Sunday, May 30, 2010

Costa Rica Field Work

It's been over a month since I last updated my blog. I truly apologize for those who follow my blog. But honestly, this is my first chance since mid April to catch a breath and log in to my blog. In any case, I'm currently in Costa Rica for a field work, tracking down an amazing collection of caterpillars in the tropics. Pictures and field work journals will follow. Stay tuned in the next 10 days.

The week before I set off to Costa Rica, I questioned myself once about this trip. What exactly do I expect to get out of the forests? Do I really need so many projects for my Ph.D? With two manuscripts pending and an international conference travel coming up, setting up my first field work at a distant foreign place was the last thing I needed. However, as my adviser and I arrived at the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, my doubt dissolved instantly. It is totally worth the sleepless April and May. For the following week, I will be posting my field work journal. They all consist of two paragraphs. The first one contains something about my field experience. In the second paragraph you will find some portraits of what I saw in the field and animal interactions. For my research, I will focus on locomotion in different caterpillars and some associated behaviors.