Photostation Monitoring and Hester Dendy Samplers

     It has been quite a busy week! Jesse is utilizing his SCAs while he still can. On Monday, I did photostation monitoring ALL DAY! It was ridiculously hot and humid and I was sweating more than I've ever sweat in my entire life. I persevered though- I sang songs to Jesse to keep my sanity. Here's some scoop on the photostations: this idea began in 1976 as a way to document changes in the vegetation on the prairie and various other locations near or on the Monument. With the photostations project, two people go to predetermined sites and take multiple pictures at different angles. These pictures are repeated three times a year: April, July, October. Their main purpose is to track the density of the thickets that grow on the prairie which have to be maintained on a regular basis. The photos are then archived to be used and compared at a later date if the need arises.

     Below are some pictures of me doing photostations with Jesse. I had to walk through grass and vegetation that grew higher than I was tall in order to get some pictures. Stinging nettles and poison ivy didn't get me, thank goodness, even though I was literally wading in both. 

     Jesse has two cameras, neither of them are digital. One is a black and white slide and the other creates a color slide. He has a compass and on each of the laminated pages that are in the booklet I hold on my arm there is an angle that he has to find on the compass. He then directs the camera towards it so I can stand at a correct angle. We did 23 of these stations, and most of them had 5 or 6 different angles.

     On Thursday, Chelsi and I got to do what is called Hester Dendy macro invertebrate sampling. We didn't do any sampling really, but instead put out these structures that will become the macro invertebrate's home. The structure consists of small wooden plates spaced out with a metal rod going through the middle. This gives the organisms a place to live. 

     A month from the time these are set out, the samples will be obtained from Cub Creek and the organisms that live on the structure will be identified and sorted to determine the health and status of the creek. This has been done since 1980. We spent all day out in Cub Creek testing the water and finding branches to tie the structures to. We even discovered a huge spider ready and waiting to make our finger into lunch!

     We put on hip waders and used a rope to climb down the bank and get into the water. We then took the structures and tied bright green rope to them so they'd be easy to find next month. We walked down the water trying our best not to fall (I almost did a few times!) and boy, was it a difficult task. Once we tied on the structures (7 at each location), we took the pH, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen, and temperature meters and documented the readings at each location for each different measurement. We also measured the current using a yardstick. After we completed this, we went upstream and tested the turbidity of the creek. We also had to record what type of creek bottom it was where we placed the structure: silt, sand, clay or gravel. It was mostly gravel on the bottom, but every so often we'd find a patch of clay and nearly slip to a watery demise.

     All of this data was recorded and then water samples were put in bags to test for e. coli. This was a daunting task at first, but it got easier as the day went by. I had a lot of fun doing this even though I was so exhausted after we finished that I was ready for a nap!

You can see the structure hanging from my hand

Jesse pointing out the raccoon tracks in the culvert hoping it wouldn't come out

looking at all the creepy things that live on or near the tree

very observant...

Teamwork!

The bridge you see is West State Highway 4

Cutting the rope to tie on the tree

This is when she sees the spider and screams...

I laugh, Jesse is concerned

Jesse then comes over to us and takes 10 pictures of the spider...

...all of them were blurry

Testing the pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and temperature

     After we had completed our task at Cub Creek, it was time to go to Graff Pond to test again for dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, e. coli and temperature. Jesse had fun taking pictures of us while secretly wishing we'd fall in the water!

Walking down to the water

Chelsi filling up the bag with water while I get the temperature and dissolved oxygen

Time to go back to the truck and take these hip waders OFF finally!!!

Jesse having fun with Chelsi's camera...

     I had fun being in the creek. After we were done, we had to go back to our house and change completely into new pants and uniforms because our current clothes were completely soaked in sweat. During the photostations and while being in the hip waders, I am pretty sure I have never sweat as much in my entire life as I did while accomplishing those tasks. I was proud of myself for being able to make it through without complaining a single time!
     Tonight we went to the Czech Fest in Wilber, Nebraska. It was fun! We bought kolaches and I can't wait to eat them in the morning.

     Tomorrow is my last Kids in Parks. Jesse and Chelsi get to be in the Czech parade tomorrow! I am so jealous. I still can't believe this experience is so close to being over...

Last week in Nebraska.

     Hello all. It is my last week here in Beatrice, Nebraska and I am having mixed feelings about leaving this place. I've become so close with the staff and have had such a great summer that it will be especially difficult to leave on Tuesday. Then it will be back to Ennis to see my dog who probably thinks that I abandoned him, and my friends who I cannot wait to see and catch up with. After that, it's on to Waco to move out of my old apartment and into my new one! That is exciting and I cannot wait to be moved in to my new apartment. Before all of this begins, I must post pictures from my trip to St. Louis! Since I am writing this blog while watching the front desk, I will keep this brief and only post pictures and say what they are from. 


These first pictures are my first sights of the Gateway Arch and the trip to the top!

The St. Louis City Museum. This was an abandoned building that a man bought and filled with a lot of cool things. My favorite was the 10 story slide!

Here is the trip to the top of the Gateway Arch:

Forest Park Zoo and Art Museum:

The Sound of Music play at the Theater:

     I'll try to update this later. Tomorrow I should have a blog about photostations and macroinvertebrate monitoring. Now it's off to complete my butterfly brochure!