Well, here I am.
Yeah, so I spent most of yesterday near Albany, New York, in a cave 30 feet below ground. I've decided that spelunking is one of the most wonderful things to do in this world, and I intend to pursue it as much as I possibly can. My god am I glad I'm not claustrophobic. There were points when I was crawling on my stomach with about 4 or 5 inches of clearance on either side of my body. Other times I was up to my waist in water with the ceiling just a few inches overhead. There were natural deposits of clay and this penicillin-producing mineral everywhere, and all sorts of little cave bats, one of which I got to play with. The tunnel we were in ended in a goonies-style natural rock slide into an incredibly deep pool of water. It was absolutely insane, and the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen.
In other news, I'm a mammalogist. That's right, a mammalogist. I'm spending the year studying tropical mammals and their transport vectors, how they affect biodiversity and things like that. I'm learning about trapping, tranquilizing, collaring, tracking with radio tellemetry, etc... all of which I'll be doing in Costa Rica in the spring.
Two thirds of all species on earth live in the rain forest, which only covers 2% of the earth's surface. 90% of all medicinal drugs come from the rainforest. It also starts all of the world's weather patterns. Once trees are cleared from the rain forest, the soil they were once in has three years before it becomes completely infertile and useless even for the cattle ranches they try to fill the space with. And, interestingly enough, even though it had little to do with my field of study, 75% of the entire animal kingdom is made up of beetles.
W00t.
In other news, I'm a mammalogist. That's right, a mammalogist. I'm spending the year studying tropical mammals and their transport vectors, how they affect biodiversity and things like that. I'm learning about trapping, tranquilizing, collaring, tracking with radio tellemetry, etc... all of which I'll be doing in Costa Rica in the spring.
Two thirds of all species on earth live in the rain forest, which only covers 2% of the earth's surface. 90% of all medicinal drugs come from the rainforest. It also starts all of the world's weather patterns. Once trees are cleared from the rain forest, the soil they were once in has three years before it becomes completely infertile and useless even for the cattle ranches they try to fill the space with. And, interestingly enough, even though it had little to do with my field of study, 75% of the entire animal kingdom is made up of beetles.
W00t.