Cosmic Rays | Part 3

Rough skinned newt. Don't touch it, or smoke it. 

This was the leg of the canopy crane that used to be here at Wind River. It only existed for about 10 years before they made us take it down, but during the time when it was functional, the allowed scientists to study the forest canopy like never before. It used to be that in order for you to study the upper tiers of the forest, you would have to climb the trees, which is physically demanding, or you'd have to take single branches down (shotgun) and study them from the ground. The crane allowed scientists easy access to areas that no research has ever touched, letting them discover species and processes that are unique to the canopy!

The crane now operates acts as a site for carbon sequestration research. Preliminary research has found that forests - even the slow growing, decadent old-growth forests - are carbon sinks, meaning they take in more carbon than they let out. Forests regulate atmospheric carbon levels and global temperatures. This is why forests are important, people!!

There is also some awesome soil science happening at Wind River, mainly because of the methods that researchers are using to acquire data. Usually, if you wanted to find soil moisture levels, you would have to take a field sample, mass it, dry it, and mass it again to find how much water was lost. This techniques leaves a lot of room for error, and is terribly time consuming. Another problem with soils is that current satellites can only measure a depth of 1 in. of soil, which leaves much to be desired. But who would have thought the solution to this problem might come from cosmic rays?? That's right, I said cosmic rays. The rays that originate from supernovae and have been bouncing around our universe ever since the Big Bang and could tell us a lot about the origin and age of the universe.

The neutrons from the rays are inversely correlated with the hydrogens in the soil water, so if researchers measure the electrons that are proportionate to the neutrons, they can know soil moisture levels on a large scale and at a greater depth (up to 2 feet compared to 1 in. with satellite capabilities).

One of the largest pinus ponderosa in the region.

We drove a little through eastern Washington on the way back.
There was a huge backup in the middle of nowhere, a perfect photo op! 

Hills and clouds. So beautiful.

JULIANNNN

Texture Hunt | Part 2

Are you tired of this view yet? Because I'm not. 

Where the game "hot lava" has some real-life applications. 

This is our professor: Jerry Franklin, the old-growth guru. It feels like he's been a part of every important paper and documentary about modern forestry. Here he is in a documentary about the forest service at the Mt. St. Helens observatory. We weren't even surprised. 

Quick stop at Multnomah falls because why not?!

Char Burger. It lives up to the hype pretty well. 

This is the room where the class would gather in the evening. Jerry would stand in front the Gifford Pinchot portrait, with the fire crackling in the back, and tell us stories about his experiences in the woods. It wasn't a bad setup. 

Snake Pit | Part 1

After 2 months of being presumed dead, my camera decided to start working again...!!! I guess it was done being waterlogged and missed my company. I have definitely missed having my camera around, so you can imagine how overjoyed I was to discover it working again. And just in time for the 3-day field trip this past weekend. I am born again. Invincible. Limitless.

Anyways, this weekend was the second and last field for my ESRM 315 class. We drove down south to Mount St. Helens, stayed in the Wind River Field Station, visited the dry forests near Mt. Adams, and then drove a bit on the east side before cutting back through the Cascades and back home.

I've blabbed for long enough. It's time for photos. 

ROADTRIPPPP

Beautiful, right? Nature bounces back with such gusto. 

I probably could have stood there for hours. 

After watching a film on Mount St. Helens, the curtains would rise and the mountain would be perfectly framed in the window. Bravo, architects, bravo.

Early seral ecosystems are full of life! So much light, so much warmth. It was obvious that the landscape experienced a dramatic change not too long ago, but I'm always surprised how quickly new roots take hold and start to build almost immediately after a high intensity disturbance. This sort of open and dry terrain gave me instant flashbacks to Peru. We trekked across similar dry mosses for hours and everywhere you looked you were surrounded by mountains. It hit me pretty hard, especially because I didn't expect it. 

I'm Alive

HI.

I wanted 
to let you know 
that I 
still exist. 
Procurement 
of a new 
camera 
will happen 
by the end of this month. 
Get excited.