My dad came to visit me for the weekend. I took him to many of the places I had been over the past couple months- Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, the National Bison Range, Glacier National Park, Missoula, and Polson. He also was able to spend some time meeting my advisors and seeing what I have been doing for the past couple of months. I think the thing he was most excited about was seeing a bear in the wild, an event which he had a much more positive reaction to than I did.

Here are some shots that I took on a hike that some of the Team SPAW girls and I took at Mission Falls. It’s a good, rewarding hike and a Montana must-see. Thank you Dennis (featured in picture one) for taking us and being our guide!

I spent Monday through Friday this week at my desk on my computer working on developing a model of huckleberry productivity. It may not sound very fun or exciting, but data is my happy place. Here was my view for the week- a computer screen with MATLAB always open, Zar’s Biostatistical Analysis, a first iteration Menger sponge made out of Tony’s old business cards, and a framed picture of Team SPAW.

If you’re going to catch bees, sometimes you have to get your hands a little dirty. There was an incident this week where a bee that I caught took a little longer to wake up than the others. I was afraid that I was responsible for our first bee fatality. Fortunately, this little girl woke up eventually! We named her Meadow and brought her back to where we found her. My hands are still clean of bee blood.

This week, Team SPAW was fortunate enough to watch the beginning of a camas bake. Cooking camas bulbs in the ground is a laborious process and the work is done solely by women. We did not get to come back to try the camas, but any food that people are willing to make despite a 48-hour cooking process must be delicious.

This week I had my first experience with field work in natural areas. It was very different than what I have done before, but who could complain while working in fields full of beautiful wildflowers! I used to run from bees and now I’m spending time catching them. Team SPAW also had the opportunity to go to Missoula and hike to the peak of Mount Jumbo. You get a great view of the city from the L on the mountain.

Tonight team SPAW went out on the National Bison Range and saw so many animals! The bison and the elk were pretty cool, but I was most excited by my first bear sighting in Montana!! We were not close enough to get a picture, which I was very grateful for.