Officework and Fieldwork

Hi everyone! I am halfway through my internship and what an exciting past few weeks it has been! I spent part of my time this week working on compiling an annotated bibliography which has been a fair amount of work but also a lot of fun. Often times during the school year I don't have nearly enough time to dig deeply into all the journal articles and sources that relate to brook trout and my research topic. This past week has given me exactly that, it has been really exciting to be able to spend a lot time really trying to understand the science behind many of these published research articles. The other part of my week was spent going out to a stream site and helping to stock installed cages with brook trout for a research project. Brook trout were stocked both in these cages and the stream in hopes of eventually recapturing fish from both areas and comparing their growth, health, and other factors. Although we stocked the fish on one of the hottest days so far, it was really neat to learn about the truck that is used to transport fish and get hands on experience working with hatchery employees and scientists. The fish were transported in a modified pickup truck that was equipped with oxygen to keep the fish alive. It was a really neat experience and I am excited to see the results of the study.

This the nifty truck that was used to transport the fish an hour and a half to the stream site.

The essentials for any day of fieldwork include wading boots and waders!

This is one of the cages that was placed in the stream and in the picture are Jacob and Mike, two awesome guys who work at one of the state hatcheries!

Here I am, putting the waders to good use!