Well, I found out what I will be doing for the next few weeks! Well, sort of. For the last 30 years or so, the biological sciences department has been studying the local ecosystem and gathering data. My project is focused on the pinyon tree population. This population is inhabited by two parasitic insects. One is a moth that makes the trees look more like shrubs because it eats the tips of the tree, and the other is a scale insect which looks like a tiny black dot on the needles of the tree. They are barely visible to the human eye. They sit on the needle and suck the phloem out, which eventually kills the needle. So trees that have this insect have branches that are bare except the very tips, which have new growth that the bugs haven't killed yet! Tomorrow is my first day in the field. I sort of get to design my own research, and I am thinking about looking at the seedlings to see if I can figure out how old the trees are before they become infected. I have lots of articles to read and research to do on the scale insect, so I can firm up my ideas and present them to my boss on Thursday. She is very laid back and seems so nice!
Now, I am going to go eat sushi for the 3rd night in a row. I don't care if it's selfish. I'm doing it anyway.
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