Wow. What a day.

So the rain gauges were an interesting twist--not exactly related to our stated goals, but interesting. There are hundreds of gauges in the forest and outside the forest, and we had to go collect data before evaporation started to mess things up. In the photo at left, you can see that I've taken the wedge-shaped gauge out of its cradle in order to read the level on the millimeter side. Below the rain gauge (on the pole) is a pagoda-like structure. It is protecting a small instrument that measures temperature and humidity. Amazingly most of the gauges in the forest received about 33 mm of rain, while those outside the forest received 64 mm! And there aren't even any leaves to speak of--just the branches of the canopy. This ecological service provided by the forest is of great value to us in protecting soil fertility and water quality.

On the way out of the forest, we saw some commotion over by the guard stand, so we went to investigate. Maybe a deer was "taken," or something. (The other group smugly went back toward the trailer.) There was no deer, although over 120 had been taken from SERC alone on highly restricted hunts these last ten days. The natural predators have been all but eliminated, and SERC is overrun with deer. Twenty-two of the hundredish people working here got deer-tick-borne lyme disease last summer, and people were constantly shooing deer away from their cars. The population must be brought down. They are serious, so the only way hunters will be allowed to shoot a buck is if they have already shot a doe. The ticket is good for one doe, two does, or one doe and one buck. Anyway, I digress. At the guard stand, Lieutenant Dorsey was barbecuing chicken. He is famous for his chicken... and his Harley... and his ranch... and his sniper-like precision and accuracy. He graciously offered us some BBQ chicken that was without question the best I have had anywhere. Anyway, how could we refuse? So there we were: hunters, security, scientists, and teachers having a serendipitous lunch under a no trespassing sign.

As for quality control, it is amazing how many ways people can make mistakes in recording data. Common ones include mixing X and Y coordinates, transposing numbers, incorrectly identifying the species, and putting zeros in the wrong place. E.g., 0.08 m instead of 0.80 m. It's particularly difficult to interpret some of these numbers without leading zeros because the decimal points are not very visible. Argh. Still, we trudged out to the field and were able to resolve all but two questionable data situations. We'll leave those last two for the experts.

Finishing the hectare plot mapping was a reason to celebrate and make some noise. (Another reason might have been to avoid being mistaken for deer.) We posed at the "north pole," which, to my surprise, was pink. I won't get the photo until tomorrow, so I can't post it here. We went inside and finished the data entry, too, at which point we celebrated by putting check marks in various boxes on the overall progress board. Nancy did the honors.

Because we finished early, a few of us went on a hike. The moisture brought out some really cool decomposers--the likes of which I have never seen. Here are a few good ones I saw on my hike.Please click on them, and get a good look. The jelly fungus is particularly bizarre. Also on our hike, we visited the estuary to look at spartina and other marsh grasses. Below you can see Kate walking on an elevated boardwalk, so you can get a sense for how tall the grasses are. Just like in the film "The Salt Marsh," these wetlands are very productive. Slimy, perhaps, but productive. Anyway, we also saw holly as big as a tree and got some interesting views of the sunset.

Then it was back to the dorm for pasta and salad. After packing, I'll settle in for a much-needed rest. Tomorrow, it's back to the airport and then home at last. Earthwatch was a great experience that I know will make me a more useful teacher. Jess, Dan, Nancy, Rebecca, Jeff, Dawn, and Darren made it all worthwhile. I asked them many of your questions, and I look forward to sharing their answers with you. I'll leave you (for now) with a picture of Nancy and Jeff, humble scientists who strive to make a difference. Perhaps they will welcome one of you to SERC someday.