2023 People of the Big River Field Class

 07-20-23 Day 13 Today was busy but fun we started off with the usual we had breakfast and packed for lunch. At 8:00 am Calvin came out to our campsite, he's the Spokane tribe water resource specialist. He took us out to dawn mill where we helped water trees that were planted a year ago. Some were dying or dead already sadly, but we also had some really healthy trees that will be a great help in the area. After we finished that task, we moved onto a river survey out at sand creek. Which was a very good experience since I'm still working out different career paths that interest me. The survey was awesome. We waded through the creek and took measurements of the width of the wet areas, we took slope of the bank of the creek, depth, and canopy coverage. All important information for keeping track of the waterway and health of our creeks after we finished the survey. Calvin showed us the electro wand they have and how it's used for fish survey we even caught a brook trout before...

 07-19-23 Day 12 Today I'm going to be honest I don't have very much to say it was a travel day. We left Harris Park and started heading to Wellpinit so the same routine. We packed everything up in the trailer and SUV then headed out we made several stops mostly for gas cause the truck guzzles gas like no tomorrow. And a couple of bathroom breaks which one we had lunch at the rest stop. Once we got to Wellpinit we set up camp, did our blog, and went to bed like I said not a whole lot to write about till tomorrow.

 07-18-23 Day 11 Today I had trouble getting up I didn’t necessarily sleep bad, but I woke up really tired which mean I lied in bed unmotivated for the day. But ironically also meant that when I did get up, I need lots of motivation to scarf down breakfast make my lunch pack what I needed for the day and be ready by the time we were supposed to leave. I did it and we headed off to tribal native plant nursery where we were given a tour by Gale. Of all the native plants they grow, a list too long to mention all but there were easy recognized plants like sage and choke cherries. Then we were able to help them out because they were shorthanded. So while we were there, we trimmed branches so they can be planted and hopefully produces a lot of plants. Once we were done, we headed Tamastslikt museum which was amazing they have quite the set up there we started in the café for lunch, and I had this great salmon melt that hit the spot.   I've  been wanting salmon for a while, ...

 07-17-23 Day 10 Today wasn’t too bad we were 20 minutes away from our activity which mean we slept till 7:00. Well for me it more like 6:40 but that’s only cause a caterpillar was crawling on my face, once I got it out of my tent. I was awake and it was doubtful that I could go back to sleep, so I just started chilling. Then it was the usual we had breakfast/making our lunches for the day. Then we headed out and down the road was CTUIR or Walla Walla fishery we met up with Tila and John. Tilla was a habitat biologist and John is a tech they took us through their river restoration the Walla Walla River. It is a very fast pace and straight water way they helped slow it down and create larger habitats for different struggling species. But their job doesn’t end there they also deal with invasive species, the easiest to see were the weeds a large group was Bow/Canadian thistle. We also checked out water invertebrates which are bugs who spend at least a part of their life cycle in ...

 07-16-23 Day 9  Sunday was awesome it was our rest day and after a week on the go it was great to sleep in a bit, didn’t have to be ready till 10:00. That doesn't mean we didn’t do anything we still worked on the water experiment. We went to the Walla Walla River and collected samples of water, then used the dip stick with the NUT-TTC and MAC sides to begin the culturing of the bacteria. While working on that we also did the starch test on the samples we collected from the upper Deschutes River. But that isn’t all, like before we still had to test pH level, temp, and the canopy test. After all the science fun was had we did our favorite thing to do on the trip, we had a shower. And the best part we didn’t have to do it under three minutes it was more like 10 minutes which made us all happy never know how much of the simple's things make us happy till you have less of those things. But we did have fun after getting back to camp playing card games. Which was really enlightening...

 07-15-2023 Day 8 Today travel day we got up and had our usual breakfast and lunch packing. Had to pack up my tent and shove my sleeping pad and bag into their bags which is always a pain. Not to mention packing up the science equipment into the truck always fun trying not to break expensive equipment. And after we finished, we went down to Bend Oregon library to post our blog from the last few days, when we didn’t have a signal. We were there for a couple hours turns out my blog needed some polishing before being posted. I got it done obviously if you're reading this just know it was in much worse shape before being posted. Afterward we headed to the new camping site in Umatilla, that took us what felt like forever but really it was like 4 hours. But for some reason the maps wanted to take to a scenic route, so we took a longer route along some back roads most of the time we wondered if we were going to make it (as in maybe murdered). Turns out we did but it was kind of late, so i...

 07-14-23 Day 7 Today we got a bit of time to relax and not so busy schedule we got up and had a great breakfast that included bacon! Afterward we got started with our water experiment by going to the upper Deschutes River and taking different readings for example the canopy test seeing how much of our spot is covered by a canopy and how much solar radiation hits the water we also look at how clear the water is, the pH level, water temp and many, many more. One cool thing after was getting together with the classmates and sharing data so that we are all on the same page with our notes. After our sharing we were able to see the gram stain we prepared yesterday, and my bacteria was gram negative which is one step closer to identifying what was in the water very interesting stuff. My favorite part of the day came after all this we loaded up and headed to Newberry Caldara which held the big obsidian flow, and it was amazing the view was great and the amount of obsidian was mind blowing...

 07-13-23 Day 6 Today has been a very long day we woke around 6 for breakfast and getting ready. We set up the breakfast/lunch line packed up everything we’re taking and put up every that a bear might want away. We met Alex at the Sister's ranger station I was able to get a eagles and chinook salmon pin for my backpack which is awesome. There we learned a bit about Alex and Lorene, Alex is the partnership program manager at Deschutes National Forest he has 20 years of fire management in his background and been at Deschutes for 12 years. Lorene on the other hand is environmental coordinator at Deschutes National Forest. She does a ton of work with NEPA review before project start, she also responsible for organizing field team. She has a master in forestry and been at the Sisters for 2.5 years they took us out to Indian ford creek. Where we met John a wildlife biologist, he took us to see Glaze meadow which used to be wetlands before the beaver population disappear from unknown reas...

 07-12-23 Day 5 Today we woke up and realized that 6:20 isn't enough time for us to grab breakfast, make lunches, and load everything up and be on the road in time for us to meet people at 9:30. But it all worked out we met up with Marlo Fisher at Bend fort rock district or as Marlo called it sand springs. Where we did a pumice moon wart survey (Botrichium pumicola) it grows from pumice and is part of the fern family. There is a limited distribution around Central Oregon, Crater Lake and one part Mount Shasta. We were told that they usually germinate early to mid- June and senesce around mid-July.  It was interesting we lined up 10 ft apart and searched approximately 4 acres of land and found 14 pumice moon warts. Which is a good thing since we weren't sure we'd find any so late in the cycle and personally I found one of those hidden pretty well in the sage. It was Corbin who found the most of our group he found 3. Afterward we went down to a campground for a quick shower...

07-11-23 Day 4  Today we had a bit of a late start once we were up and ready, we had our final breakfast with OSU. After our farewells we started up bacteria analysis from water sample we collected from Keys Creek and Strawberry Lake. They had incubated for 36 hours I had a sample of Keys Creek which had light colony estimated 10^3 on the NUT-TTC side. The colony count was 45 with colony size being 1mm-6mm the basic description was circular, maroon, and glossy. But it wasn’t the only one found there it had a green spread also glossy. So based on those basic descriptions that bring me to the list of possible identification we have Escherichia, basillus spp, pseudomomas flurescent, pseudomomas aerugimosa. What we did after was a specific isolation of the bacteria. Then we went to Key Creek and tested the canopy cover and how much solar radiation reached the water. We also tested things like pH levels, water temp and depth of water. We then spent 1-2 hours trying to fill the camper wi...

 07-10-2023 Day 3 Today we woke up at 5:30 which in my opinion is way too early, but when in Rome do as the roman do. After another great breakfast and some packing Brennen Van Alderwerelf took us to Myers Canyon to the narrows. Once we got there, we were able to question Brennen about his academic history. We found out that he graduated with his first degree at the University of California in Physics. Although he ended up working for California department of water which sparked his interest in the environment. So, he went to the University of Iowa for a doctorate in geology and started research/fieldwork in 2012. While speaking to Brennen we learned many interesting things about the area we were in fun fact like it's been called the "cradle of dog kind" meaning many fossils have been found there. At the first area I was able to find calcite vein with slicken lines which are evidence of fault motion. After that we found lava flows rock which were easily identified by the ...

 07-09-2023 Day 2 We started our day having a wonderful breakfast with OSU geology students. After breakfast we loaded up and headed to Strawberry Lake hiking trail. On the way on one of our pits stops we had walked over to a river in which Zach was startled by a large frog which is always a good laugh. Once we got back on the road the car was full of laughter and bonding through storytelling and jokes. Finally, after two hours we reached the start of the hiking trail. It has been a long time since I did anything remotely close to hiking, but the weather was great. The trail a bit challenging to someone as inactive as me but I adjusted well and was able to get a couple miles in with some great scenery. Once we reached Strawberry Lake, we were able to relax and enjoy the weather with our sack lunch. Which brought over our chipmunk friend who was very comfortable around us and our food. Toward the end of the day after getting back to camp. Corbin and Zach were able to collect samples...

07-08-2023 Day 1 So far, we have done dishes and made a blog a great start. The drive to Mitchel was long about 4 hours with a couple stops in between, the student that joined all took turn napping and then a huge discussion broke out about horror movies which got a bit intense. Once we arrived, we met Frank, and he helped us get set up. Then food because we were so famished from a long day of sitting and doing nothing. At 7:30 the OSU students and faculty had their regular meeting which we attended where we met the OSU student and faculty and then we were briefed on tomorrow plans. Which was a bit of fun in the sun as we hiked to a lake but that's tomorrow. Although right before bed a couple students and I watched a movie we`re getting along great, till tomorrow.