Into the woods, into the cave

17 Jul Into the woods, into the cave

Hi again! I want to tell you about two people who have been great a influence during my time here at Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. The first person is someone who I look up to, literally because they are almost twice my height haha. His name is Ivan Yates and he is the park’s biological technician. Thanks to Ivan, I have become interested in studying bats and their ecological roles in caves. I would have never thought that I would be working with these tiny echolocating true flying mammals, and he’s the person I would thank because he assigned me to be a co-lead on the project. He has been so patient with teaching me how to work the software, SonoBat, to process bat calls and upload the metadata to NABat. 

The other person who has also played a big role while working at ORCA is Sierra Heimel. She is the park’s geoscientist. Sierra is smart, kind, and she absolutely rocks! Because of her, I have been come interested in learning more about the geology and biology of underground worlds, caves! She has introduced me into caving and it is something that I would have never thought I would experience in a million years. There isn’t a single day that I don’t learn something from her, and her work never goes unnoticed. She also taught me about my now favorite rock, serpentinite. When she has cave project, I’m in!

Not to brag but I have the coolest mentors!

Caving with Sierra at Marble Mountain Wilderness, CA.

Ivan and I after deploying one of the bat acoustic recording units at one of four sites

Securing a bat acoustic recording unit at Bigelow Lake