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Today is my last flog, and tomorrow is my last field day. It’s a sad ending to an amazing summer. Today we worked on independent projects in the morning & measured P9 in the afternoon. This morning I analyzed my 42nd slide out of 236 slides. My project’s goal was to better understand what pollen loads bees are bringing to Echinacea. With the help of others (huge shoutout to Laura), I captured over 100 pollinators during early, peak, and late flowering. I brought them back to Hjelm house where they were cooled and wiped for pollen. I wiped pollen (separated by body and scope) on fuchsin jelly on glass slides and am currently counting Echinacea pollen grains in comparison to heterospecific pollen. The goal of my research was to look at how pollinator foraging behavior changes over Echinacea’s flowering season. There is still a lot of data analysis left, but thanks to Team Echinacea I gathered so much great data, thank you!
In honor of my final flog post I wanted to recap what I learned from each team member:
Amy taught me the importance of patience during research. I might not have caught all my bees within the time frame I wanted, but with patience I managed to catch enough bees for my study.
Gretel taught me that field work keeps you young at heart.
James taught me that you can’t always be nice but you should always try.
Alyson taught me that hard work pays off, especially when you cut down 20+ buckthorn trees and end up with significant data within one month! (Congratulations!)
Alex taught me how important passion is in science. When I spent 12 hours catching bees and only caught 8 I had to absolutely love my research just as much as Alex loves his.
Lea taught me the importance of positivity in the field. When you have 6 “can’t find”s in a row, or are counting over 100 stipa seeds, you have to stay positive and excited about field work.
Abby taught me how to make every piece of field work fun; whether it was signing to aphids, chopping off palida, or eating soggy pretzels.
Will taught me the difference between an earned win and a lucky win (example: settlers of catan vs. the lottery).
Scott taught me that the best thing a scientist can do is just listen.
Laura taught me the importance of helping others, because science could not exist without collaboration.
Ruth taught me that humility is a far better sign of a good scientist than any accolade.
Jennifer taught me that a great advisor lets their student struggle just enough to come to a solution on their own, but never lets their advisee drown.
Zachary taught me that you can be a scientist at any age.
Stuart taught me to keep an eye out for everything, whether it’s stipa, a seedling, or a great idea.
Best of luck in all of your future endeavors,
Leah
ps: Minnesota was lit
Good afternoon floggers, today was a busy and hot day in the lab! The air conditioner stopped working this morning, so we all got a bit of a sweat from cleaning and counting. This week has been lonely without Danny, but the volunteers are keeping up the amazing work. We are almost on the 8th bag of Echinacea heads that need to be cleaned and experiment 96_a is done being counted! I finished re-checking a second tray of achene samples, which means I have only one more tray left to re-check. Below is a picture of our current counting progress. We still have a ways to go, but every day moves us forward. Have a great rest of the afternoon floggers!
Dear Flog,
 The team comforts Roxy as she contemplates life’s transience Today was bittersweet. We began the day by assessing phenology in the remnants, a task which takes far less time now than it did a few weeks ago. Many sites are completely done flowering, so we won’t visit them any more. To make matters worse, today was Jennifer’s last day. Roxy was so upset that she hitchhiked to Barrett in a last ditch attempt to make Jennifer stay. However there were also some rays of hope today. Most notably, Lea found a shirt that Alyson had left in Staffanson two weeks ago. We thought it was gone forever! Also, Ruth and Carlee, an REU student, visited. We all had a very productive afternoon measuring hybrid plots at Hegg. The day kept getting better. After work we went and had a nice dinner at Mi Mexico, a well-decorated restaurant in Alexandria. Tomorrow, Will, Gretel, and I will head up to Pembina to check seed set of the western prairie fringed orchids that we found earlier in the summer. Hopefully it will help take my mind off of the sad thought that more team members will be leaving soon.
Yours truly,
Amy
Hey Flog!
So much happened today- Steve Ellis, a local beekeper/bee-hero came to talk to us about the work he has done advocating for bees. He has been apart of several lawsuits that aim to stop neonicotinoids from harming his bees and bees around the country! He talked about how the chemical insecticide harms the bees and affects colony survival. Along with Steve, we got some really fantastic scones.
After Steve left we ventured into the bog to pull buck thorn from Alyson’s project. There was a lot of buck thorn and I’m sure we missed some but we would have felt bad if we hadn’t left any for the goats. We piled all the buck thorn near the ’99 south garden for a bonfire. The pile was probably at least two Abbys tall or about 12 feet. Post-buck thorn we headed in for an early lunch.
P2 rechecks after lunch, which went really fast. We were finished by about 2 and then we headed home to prepare our dishes for the potluck/bonfire party. (I brought a “multi-berry” pie, though it was more of an aggregate pie). The food at the potluck was great and we had a lot of fun chatting in the screened porch away from the mosquitoes. The party was 90 percent potluck and 10 percent bonfire, which was a good ratio.
Today was the best day of the summer for me, not only did we have a great presentation from Steve Ellis and great food, but! The man, the myth, the legend: Danny Hanson came up from Lakeville to visit! I’m so excited that we will both be at the University of Minnesota in the fall.
 Danny.
Some of the team headed out this morning to do phenology. The flowers are quickly finishing up and many sites have no more flowering plants. Amy and Will stayed back to work on their posters for the Ecological Society of America (ESA) annual meeting next week in Florida!
After phenology, people worked on aphid treatments and Laura painted bracts. We took an early lunch and then began the daunting task of measuring the 99 and 99 south gardens to finish out P1. We worked quickly and efficiently. Afterwards, we celebrated the P1 victory with root beer floats.
 Wow so tall To help celebrate Monday Funday, this flower is made out of burnt up toothpicks from P8.
I’m sure we left y’all sitting at the edges of your seats waiting for an update on the pizza, but before we get there, I would like to offer a complaint. It has come to my attention that the loon was given 1 point, while I was given zero. It is my opinion that the judging was rigged and the loon bribed the judges. I see no grounds for my loss. But I’m sure you want to hear about our pizza, so no more of our slight squabbles. After I took a short swim in the refreshing Annie Battle Lake, we headed off to Battle Lake for some pizza. The food was great after a lackluster breakfast and lunch. Much to the surprise of our waitress, Laura managed to ‘drink’ (put into a Nalgene) four glasses of water. Next we went to the local ice cream shop. While looking for a spot to sit, Scott lost his upper scoop to the road. This was much to the amusement of a spectator who laughed at the hapless Scott. Not to be at a loss of ice cream, Scott picked up his scoop and enjoyed it with some extra vitamin P (P for pavement).
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the great campsite. Laura and Amy went for a swim at sunset, I built a fire and everyone scratched their chigger bites. Those little guys are quite persistent. After a great trip, we returned to K-town this morning. We are prepared to continue measuring plants and do flowering phenology as the number of flowering heads dwindles.
 Peaceful sunset from our campsite
Good evening flogland and sorry you’ve been feeling neglected lately. We still love you.
We know it’s not evening yet, but it sure feels like it and we have already taken two naps today. An elite contingent of Team Echinacea left Friday after work to camp at Glendalough State Park. We are sitting around the picnic table watching Jame trying to catch a loon in the lake! So far score is 1-0 loon. Actually it might be higher because apparently Jame wakes up really easily to loon calls but not other loud noises.
Last night when we arrived most of our time was spent around the campfire. We learned a lot of interesting things about each other including that if you spell James’ name backwards and change the “m” to a “w” that it would spell “Sewaj” (sewage). Also Will is a satanist and doesn’t like S’mores. Also we learned that Jame has been making fires for his family since the age of 3.
This morning we were awoken by a Miss Amy Waananen at 6 am and promptly made a fire to eat some squishy oat meal. Alyson AKA Lil’ Terrified did not partake in the oatmeal but joined me in the Cheetos for breakfast movement. We also developed a sophisticated ranking system for food ranging from “would try again” to “would eat forever”.
Earlier today, we went on a hike on the Beaver Pond Interpretive Trail. We are all now sitting around the picnic table anxiously awaiting the arrival of Scott “Scooter” Nordstrom. Will is especially excited because they have plans to “cuddle puddle” tonight.
Tonight we are going to eat pizza and itch each other’s chigger bites.
Glen da lough,
Amy “OJ”
Alyson “Lil’ Terrified”
Billy Jeff Reed
Jame “Sewaj” “Jahmez” “Jamie” “Jammy Jam” “Sweet Baby James”
Laura “Puff Daddy”
Good afternoon floggers! This week, volunteers have been speeding through both counting and cleaning Echinacea heads in the lab. We are on the 7th bag of Echinacea heads and the counting for Experiment 96a is 86.2% done. Also, I have completed rechecking an entire tray of achenes, only two more trays to go! Tomorrow, Danny will be leaving the lab to move back to Minnesota to pursue a master’s degree in Data Science. I would like to thank him for always being so kind, answering all my questions and teaching me everything there is to know about the processes in the lab. We wish Danny good luck & will miss him very much!
Hello floglanders and happy Boxing Day in July to you! Earlier this summer, all of us at town hall decided that we wanted to celebrate Christmas in July; however, it snuck up on us very quickly. We all forgot that we wanted to celebrate, so yesterday when we realized that Christmas in July had came and went, we agreed upon celebrating similarly on Boxing Day in July. And oh what a festive day it has been.
You know that warm feeling that the winter holidays bring into the homes and the hearts of so many? Well we felt that on Christmas (Boxing Day) in July too. Except it was a literal warm feeling all over our bodies as it was tremendously humid today. We completed our last pollinator observations, which was bittersweet much like a questionable Christmas cut-out cookie. And oh the carols! After observations, more progress was made on the aphid addition and exclusion experiment, which involves persuading the aphids to add to plants by singing to them, or at least choir director Abby says that works.
After lunch, we all worked together and measured in p1. It might be that holiday feeling in the air, but searching for basal plants along rows really felt like looking for the perfect Christmas tree. But alas, the perfect tree was already erected in town hall.
 Our tree adorned with snowflakes and a musty garland that we also found in the basement. Yes, we found an artificial tree in the basement and decorated it with artisan snow flakes crafted from only the finest old magazines and catalogues. And those gifts you see under that tree not just for show, this isn’t Macy’s!
Yesterday, secret santa names were pulled and we all found items around town hall and in the field today to bestow upon some lucky person. Various personalized gifts were exchanged including: a rotating light, a Rubik’s pyramid, a crusty almond, some caramels, a “new” bag of beans, a paper machete cow, an origami venus fly trap, a single packet of Taco Bell diablo hot sauce, oregano seeds, and Alyson’s field pouch!
But the real gift was a spirited game of Christmas in July Farkle and a family dinner of veggie burgers. Happy Boxing day in July to all and to all a goodnight.
Alyson received her own field pouch from Scotty boy! Equipped with a paper cup for when she is thirsty, a paper fan for when she is hot, and a mosquito swatter for those pesky buggers! Will receiving his rotating light from Abby (surprise!)
Today was xtreme to say the least. We finished phenology and pollinator observations before lunch, but during pollinator observations, the strangest thing happened. The Echinacea head I was watching started singing. It was singing Don McLean, no less! It was crazy.
Lucky for you all, I caught it on video and transcribed it below.
The Day the Pollen Dried
A long long time ago (this morning)
I can still remember how
Those bees used to pollinate me
And I knew if I got a compatible pollen grain
That I could make a seed set
And maybe it’d germinate in a while
But robber flies made me shiver
With all the egg-goo they delivered
White gunk between my bracts
I couldn’t set one more seed
I can’t remember if I cried
When I saw my widowed anther (last day male)
Something changed deep inside
The day the pollen dried (up)
So
Bye, bye Miss augochlorella guy (*it’s probably a female)
Presented my pollen to the bees but the bees were too shy
And that good ole Team Echinacea would point a camera and cry
Singin’ what if I never see a pollinator guy?
What if I never see a pollinator guy?
Did you find the pollinator reference collection?
And put on sunscreen for protection?
If your sunburn tells you so?
Do you believe in a change in the pollinator communities?
Can andrena composite-specialize in me?
And can you put your bucket in a different row?
Well, I know that you’re interested in me
‘Cause I saw you counting my styles persisting’
You counted back from day sixteen
Man, I dig those styles that are shriveling’
I was a lonely, perennial, long-lived plant
With a cone head and a lots of ants
But I knew I had lost my chance
The day the pollen dried (up)
I started singin’
Bye, bye Miss agopostemon guy (*probably female again)
Presented my pollen to the bees but the bees were too shy
And that good ole Team Echinacea would point a camera and cry
Singin’ what if I never see a pollinator guy?
What if I never see a pollinator guy?
 Even the caterpillars could get down (or up I suppose up) to this catchy tune.
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