Had a great first week at HAREC!
On Monday, I got to tour the station and meet Lauren and Sandy. For the most part, we just spent the day packing and getting ready to go out in the field on Tuesday, and Sam and I got to practice pinning insects as well! It was my first time ever pinning insects, and it was actually really fun! 
This summer, I will most likely be spending most of my time working with Lauren on her Ph.D. research, studying the effects of restoration attempts on bee and spider communities at three different locations in Oregon: the Zumwalt Prairie, the Boardman Grasslands, and the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge. Both the Zumwalt Prairie and the Boardman Grassland are owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Sandy, Lauren, Sam and I spent three days at the Zumwalt this week. On Tuesday, we left for the Zumwalt, and we set up six different sites for Lauren’s research. The sites are located in three different types of areas: restored grassland, disturbed grassland, and native grassland. All we did on Tuesday was set up pan traps and pit fall traps at each site. Pan traps are traps designed to catch bees and other flying invertebrates, whereas the pit fall traps are designed to catch spiders and other ground dwelling invertebrates. The pan traps are left out for two days, and the pan traps are left out for about a week.
Wednesday was our long day. We did vegetation surveys at each of the six sites. At each site we set up a 50×50 meter plot around the traps which are set up in a circle with a 10 meter diameter. After setting up the plot, the four of us stood in a line about 4 meters apart. We walked in a line down the plot, counting all flowering plants that we saw. In total, we counted approximately 12,000 flowering plants and identified 30 different species. At each site, we also hand-netted bees for 5 minutes after doing the vegetation surveys. Wednesday a very long and tedious day, but it was also very rewarding and we all had a lot of fun!
On Thursday, Sandy and Sam left to go do a bit of field work at one of Sandy’s research areas, and Lauren and I stayed at the Zumwalt to finish up our initial field work. We went back to each site and collected all of the invertebrates in the pan traps and opened all of the pit fall traps. It was a pretty easy day, and Lauren and I finished up the day in the lab at the station, unpacking all of our gear and cleaning pan traps. We also had a fun run in with a herd of cows that were right in the middle of where one of Lauren’s sites is located!
On Friday, we had a safety meeting for all for the graduate students and student interns at the station. Other than that, we just worked in the lab all day, which was great because it was also 104° F outside! Sam and I worked on cleaning, drying, and pinning some of Lauren’s samples of bees from her research last year. The sample I finished on Friday was from one of Lauren’s native grassland sites at Boardman from August of last year. In just that one sample, I pinned just over 100 bees.
I had a great first week at HAREC, and I can’t wait to see what the next nine weeks has in store!