Welcome To

Brendan's Wonderful Web-Page

Last Updated: July 2nd, 10:00 AM

Here's What I've Done:

Monday:

We got a chance to get a closer look at our group field sites, as well as walk through the pouring rain and get pretty well soaked. We looked at the geology, botany, hydrology, and wildlife of the Indian Brook area, and were able to get a closer look at our personal interests. Nick and I discovered a problem that no one else had seen yet, milfoil, an invasive aquatic plant grows in clumps.

Tuesday:

The Faculty switched sites today to give the students at each site their expert advice in their specified areas. After a morning of Soils and plants from Heidi and Cathy, Paul and Bill Brought their canoes, and naturally, the Indian Brook gang had to learn how to flip the canoes out of the water once we tipped them.

Later that night, we had a GIV style picnic at Shelburne Farms on the waterfront. Lots of fun, sun and food.

Wednesday:

Today, we finished our field work at our site, breaking into pairs and focusing on individual topics. Kim and I are in charge of getting all information and data on the trees in the area. We are the tree botanists. A successful day for all of us.

In the afternoon, we had elective courses, and a group of 8 of us, led by Shelly, took bikes up the bike path to the Winooski river delta to look for birds. Although we didn't see to many water fowl, we had a fun time. On the way back, we stopped at Leddy beach for a quick dip and water frisbee. After the swim, we convinced Shelly to take us to Ben & Jerry's for some pre-dinner ice cream. Lots of fun, and I only crashed once!

After our fun, we had an interesting career evening, where several local scientists came in, botanists, a vet, a nurse, a civil engineer, and a math tutor. Afterwords, we were able to speak with the guests individually and ask questions. I spoke with one of the botanists and the civil engineer.

Sorry, no pics for today from me.

After a delicious french toast breakfast, the Indian Brook crew headed to the waterfront for a ride on the Melosira, the UVM research boat. A beautiful day added to the fun times as we cruised around the lake, pulling up a couple of "soil" samples, testing the water, checking the GPS, and learning the physical characteristics of Lake Champlain.

We have now all used the Scanning electron microscope, and looked at several specimens, such as quartzite, a leech, and a leaf. The SEM can magnify up to 200,000 times, and boy is it imprerssive.

This is a leech's mouth, magnified only 50 times. I don't know why it is upside down.

Later Thursday evening, GIV set out for North Beach for a great BBQ and good times. We played soccer, frisbee, and took a nice swim in the warm water.

mmmmmm.

We are all working hard to complete our information project on Indian Brook. I have completed my part of the tree studies, and am waiting for the GPS unit to pinpoint sites on a satellite map (cool!). Hopefully we will complete it soon so we have free time tonight. More info to come later.

I have currently taken 46 non-digital pictures.

That's it for now, more to come later.