beautiful, but the 'picture' is not pretty. I realize that when we educate others about the crisis our planet is in, it is important to do more than just explain why things are a mess. People choose not to listen when they become overwhelmed by bad news. It is necessary to teach each other what can be done to make things better. Governments and businesses need to make massive changes but so does every individual person--after all, isn't a government or a business just a collection of individuals? I've learned about some things I can do differently in my everyday life to help the planet get better. Do you want to know what they are?
More soon.......

(My favorite painter, Charles Burchfield, showed me these trees!)

Here's how a rain gauge works:

My morning began with a presentation about different kinds of energy and how they can be both good and bad for the earth. Dr. Bert Drake taught us about fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. These fuels put carbon into the atmosphere. When we are not using these forms of energy, they are keeping carbon safely trapped (the word for this is sequestered). But as soon as humans dig up coal and burn it or pump oil up from the ground, the carbon gets back into the atmosphere and makes the planet's trees and plants work extra hard to take it out of the air. That's why we need to start thinking about other forms of energy that won't be as harmful. We also have to be more respectful of forests and protect them. Many people who damage forests do it because they need the land to grow food or they need the wood to build with. How can we help these people with their needs and keep them from destroying the forests? The Amazon rainforest is in great danger and so are many others.
Today we went to an area of the forest that was logged before SERC owned this land. Most of the good trees were cut down to be sold for their wood. Some trees were left standing. The scientists were upset that the trees had been cut down but they also realized it was a good opportunity to study this kind of landscape. How quickly will the forest get back to its old self in a place like this? What kinds of plants will start growing here? We checked the amount of rainwater that had accumulated in an instrument called a rain gauge. There are 20 of these in this field. Some of them have leaves that have fallen inside. After measuring the rainwater, it gets dumped out. The scientists keep visiting the field to check how much rain water is falling there over time. This data helps them understand what's happening to the forest and how long it might take for it to become healthy again.
On our walk back, we took an old carriage road from back in the days when this was a farm. We stopped to look at a gigantic blob of wood oozing from the base of a tree. Remember that bald eagle I saw yesterday? Well today, we walked right beneath its nest, high up in a tree overlooking a pond.

Looking carefully at the forest floor I see that the turkey tail fungus seems to like all the dead woody debris.
A pumpkin spider looks for food among the dead leaves.
A box turtle shell poses a mystery? The turtle is long gone, maybe eaten by a fox or raccoon? It's shell looks as if it has been recently nibbled. Perhaps by a rodent that saw it as a good tool for sharpening its teeth? It's too bad the sun sets so early now because I could walk for endlessly in these woods.
Hmm..well I did bring a flashlight...

Thousands of years before this land was used by the Java Farm, it was inhabited by the Piscataway tribe. They used the trees of the forest to make shelters and simple stoves for cooking the fish they caught in the Chesapeake Bay.
I wonder what they thought of the strange shapes the vines make as they wind their way from tree to tree?

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At the edge of a hilltop meadow sits a ruinous barn, sagging and overgrown by creeping vines. This land has many histories. One of these is the Java Dairy Farm. Today we found an old milk bottle with the Java name on it. You can see through the hole in the side that some mosses and a clod of dirt have found their way inside. Atop the chimney of the old manor house sits a turkey vulture, waiting for something dead to turn up in the landscape....

The forest canopy ...