Hello everyone!
I am excited (and a little exhausted) to type from my new apartment in Whitefish, Montana. I have been accepted to work the summer field season as assistant to PhD candidate Roberta Newbury studying bobcats in Flathead National Forest. Roberta's research focuses on bobcat movements within home ranges as well as investigating the prey species in northwest Montana. The summer field season consists of surveys in Flathead National Forest to estimate the presence of bobcat prey as well as the factors that contribute to habitat selection. I made the cross-country trip twice to move from North Carolina to Texas (my parents live in Houston), and then from Texas to Whitefish. Yes, those are a lot of miles and a lot of the USA! I have to thank my parents and my close friends for helping make this possible; without you I would probably still be lost on some back road in Idaho without half of my things and none of my hair.
I arrived in Whitefish five days ago and started my new job. I am adjusting to new and difficult work, so unfortunately I don't yet have time to recount what I've experience or learned in this short time. Please stay tuned in the next week, as I have time off from work and will devote a few posts with pictures! I can report that I have not yet seen my first moose, or grizzly bear. Montana wildlife is nothing I've ever experienced, and trekking this beautiful forest is the next step in my developing a niche in exotic cat conservation.
I am excited (and a little exhausted) to type from my new apartment in Whitefish, Montana. I have been accepted to work the summer field season as assistant to PhD candidate Roberta Newbury studying bobcats in Flathead National Forest. Roberta's research focuses on bobcat movements within home ranges as well as investigating the prey species in northwest Montana. The summer field season consists of surveys in Flathead National Forest to estimate the presence of bobcat prey as well as the factors that contribute to habitat selection. I made the cross-country trip twice to move from North Carolina to Texas (my parents live in Houston), and then from Texas to Whitefish. Yes, those are a lot of miles and a lot of the USA! I have to thank my parents and my close friends for helping make this possible; without you I would probably still be lost on some back road in Idaho without half of my things and none of my hair.
I arrived in Whitefish five days ago and started my new job. I am adjusting to new and difficult work, so unfortunately I don't yet have time to recount what I've experience or learned in this short time. Please stay tuned in the next week, as I have time off from work and will devote a few posts with pictures! I can report that I have not yet seen my first moose, or grizzly bear. Montana wildlife is nothing I've ever experienced, and trekking this beautiful forest is the next step in my developing a niche in exotic cat conservation.