Today we got the usual early start. After heading over to breakfast and eating some delicous waffles, sausage, and eggs we headed over to the lab to plan our reseach project. Team Steez with help from our graduate student, Jill, decided to research the effects different communities of trees will have on thermal index. The higher the thermal index then the better subnivean animals can live, which is important because they are a food source for larger animals.
As part of our research we dug snow pits, and analyzed temperature, density, and layers of snowpack. We split our ten person team into two groups of five and each dug 2 snowpits in each community. Billy, Joe, Tyson, Alex, and Duke created a mini avalanche. The snow we were analyzing seemed to be unstable. At one point during our research we were all standing close together and there was a loud muffled "wummmmp" sound and we all sunk a couple inches. It was intense. The hundred foot conifers around us shook as the earth around us sunk a couple of inches. But it was a safe area.
The day finished out with our team putting together our data and collaborating on a research project. The weather near the end of our field work turned gnarly, and we almost didn't make it back from the near blizzard conditions (although we could see our cabins). This has been a great experience and I am excited about our upcoming trip to Yellowstone. This environment is much more conducive to learning than a classroom. I hope the week doesn't end too soon.
Tim Benvegnu
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