Posted by Julia Kaplick @julekap

Spring is on our doorstep here in Auckland and nature is visibly getting busy. It is the start of the growing season for many plants and the most active time of the year for many animals. For many ecologists it also means that field work season is starting.

I am lucky enough to do my research in a more applied area of ecology. I get to go out into the forest and collect the data that forms the basis of my research myself. It is in fact the part that I enjoy the most and the main reason why I chose to work in ecology. During more than a year of field work in New Zealand, I have been soaking wet, freezing cold and muddy from head to toe, but at the end of the day I went home happy and with pages full of data. I have been hanging 15 metres high in the kauri forest canopy and freezing my feet off while taking predawn measurements in the mangroves.

The view from above.

Field work is challenging and fun. It teaches you to plan and organise, to improvise and to find creative solutions, as things do not always go as originally planned. Who knew that the party supply store around the corner would turn into one of the best sources for field equipment? What else could you possibly do with these metre long party straws than put wood samples into them and there cannot be any other proper use for Styrofoam cups than to use them as a radiation cover for temperature sensors. I also learned that a pressure bomb is a good thing and have significantly increased my electrical skills by building and connecting sensors. You also know that you are working with pretty cool instruments when your supervisor seems to be more worried about the machine dropping out of than canopy than about the PhD student who holds it. All this I have to admit came at a price. I probably lost several litres of blood to mosquitos and a scar on my middle finger will always remind me that soldering irons are extremely hot, not that I really needed that reminder.

Mud pie anyone?

Field work lets you see the world with different sometimes slightly nerdy eyes. It is exciting and rewarding to see theory come to life, even if it is sometimes unexpected. Someone recently told me that field work can become a little addictive and I can already see why.