Buenos dias!
It’s almost winter and you know what that means: scarf making time. I made the mistake of going to Michael’s yesterday and buying three balls of wool. I never learn my lesson … during the school year there are two big things that can derail me: 1) starting a new TV series that’s already several seasons in (Game of Thrones… ugh) and 2) starting a new craft project.
My wool sitting on top of my homework, which is what I actually SHOULD be doing.
So today I’m going to talk to you about a pretty important component of my second year: my year-long project.
Every year the second year FWRs do a year-long research project that encompasses field work and analysis in a topic of their choice. This project is sponsored by someone in the industry who offers advice, help, supplies, etc.
This year, along with my teammates, Brendon and Miranda, I’m working with the YVR Wildlife Program. We’re studying the types of insects that inhabit the YVR airfield that are prey for barn swallows.
Barn swallows are incredibly cute.
We’re trying to make recommendations on managing the habitat at YVR to make it less attractive to insects, therefore less attractive to barn swallows. If you haven’t guessed already, barn swallows and airplanes don’t make for a good combination.
It’s been going great so far. We get Wednesdays off school to work on our project, so we head down to our lab at YVR and identify insects that have been caught in traps as well as dissect barn swallows that have unfortunately been struck by aircraft to see what they’ve ingested.
When we first started we were totally out of our element – we’re more fish and wildlife oriented than insect oriented – but we’re slowly getting more proficient at insect ID, thanks to the help of our entomologist (insect guy). Under a microscope, what seemed like just a black speck of dust suddenly becomes this intricate creature with wing crossveins and plumose antennae.
This project is great in so many ways because you get to meet real people working in the industry and see how things are really done outside of the classroom. Plus, I get to wear this really spiffy vest.
I know, I look super cool.
Anyways, that’s about it for today! Until next week…
Audrey