My experience at Newcomb, NY was one of my first field experiences in my career, which involved me being a part of their wildlife crew. Working for SUNY ESF's Adirondack Ecological Center, I was able to partake in a variety of projects and fieldwork: vegetation plot and analysis, loon surveys, small mammal surveys, and plenty of other projects. This was my first experience in fieldwork, which often involved lugging pack baskets full of equipment several miles to a site on the Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF).

For the vegetation plot surveys, our crew used quadrat surveys, DBH (diameter at base height), tape measures, and meter sticks to analyze herbaceous cover, canopy cover, DBH measurements of trees, and plant identification. Just a couple of typical plants that I would encounter would include bunchberry, goldthread, wood fern, sugar maple, red spruce, and many other plant species. Loon surveys often involved me kayaking around the lakes in search of loons, their nests, nestlings, and their behavior. Additionally, the small mammal surveys were a bit more intense than this, where there was a strong emphasis on proper handling and safety with small mammals. For three consecutive weeks, our team would set up Sherman traps and Tomahawk traps to trap voles, jumping mice, red squirrels, deer mice, eastern chipmunks, and plenty of other small mammals (even a marten accidentally!). Under IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee), all small mammals were safely handled to sustain their wellbeing during our surveys.

All of these surveys are typical projects that are included each summer. These projects are important for biologists to analyze the wildlife consistency on the property and to understand how forest management can have an impact on what species are present within the ecosystem. Therefore, this was a great job experience that really helped me get a foothold on how fieldwork is processed.