Thread by @realscientists

So for my placement year I moved to Nelson, BC and was an intern for the ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations!! I worked for a grizzly bear biologist and the species at risk biologist in our office. This was the most important thing I have ever done!

Did I move to Nelson because I wanted to snowboard in addition to studying bears? Yes! Did it work out? Yes! So I was stoked. Within a month of my arrival I was designing and carrying out a project with a threatened amphibian population in SE BC!!

Amphibians?! What is a #BlackMammalogist doing working with frogs? Well...I still couldn't tell you but they were part of the workload of the species at risk biologist so there I was, working with frogs and doing nighttime surveys in a wetland!

I also got to learn heaps about the ecosystem and the threats to them and the politics of road closures for species protection! Since my work there, the road now has a seasonal closure to protect the frogs...so that is a win for me!

I also got to learn more about Ducks Unlimited and lots of other cool stuff!!

I also volunteered myself to help out with many projects around the office and by the time I left I had worked with 11 different species with teams both inside and outside of our office! I also got to work with a WCS scientist Cori Lausen with bats!! I LOVED it!

Learning to mistnet bats was one of the favourite things I did there! Here is me with some bats and also with the saw-whet owl which flew into our net one night!

I also got to help in fisheries with burbot and with salmon! Oh and sturgeon but I don't have any pictures of that haha! First time in waders was an experience! Super fun though and everyone who works with fish was super rad!

I also got to work with the Kootenai tribe of Idaho fisheries team which was amazing and I was honoured to be able to work with them and learn more about their culture and their fisheries.

So then in the winter I taught myself how to use GIS so that I could look at where the grizzlies bears were going throughout the year and the huckleberry availability! This was super fun and @ClaytonTLamb received many annoying emails from me asking questions about bears and GIS

luckily for me Clayton was incredibly good spirited about it and answered my never ending list of questions!! I also built the grizzlyresearch.ca website although I am sure it has since been updated but it was a great opportunity to learn about this 30 year project!

I also got to go out and do a mountain caribou helicopter survey and a predator census...which involved cross country skiing...and here's the thing I am a snowboarder, I SUCK at cross country skiing but our caribou biologist was a good sport and let me tag along

Here is a moose mama and her two calves that I saw when doing some wetland work for habitat restoration!

Here is me on my first (and only to date) helicopter flight! Yes I am always wearing aviators...always

When the snow cleared in the spring we got to go out and count berries for the grizzly bear project and let me tell you...if you think there won't be bugs because you're in the mountains you would be very very wrong!!

It was quite hot but it was super fun! We got to stay in a CO cabin and swim in the river...right on the border of Montana too! I dreamed of going there one day (this is important later on)

I also got to go and talk with the community in the study area and get their feedback on my website designing! It was awesome to be able to chat with them and see them be engaged about bear science and...luckily for me I got to go out and attempt to collar some bears!

And we actually got one! All credit to Clayton but I got to help collar a grizzly bear which was basically a dream come true! Enjoy this sleepy bear of very low photo quality haha #blackmammalogists

I got to go back and visit my friends who I met in Penticton all those years prior and I also learnt to mountain bike so that was what I spent most of my time doing in the summer before I headed back to the UK!

I also went on vacation to seattle and oregon! Which had also been something I had always wanted to do! The PNW is amazing and the old forests around Bellingham are also amazing!!

So I reluctantly headed back to the UK to write my report about my grizzly bear project and I submitted it and had to do a viva (this is an oral defense of your piece of work) I succeeded and got a good grade and was so absolutely stoked!