EWI-CCC-LA Rendezvous Point

Earthwatch Institute: Caterpillars & Climate Change

July 27, 2018


It was 10:55AM and I can't figure out how I was able to simultaneously email our expedition's senior fellow, texted one of my team members, called and texted our project's principal investigator, and spoke with an Earthwatch Institute support staff just seconds after the Southwest flight crew announces a [second] delay. A quick flash of my expedition briefing entered my mind... "If you land after noon and do not meet your rendezvous point by 1:00PM you are responsible for traveling to the Southwest Research Center (SWRC) by your own means."

As a teacher traveling on a budget, has flight anxiety, and who just Google'd the distance from Tucson to the SWRC [and it stated approximately 3 hours of travel] I decided if my team members from Los Angeles could get there on time, so could I- Unfortunately running the idea of not making it was also a reasonable thought at the time.

And just to let you know, I make it to the rendezvous. By 11:15AM I was buckled in and our plane was rolling onto the run way ready for take off. I was due to land in Tucson, Arizona at 12:30PM but the wheels on my plane touched the runway at 12:20PM.  I looked forward to grabbing my checked bags, meeting a shuttle, and arriving at the Doubletree Hotel in Tucson with time to spare. I got there and that was just the start to what I knew was going to be a great adventure in science and research. I looked forward to meeting my first caterpillar.

It was a 3+ hour car drive with some amazing professional peers...

As someone who typically enjoys my summers alone, especially after spending my work year with 200+ students, it was a pleasure meeting our project leads and educators from the Los Angeles area. I guess that makes us special, that when we return home from the expedition proximity will be one of our strengths in terms of keeping in touch. In the image above are our project leads: Tanner (left- Ph.D. student from Connecticut) and Danny (graduate student from University of Nevada, Reno).

In the larger group photo above are our educators from Los Angeles. From left to right:

• Charlene, Middle School Science Teacher 
• Renee, Elementary School Science & All subjects teacher
• Christina, High School English teacher (She actually drove from SF)
• Me! 
• Lizzette, High School Science Teacher 
• Joshua, High School 
• Chon, High School English Teacher 
• Lindsay, Middle School Math and Science Teacher
• Ruben, Middle School Science Teacher 
• Jenny, Middle School Science Teacher 

Now to get to work! 

Day 2 - Rustler Park

By Lizette Ashcraft


Our field work today consisted of laying a plot that was of mostly Ponderosa Pine, as well as Douglas Fir, and Chihuahua Pine.  The team split into two groups, the first group had an abundance of fern, and various species of pine.  The second team plotted a different location which fewer fern plants, but a bounty of Ponderosa Pine.  Our team learned how to identify the difference between the Ponderosa and the Chihuahua.  The Chihuahua has a silver/blue streak in its needles, the needles also had 5 in a cluster, and the Ponderosa had 3.  The team leader used a drone to take aerial photos of the plot to verify our data set.  We had difficulty finding caterpillars, but with the persistence of a team member, we brought back 5 samples. 

We use "beat sheets" to find as many caterpillars as we can.

Our office for today.

July 29th/2018. Sunday.
Today was our first full day as Earth Watch members.  Our study project entitles Caterpillars and Climate Change in the Tucson, Arizona area.  Our project leader is Daniella Salcido who is currently working towards her doctorate and has performed extensive research on this topic from sites that extends to Costa Rica and Ecuador.  In the morning as a group, we had the opportunity to set up a study plot, "banged" on trees and collected caterpillars samples.  Afterwards, we marched backed to the lab and studied our samples, identified them, took photographs, "zooed" the samples and ensure that our caterpillars had fresh foliage to consume.  After lunch, we had an excellent Caterpillar overview by Dr. Lee Dyer and later on, a caterpillar lesson plan by Senior Fellow Josh Brown who had previously performed work on this topic in Ecuador.  A night study to locate Caterpillars was planned but unfortunately, we were rained out.  Our night ended with our team members gathering in a small group at our lab lounge getting to know each other and the rest in their rooms doing their own thing or simply relaxing. Per R. Romero (Teacher Fellow)

TEACH EARTH TEACHERS

                                       

TEACH EARTH TEACHERS

JOSH BROWN teaches Special Education at Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, California. Josh obtained a B.A. in History and Spanish from Pitzer College and a M.A. in Special Education from California State University, Northridge. When he is not teaching, he enjoys going to baseball games, practicing yoga, and traveling.  Through his experience as an Earthwatch Fellow, Josh hopes to include more environmental education lessons into his curriculum.


LINDSEY FORTGANG teaches 5th grade at Baldwin Stocker Elementary School in Arcadia, California. Lindsey obtained a B.A. in Latin language and literature from Oberlin College and an M.Ed. with a focus on teaching in a global society from National University. She enjoys spending time outdoors hiking and backpacking, and she also loves traveling to experience new places and cultures. Lindsey hopes to use her experience with Earthwatch to develop new ideas to get her students excited about the ways science is relevant to their own lives.

LIZETTE ASHCRAFT teaches 2nd grade at Morrison Elementary in Norwalk, California. I am also on the NGSS Advisory Council for my district, and I am a volunteer with CSTA's 2018 conference committee. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my son, reading, baking, and dancing. I wanted to be a part of Earthwatch because I hope I can make a difference, and I want to learn new information I can share with my students and co-workers.

JENNY LAM teaches 8th grade teacher at Sierra Vista Middle School in Irvine, California. She obtained her B.S. in Biological Sciences as well as her Masters in Education at the University of California Irvine. She is an avid yogi, reader, and traveler. She enjoys the outdoors is fascinated by animals and their interaction with their environment. Through Earthwatch, she hopes to gain a deeper understanding of science practices to share with her students.

CHON LEE teaches AP English Literature & Composition and Shakespeare Senior Lit at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California.  Having a degrees in English and Comparative Literature, he is deeply passionate about poetry, plays, dramatic arts, and both fiction and nonfiction texts.  In his free time, he loves playing tennis, riding his beach cruiser, visiting museums, and going to various performing arts shows--theater, music, and dance.  Ultimately, this Earthwatch fellowship will enable him to go outside his comfort zone and deeply learn from the ground up about intensive scientific and investigative research, fieldwork, and data analysis. He hopes to bring this level of critical thinking and ecological learning to his own students through world literature analysis.

CHRISTINA JOHNSON

CHARLENE LOU teaches 6th-grade integrated science at Kory Hunter Middle School in Los Angeles, California for 4 years. She received her B.S. in Liberal Studies and her multiple subject credential from CSULB. During her CSULB years, she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and ASI Senator for the College of Education. She conducted preliminary research in Education in Sustainable Development (ESD) during her undergraduate studies. She is currently a graduate student in CSUF's Educational Leadership Program. She enjoys scuba diving, traveling and watching movies. Through this Earthwatch expedition, she hopes to bring what she learned about caterpillar and climate change back to her classroom.

KRISTY MAR teaches integrated science at JH Hull Middle in Torrance, California for 6 years. Her background includes a B.S. in Cell Biology and minor in chemistry from California State University, Fullerton and certificate in Education Leadership from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. She is currently obtaining her masters in STEM Education from Northeastern State University, Oklahoma, joint with the NASA Endeavor Leadership Certification at Adams State University, Colorado. Hobbies include kayaking, hiking, reading, and movies. Through EarthWatch, she hopes to develop climate change project ideas, integrated with life, physical and earth sciences, to engage her students.

RENEE HOOVER currently teaches 2nd grade at Center Street in El Segundo. She has published NGSS lessons on the web site betterlesson.com and currently works with lead teachers from her district to help implement NGSS in the K-5. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Policy from UCB and a master in Admin. from National University. She loves being in the ocean and playing in the wilderness. She looks forward to participating in a science research project and planning ways to bring this experience back to her students.

RUBEN ROMERO.  I am starting my 10th year teaching at South Gate Middle School (8th grade physical science).  Previously, I taught Biology for 9 years at Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles.  I earned my undergraduate from Humboldt State in Natural Resources/Planning, a Masters in Environmental Planning from Cal State Fullerton and earned my teaching credential from Cal State Los Angeles.  I am a product of the State.  Through Earth Watch, I hope to expand my research skills and become more active with local and global environmental issues.  As a former Peace Corps Volunteer (Jamaica), I am in the process of regaining  my enthusiasm to be a most effective teacher.



                           

Welcome to the Official 2018 Earthwatch Arizona Blog!

Welcome to the official 2018 Climate Change and Caterpillars Earthwatch Blog. Fellow will assist Dr. Lee Dyer in his research on caterpillars, the plants they eat, the wasps and flies that eat them, and the climate change forces that reshape desert ecosystems.

So far, Earthwatch volunteers have collected over 9,500 unique species of caterpillars and parasitoids. Join us on our journey as we contribute to this exciting and important research!