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Hello Flog!
T’was another eventful Monday today! We all headed out to P2 first thing in the morning and completed about 20 more rows of measuring….We even managed to find 2 new plants that were originally listed as skips! There was some worry about some bad weather coming while we were up on the hill, but it thankfully missed us (for now we stayed dry).
 Moving measuring tapes J Ison measuring a large plant We all enjoyed some tasty lunch. Afterwards, we discussed the plan for the week and came up with a game plan.
After that we split into task force groups to get some more work done on our individual projects. I headed out to Staffenson to help Bridgid complete phenology on Liatrus….It took some learning but I eventually got the hang of it. Then we helped Lea and Kristen move their tents and finished up just in time! It started pouring just as we finished moving the last tent. It was a good way to end another productive day at Team Echinacea.
Attempting to do phenology on Liatrus Bad weather part 1 Bad weather part 2
August 5th 2018 marks the day that Team Echinacea returned to Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge. However, only a few members (Stuart, Gretel, Kristen, Michael, Mia, Zeke and I) embarked on this journey to collect seed set data. We left the Roost around 6:00 AM. Much of the car ride is a blur to me (1. Because I was in and out of consciousness and 2. Because I’m writing this at 8:00 PM, a solid 15 hours later). However, I do remember Zeke and Kristen discussing the definition/criteria for a city. They came to a conclusion that a city must have four (or more) structures that are greater than four stories. I also remember Zeke’s unique bird classifying system, which included the categories of; big bird, little-big bird, big-medium bird, medium bird, small-medium bird, big-small bird and small bird.
 Mia was able to find an orchid that didn’t have a flag marking it by tapping into the Force. Once we arrived at the site, I thought about Star Wars alot (for some odd reason). I imagined that Stuart and Gretel were our Jedi Masters, while the rest of us were padawans accompanying them on a mission. The seven of us were able to work efficiently to collect the seed set data from the orchids in a just a few hours (that’s the power of harmonic convergence for ya). As a Team Echinacea tradition, we got F’real milkshakes after a job well done. Instead of heading straight to Alexandria, we went to a site called Agassiz Dunes. It was nice to go out and see a new site, even if it was was covered with poison ivy.
“I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.” – Anikan Skywalker After visiting Agassiz Dunes, we headed back to Alexandria where we meet up with the remaining members of the Roost. After a great meal at Qudoba, we returned home and reminisced about our actioned packed weekend!
Hello floggers, today was a very exciting day to be a member of Team Echinacea!
Flekkefest is an annual festival in Elbow Lake that celebrates community, Norwegian culture, and having fun. Early this morning, we woke up in time to run in the Flekkefest 5k. Our own Jon Van Kempen was in charge of the race. Several members of the team ran the race, while some walked. We had a few people even place in their age groups (Gretel, Stuart, Zeke, Michael, and Amy) while Amy won the woman’s overall for the race. Evan, Mia, and I chose to walk the race which meant we had a fun time cheering people on as they ran past.
Our warm welcome to the 5k this morning. I was holding a trophy, not because I won but because Amy won two! After the race, we all got one free book from the library book sale and had breakfast at a yummy spot in downtown Elbow Lake. Later, a few of us stayed in town to watch chainsaw carvings and check out the old cars on display.
A cool troll carved out of wood. After lunch we headed back to the Roost to enjoy some down time. Brigid and her friend Maria came back from St. John’s and we thought it would be a great idea to go canoeing (turns out it was!). We headed out to Lake Carlos to rent canoes for the day and spent a few hours on the water. It was a great workout and also so beautiful. We talked about what we were like as children and what kind of birthday parties we had. Sometimes we sang songs as we paddled. It was an awesome afternoon.
 Us having a great time this afternoon while out on the Lake. Later we returned to the Roost and Zeke cooked a yummy meal of cheese and apple pancakes. After dinner, per usual, we played a few rounds of Werewolf with Will.
Days like today make me so excited to spend the summer out here in Minnesota! See you next time.
Hello, flog!
Today, Team Echinacea continued our quest to measure every plant in P1. Yes, it takes a long time and yes, the big bluestem might be over our heads, but we will always carry on!
A quick recap of today’s measuring events:
After completing half of “Big Batch,” yesterday,(Big Batch is a large group of plants at the south end of the plot), we attempted to push ourselves to finish the rest of the plot today. And by “we” I mean two teams, in particular, decided to finish their rows as fast as possible (these teams will remain unnamed and totally not depicted in the pictures below).
Some A+ measuring These teams finished their rows impressively fast, and, while we made a good dent in the remaining measuring locations, we did not end up finishing. In the spirit of competition, I have decided to rank the participating parties in how good they were at measuring. The results can be seen below.
Rank #1: All humans who participated in the measuring today. Some humans are not pictured here but they were also just as good
Rank #2: The goats. They’re good at removing buckthorn but not great at measuring echinacea Thanks for reading!
Last week we read an article, William Cronon’s “The Trouble with Wildnerness” which got me thinking about the definition of nature and the different ways we, as humans, perceive nature. As I went about my work today, I considered these different conceptions.
In the morning, my advisor from school visited the Echinacea project and accompanied me to Staffanson. Dr. Knight is a dendrochronologist who works with really old trees (one is from 600BC) and uses their rings to piece together past climates.
When we first arrived at Staffanson, I began to trudge towards the transect, ready to begin work. Dr. Knight, however, trailed behind, looking all around. The first time I saw Staffanson, I know it was quite amazing and I know Dr. Knight felt similarly. While now I am more accustomed to this serene setting, I am often interrupted by a butterfly, a frog, or a particularly interesting flower, and am amazed all over again. Much environmental writing, like that of Thoreau and Muir, focuses on nature as pristine, even divine, a respite from the ills of human society.
 Cirsium arvense with white flower instead of its normal lavender  Leopard Frog As we approached the Southern side of Staffanson, where I monitor Liatris and Solidago flowering phenology, Dr. Knight noted the corn looming ominously in the distance. Rows upon rows of silent soldiers stood at the edge of the diverse colorful prairie. It was if Staffanson was a tiny oasis doomed to be trampled by the advancing marching army of corn. I felt a defender of the prairie, protecting the helpless prairie by studying how it could best be conserved. Conservationist writing often paints nature in this light, making nature appear vulnerable and in need of saving.
 Flowering Liatris  Andropogon gerardii; Dr. Knight and I decided that its palette would be excellent for interior decorating. Walls=dark orange; trim=light yellow; furniture=deep purple In the afternoon, we measured in P1. Sunburns, chigger bites, scratches, and other minor wounds resulted from this interaction with nature. I find research and the ability to observe nature’s curiosities worth all of these minor inconveniences. Maybe nature is harsh, hostile and inhospitable. Or maybe nature is just another part of the world to be deciphered to be learned from, to be studied.
Nature can seem pristine, vulnerable, harsh, and enigmatic. I’m not sure that these are entirely mutually exclusive, nor am I sure that one is more or less true than the others. Perhaps nature is all of these things, both gruesome and awe-inspiring, both dangerous and delicate, both puzzling and possessing answers. Regardless, I find the view across Staffanson prairie to be superior to any of which could be seen from a cubicle. This summer, all of us at the Echinacea Project pretty much have the best office space ever.
Today was a big day for Team Echinacea, many things were accomplished all around. It started with funology at P2 with some harvesting. An ever-increasing number of heads are done flowering and ready to harvest. Which makes the already enjoyable task of phenology, suitable of the name funology! After returning to Hjelm the team dispersed into a brief session of task forces before returning to team work of goat moving! There are 4 goats that live in pastures around Hjelm, they are used to control the invasive buckthorn. The four goats are named Style, Scape, No S, and The Kid. Goat moving was an exciting change of pace for the team, none of our study organisms require herding or coaxing. The first step when moving the goats was to disassemble the electric fence and reassemble it around the new pasture. While the assembling was being assembled Andy and I were tasked with watching the goats in their old pasture and moving them towards the new pasture. This worked out surprisingly well, by the time the goats arrived at the new pasture the fence was near completion and no goats went on adventures too far from the path.
Andy carefully watching over the goats while they munch on some near by trees. Whoops lost half a goat during the transfer! Happy goats surrounded by their one love. Buckthorn. After the goat moving extravaganza we broke for lunch, today’s strange lunch conversation included how much Kristen would need to pay Evan for him to eat a large inch worm that was found on Andy’s shirt. Once this debate had been exhausted the team got back to checking things off the to-do list. Kristen, Evan, John, and Andy moved emergence traps and put out pan traps. A good chunk of P1 measuring was also completed, we finished the remaining sections of the inbreeding garden, then we started and completed the 99 garden. The plants in the 99 garden are significantly closer together which makes this a difficult task but when the team sets its mind on something it seems like we can complete almost anything! There is quite a large population of Big Blue Stem that calls P1 home, while it makes for quite a nice prairie community it is not so nice for us researches that attempt to navigate the plot. At this point in the season, the grass is over all of our heads which makes measuring plants that are ~30cm off the ground somewhat challenging.
Do you see Michael? It’s hard to spot him through all the Big Blue Stem! After work today Riley made a tuna pasta salad which was delicious. Then the “Roosters” were joined by Kristen for a showing of an episode of the bachelorette. Yet another fun filled productive day seems to have passed for team Echinacea!
Until next time flog,
Mia
P.S. Last time I posted I talked about my personal project as an update on Friday I did my 60th and last hand cross! So now on to pollen counting!
The last Monday of July, yikes. The season is unfortunately winding down and many of the individual projects are wrapping up or nearly wrapped up. The groups split up with CowBee doing their thing at P2 and the leftovers doing some phenology at p1. Kristin and i finished some bee stuff. Michael and i then picked up some soil samples at Hegg Lake West (by the way my favorite piece of land of the all the sites). In the afternoon, demography was continued after a brief interesting history of the Douglas/Pople County Landfill from Stuart. Kristin and Mia moved tents and everyone finished the day making more tags for demography. Tomorrow should be exciting as we will be wrangling up the goats and move them to a fresh patch of buckthorn. Found this Bombus bimac on my Mexican Sunflower on my first step out of the van at home Me doing demo Heres the Echin Trophy for Saturday Flekkefest 5K. Dont know the criteria yet for the winner but Zeke is in the lead.
Today was an eventful Sunday for many members of Team Echinacea. This morning, members of the Roost and I drove to Glenwood to see our very own Waterama princess, Anna Vold, in the annual Waterama parade. Waterama is an annual summer festival full of fun activities to celebrate water and lake culture. This is fitting because Glenwood is a quaint little town next to a very big lake. The parade was very chill, along with everyone watching the parade. Things were very not chill as soon as we saw Anna Vold drive up on her float. I think all of Glenwood could hear us cheering for Anna.
Anna the Aquamania princess waving to her fans. After the parade we headed back to Alex. I demanded that we all stop to take photos at a sunflower field right along the highway. We quickly did a round of phenology on the plants. I am glad that my friends were eager to let me take pictures of them because I think we all got a new profile picture out of the experience!
Right after doing some funology on the Sunflowers. Evan’s arm was perfect for taking this selfie. Later at the Roost Mia cooked French Toast for dinner. We also played a few rounds of KanJam and Werewolf. And after dinner, a few of us went bowling. It is no surprise that Zeke (who is good at every sport except basketball) won the first round. One beer in however, Andy was able to steal a win for the second round using the 8lb ball. The only negative part of this activity was that unfortunately they did not take music requests at the bowling alley. We had fun despite this hiccup.
What a great day! See you tomorrow at work.
Happy Saturday, Flog!
Seeing as it is the weekend, I, unfortunately, do not have any pictures of us hard at work in the field (you’ll have to ask team CoW Bee for those). What I do have, however, are screenshots of my contribution to the project today.
While, undoubtedly, my favorite part of being on the Echinacea team is the awesome field work we get to do, I can’t deny what cool things one can do with a computer as well. For the past week, I have been getting back into the groove of using R, the statistical coding software that we use for analysis of the data we collect in the field. This weekend I was given the simple task of drawing a polygon, in R, around some of our points. Easy, right?
 The points in question (then some extras) So first I isolated the points in question.
 So far so good! Then, I wrote the command in R to draw a polygon around these points. And with an extra line of code, I even added a 5-meter buffer around the whole shape. With this polygon drawn, we can now very quickly isolate these points (which all happen to be Echinacea pallida), and do further analysis on them, and any other plants we may find in the polygon area in the future! So without further ado, I present, the polygon!
 Whoops At some point soon I know I’ll be able to figure out how to draw the polygon around these points, but for now it’s back to the drawing board (or coding board).
Thanks for reading!
Michael
Hello Flog!
Did you know that echinacea comes from the Greek word “ekhinos” which means Hedgehog?
Did you know that echinacea can be used as an herbal medicine? It can also help to boost your immune system!
Did you know that the seed heads can make excellent dried centerpieces?
Those are just some fun facts to brighten your Friday! 🙂 Today was another great day at the Echinacea project. In the morning, 5 team members went out to P1 to complete phenology. We have become very efficient and finished in only 20 minutes! However, most of us were very wet by the end of it, as all of the grass was very dew covered. After that, we joined some other team members at P2 and completed phenology there. That took a bit longer becuase we had to check all done flowering heads to see if they needed to be harvested (Stuart and Jennifer had to harvest some heads already yesterday, which is crazy!). After that Kristen, John, and Andy went out to do Yellow Pan Traps, while Michael and I check some of my aphid plants. Michael also completed his pollen addition.
Me completing phenology at P1 Michael demonstrating how tall the Big Blue Stem is at Hegg Lake Michael taking pollen from one of the last flowering heads in P1. Michael adding the pollen to one of his plants. Lunch was filled wiht many laughters, like usual 🙂
After lunch, some team members headed back out to P1 to continue measuring plants, some stayed at P2 to watch pollinators, and some helped Kristen move pan traps. It was a great way to end the week!
Signing off, have a great weekend!
Morgan
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