Week 2 of the RECCS internship is now wrapping up, closing the first week of work on our projects. I have gotten settled into my own workspace in the Benson Earth Sciences building and I am already spending obscene amounts of time staring at Google Earth to accurately map beaver dams and ponds.
Fortunately, there is plenty of other work to help draw me away from the computer. My mentor, Emily Fairfax, took me out for our first field day on Tuesday. I was introduced to several beaver dams in various states. We witnessed a dam being repaired, dams that had become a permanent part of the landscape, and dams that had been completely blown away by time and water. We also fleshed out more of my own project for the next 7 weeks, deciding that I would be focused on getting baseline measurements of the permeability and water retention of the soils within beaver dams, ponds, and meadows. Depending on how much time we have, I am also hoping to do some comparisons between the properties of these soils vs similar riparian areas that lack beavers.
Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to assist a fellow RECCS student with their work measuring the engagement of audiences when learning about climate change. It involved using wrist sensors to measure physiological changes while viewing educational videos and answering questionnaires. I teamed up with a few other interns to be the guinea pigs for their first run. They were able to work out some kinks with the equipment, and I hope we were able to provide some valuable feedback before they begin their run. It was interesting work, though seeing my results has convinced me that I would never be able to lie on a polygraph.
Back to my own research, I was also given the rundown on how to operate a soil permeameter, a device used to measure to permeability of a given sample of soil or rock. This is going to be my go-to measurement device for the next few weeks. It sends pressurized water through a sample, and by measuring the volume of water that flows through it over time we can calculate its permeability. After learning a few ways of how not to set it up, a few leaky connections, and a lot of paper towels, I’m feeling confident with its use. Still, to avoid mowing down hectares of trees for paper towels, I think I’ll have a few bath towels handy in the future just in case.
