Ferntree Gully

One of my favorite things dotting the Australian landscape (other than tiny furry marsupials) is the tree fern. These funny palm-tree looking things make me feel like I've been transported into the Jurassic period or some other long past land.

Like the ground ferns you’re probably familiar with, these guys grow fiddleheads that unravel into full fronds. But instead of completely dying back each year, they just keep growing from the top, leaving what looks like a trunk propelling it into the sky. So depending on the microclimate, tree ferns can be short and fat, tall and thin, bendy, stubby, or super huge!

These plants, along with the other wet-forest foliage also reminded me of something else. It took me a little while to put my finger on it, but after catching on that these were “rainforests”, it hit me. The LAST rainforest! A few of you reading this may also have been raised as a 90’s recycling loving kid, and so must remember the adventures of Crysta and her fairy friends in Fern Gully.

Ah… the 'comforting' conservation phase of my life! Back then I thought all I had to do in order to save the world was pick up litter, learn what numbered plastics were recycled, and hug a few trees.  Well, at least I still do those things…

Anyways, as it turns out, the premise of Fern Gully was supposedly set in one of these rainforest remnants characteristic of Victoria & Tasmania. The big timber companies are still a force to be reckoned with in this region, and are a point of political contention with the locals in Tassie. Furthermore, as it turns out Fern Gully is still there… well, sort of. Fern Tree Gully is a subdivision east of Melbourne. Here it is on google maps.

I guess putting the 1-4’s in the bin and connecting with nature (even teaching a magically shrunken chainsaw-happy dude to feel the essence of the forest) isn't enough to stop large scale economic forces.

Australian vocab:

Dunnie: toilet

Bum-bag: fanny-pack (be careful with this one, as you could get some strange looks as explained by the definition below; ex: Heath Ledger sports a bum-bag in the film Two Hands

Fanny: c***

. Unfortunately, it does appear to have been turned into a subdivison.

Plant Trees and Eat more Vegetables

At the Ecological Society of Australia Conference this week, I watched a talk about a study measuring the above and belowground biomass of some low-rainfall tree species. They touted the importance of this research as vital for the wider aim of carbon sequestration. This got me wondering... How valid a solution carbon sequestration is for approaching climate change?

A quick description for those unfamiliar with this concept. Carbon sequestration is the idea that atmospheric CO2 can be removed by capturing it in newly growing plants (or possibly other ways, but this is the most popular). So, the idea is, that if we plant enough trees, we could help to curb the dramatically increasing concentration of CO2 warming the Earth.

How feasible is this? So after some dredging of the internet, I came across a paper that quantifies the amount of carbon sequestered in a Manchurian Ash forest. This is a hardy, easily cultivated tree from northern China, and out of the species covered in the paper, it seemed to suck up the most carbon, quickly. Then I dug up this cool figure showing a variety of carbon emission ‘scenarios’ from the IPCC report for policy makers. And yes, you're reading that axes correctly. The unit on the y-axis is gigatonnes. Yes, freaking, gigatonnes (aka. the weight of one billion elephants according to the old, analogy used by your elementary school teacher to conceptualize a ton).

After some huge assumptions and shoddy calculations, the best case scenario provided by the IPCC (the green section on the graph) could be offset if every one of the 7 billion people in the world were to plant about 100 trees and make sure to keep them alive for at least 20 years before cutting them down. Of course, don’t burn them or let them rot... Then the CO2 will be back!  Well, that level of action would just about do it. But let’s be honest… that’s pretty improbable considering the fact that most of the world's population lives in cities, and thus doesn't have space to plant 100 trees.

Well, that brings me to my second dodgy calculation. Is there enough room for all these trees? If you use the same Manchurian Ash data, you would estimate that about 2 billion hectares of land need to be transformed to mature ash forest over about 50 years to bring atmospheric CO2 back to 1990 levels.  Wellllll.... considering that most of the earth is water... ice.... desert... cities... or already a forest, this also starts to look not-to-feasible. However, according to this old National Geo article almost 6 billion hectares are dedicated to agriculture, over half of which is purely for livestock. So, this leads me to the extreme conclusion that if everybody became a vegetarian, or actually, if we just cut our livestock rearing in half, we would have enough free land for forest conversion to significantly reduce our carbon footprint. 

Ok, there's a lot of flaws in this logic, like... many locations on earth will not support the types of forest that would sequester this much carbon, this is assuming that we are already following a huge reduction in our carbon dioxide production ("good" IPCC scenarios), and actual growth of many forests (not to mention economic market reactions or international collaborations) would take many years to reach maturity, possibly too late to mitigate many consequences of climate change. 

HOWEVER, fact of the matter is, on a large scale, changes in human behavior could have a significant impact on this seemingly unsolvable problem. So, you know, go out... plant a tree... or 10. And try to cut your meat intake by at least half. Then tell all your friends to do the same. 

On a lighter note...

Australian vocab:

stubbie holder: not as dirty as it sounds, this little guy holds a stubbie (a fat beer bottle). You may know it as a beer coozy. (ex: "I snatched up a few of those free stubbie holders at the conference to keep my Coopers cold this weekend. I hear it's gonna be 37!")

budgy smuggler: as dirty as it sounds... a speedo. A budgy, for the record, is a little parakeet. (ex: "You should never try to use a budgy smuggler as a stubbie holder, or vice versa")

Tassie-land

Last week, I had the great opportunity to take the short flight down to Hobart!

I gave a short talk at IMAS (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies) and got a chance to hear a fisheries scientist's (or more like a room full of fisheries scientists) view on my research. Apparently, all the marine protected area researchers  (a.k.a supporters) were away at a workshop, so I was left with the guys who furrow their brows the moment they hear those 3 little letters... M P A. It was a far cry from the usual conservation-oriented group I talk to....

   me: "so when increasing the size of a protected area..." 

   crowd: "Of COURSE! MORE protected areas... jolly good!!"  

In a fisheries room:

   me: "So when changing the spatial configuration of a protected area..."

  crowd: "Have you considered whether this is an effective choice for management? It's been shown on numerous occasions that MPAs do nothing to increase fishery gains. Are you modelling a well managed fishery?"

It's always good to hear the skeptics.  

In other news, Tasmania is beautiful. It's like the alps I wrote about, but you can live there! And it has oceans and sailing. The pictures at the top are (on the left) the sandy shore out behind the IMAS offices, and (on the right) a somewhat cloudy view from the top of Mt. Wellington, which overlooks Hobart.

Hobart is one of the oldest cities in Australia, so early 19th century, and all the old sections are constructed form local sandstone. This makes for a cohesive and earthy vibe.

This is an alley off of Salamanca market, the old waterfront where whales would be gutted with remains washing back into the bay, and current home to a gigantic Saturday market! 

I also found a nice whiskey distellary dowtown where I had the odd experience of listening to an American playing bluegrass on a mandolin and singing about John Brown. Apparently it is a small world afterall.

I also saw spiders and devils, and no it's not Halloween. But seriously, how cute is this little tassie devil?

A quick journey outside the city to Mt. Field National Park taught me a couple things. 1) forecasts for the bottom of a mountain do not include the temperature drop and possibility of entering a cloud when you hike to the top of the mountain. 2) There is not a field on top of this mountain

 and 3) Tasmania has some HUGE trees. Here's one of me hugging a tree... and the view from the hug. These are Swamp gums (Eucalyptus regnans) and they are apparently the largest flowering tree in the world. They're debated (at least by Tasmanians)  to be taller than redwoods... well, sometimes. They lose their branches quite frequently and so vary a bit in height. But this guy was about 79m tall.

Other than big trees, devils, and awesome, Tasmania's new claim to fame is a winery/art museum/brewery owned by an eccentric billionaire who made his fortune gambling. Consistent with the previously discussed Australian naming scheme, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), holds in its 3 stories of underground bunker a collection of art that would make you feel awkward standing next to... well just about anybody. The owner apparently defines art as anything that makes you question your own mortality, cry a little on the inside, or just feel generally uncomfortable. Here are some very PG examples:

On the left is a pooping machine. Yes, you put food in on one end and after many hours of digestion in different containers with different enzymes, poop comes out the other end! Magic. Smelly, smelly, magic. Or a statement about society... or something. Anyways, on the right is a fat porsche. Another statement about society? I guess so. By the end of my journey through this museum, I felt like I'd been walking through one of those haunted houses where people jump out at you. My brain was pulling the same sort of ultra-aware defense mechanism, where it's constantly trying to figure out what is going to f*** with it next. Regardless of the crazy billionaire and his art, I still loved Tasmania and would love to explore the rest of it one day.

I'll be back for you....

The Hills are Alive.... with the Sound of Frigid Wind & Magpies

Two weeks ago, we headed up to the "Australian Alps". True to the naming scheme I've noticed in the bird guide (e.g. Australian oystercatcher, Australian magpie, Australian white ibis, etc.), it means it's just like the other version, except Australian. Well... sort of. OK, they're a little shorter, and have a little less permanent snow on top, but still! They're mountains, and in Australia... so that's something!

I'm just kidding. In all honesty, the "bogong high plains" were absolutely breathtaking, as you can see by my enthusiastic use of panoramic shots framing this post. We were up there helping out with a long term global nutrient study. Not a shabby place for a field site...

We spent the afternoon making notes about measurements of willow growth, and then stretched out hundreds of meters of neon string to mark the grids we would 'treat' with various cocktails of nutrients. The next day, we spent a chilly and foggy morning sprinkling little whitish pellets evenly over about 500 sq meters of earth. I felt like a tiny elf decorating a giant birthday cake. But as we finished up, the cloud were blown away, and we were treated to a beautiful sunny afternoon. Saw a kestrel seemingly floating on the wind, and watched some pelicans (Australian, mind you) hanging out on the reservoir.

The most beautiful part about the high plains is simply the peacefulness of it all. No large animals venture up into that habitat (and few people outside of ski season). The deer and roos stay further down the mountain in the lusher vegetation of the gullies. The only things flitting about were a few robins and lots of ravens and magpies. Just quiet and space.

Two things I did NOT expect to see:

1) --> Gwen in waist deep snow! OK, well, next to waist deep snow.

2) <-- Daffodils! Strange... we couldn't decide if a few bulbs had rolled out the back of some truck driving past, or if these were the potentially invasive kind that actually seed out. Might have to wait til next spring to find out :/

Regardless, I'm happy I made my way up to the hills. Not a view I'd like too soon forget.

Australian vocab:

schoolie: a recent secondary school graduate, one who is celebrating their freedom (in the US, the equivalent would be 'beach weekers')
toolie: some one who is no longer in school, but feels the need to hang out with recent graduates to steal their fun (a.k.a. creepy douche-bag)
For examples see: this news article or this one, or google it for yourself

Cute Explosion

The weather in Melbourne, sunny one moment, raining the next, manages to provide a world full of rainbows a la my favorite weebl's song. However, also makes getting dressed for the day difficult. I have yet to get it right. I'm either dragging around a coat, scarf and umbrella  while being scorched by the sun on a 30 degree day (that's hot in Celsius), or tripping along in sandals in a sun dress, covered in goosebumps and a light sprinkling of rain. I've tried checking the weather online; that doesn't actually seem to help. If the weather forecast is vital to your outfit, you should only get dressed moments before its necessary.

Non-weather related events from the past weekend include a Saturday full of kids-activities. I headed to 'Scienceworks' to see an exhibit on Wallace & Gromit, the famed bumbling inventor clay-mation pair (<--One of their many movie sets). After wandering through the rest of the museum and hogging the funnest interactive exhibits (including a rock climbing wall, laser dodging room, and lots of optical illusions involving staring at spinning shapes), I headed to a North Melbourne playground to get in the way of other more suitably sized humans on a jungle gym. All in all, a glorious day of hanging out with fellow scientists who refuse to grow up.

Sunday, headed to St. Kilda, an urban beach just south of Melbourne CBD. It was a very shallow sandy beach with clear water, like many more tropical waters. Relatively clean, considering it's location, but we did notice quite a few invasive starfish in the sand and sea grass beds (hmm.. I may have to do a retrospective blog post to explain my knowledge of these guys). Regardless, we headed down the long pier and around to a rocky breakwater guarding the Yacht Club's anchorage for the big show of the night...

... PENGUINS! Yep, that's right, humans built a big pile of rocks to protect their expensive boats, and little penguins (that's their actual technical name) decided it looked like a great place to hang out and make their home. Now after making it into a non-natural nature preserve, building a viewing platform, and organizing volunteers to patrol the hoards of idiots trying to climb the rocks and pet penguins, folks can gather every evening at dusk to watch these guys come back from a day out catching fish. Let me tell you, 15" flightless birds are not the most elegant climbing boulders back to their nest, but boy are they cute flapping and stumbling about. Then they stand around scratching themselves and chatting to their neighbors while hundreds of tourists snap (flash-prohibited, and thus very blurry) photos. And they sound like retarded frogs.

Australian vocab:

CBD: 'Central Business District'. a.k.a. downtown
kiwi: not, a fruit, but someone from New Zealand
torch: flashlight (much less flammable)
thongs: flip-flops, ex: 'I was going to the beach for the weekend, so all I packed was my thongs'

Obamarama 2012: Obama Barracks my World... take 2

Being on the other side of the world does mean that I didn't have to put up with all the s*** that comes with being from a swing state (my apologies to whoever lives in 116 indigo terrace in Williamsburg, aka my last registered address as an independent in VA); however, it does not mean that the election doesn't reach me.

While diligently procrastinating, and meandering around the vast expanses of facebook, I happened upon an old friend from the College of Bill & Gary. Not only was he living in Melbourne, working on a law degree at the Uni, but also in charge of the local chapter of Democrats Abroad (didn't know that was a thing until today). Not only all of this, but ALSO, his club was hosting a meet-up to watch the election at a pub!

I'll be honest, I was expecting 6-7 nerdy poly-sci guys gathered around an ipad, debating exit polls. And well... there was that, but so much more too! There were easily a hundred people overwhelming the small wait-staff. There were lots of ex-pats, but excited Australians watching too. There were local news teams covering the people watching the coverage of the election. I'll admit that Australia doesn't have a lot of dramatic national news to report on, but I was still shock that there was so much buzz. Every news station on  Australian TV was covering the US election. It was surreal to hear an Australian accent talking about Kaine taking Virginia (yay). In fact, I've been reflecting lately about how Australia is kind of like being in a dream, in the way that dreams can be very real, and you think that you're awake, going about your day, but then something's a little off. So, being in Australia feels just like being in the US, except things are just a little off. Like, the cars are coming from the wrong direction, and when you flip a switch up the light goes off instead of on. Well, this whole event just exacerbated that feeling. It was a US election with US candidates, and I was drinking beer, and there were people yelling things at the TV as if it was a sporting event.... all normal... yet, the beer was bad, the accents were all wrong, it was daylight outside, and for some reason people wanted to take my picture, because apparently being an American was cool in this one strange dream-like moment.

Anyways, point of the story, is that Australia is excited for us, so rejoice! Because the rest of the world still respects our choices for the next 4 years.

Exclamation points!!!!

Blogging fail. Sorry I haven't been updating since leaving Brisbane. Hopefully, I'll have time to reflect on those changes soon. 

In the meantime, here's a series of pictures of me getting excited about stuff:

 

Urban birds fight back

By destroying mulched gardens everywhere:

Note of explanation: This is a male brush turkey. He made that giant pile of litter. He'll guard this pile and move it about as he sees fit. A female turkey may wander by and go "Oh, wow, what a sexy pile of mulch!" Then she'll lay an egg in it, and peace out. No need for incubation. As many of you probably know (especially those that lived through the great mulch fire of 2012), compost piles can get quite warm in the center. The male will continue collecting eggs in this way and be a general asshole to anything that gets near his pile. Then one day a tiny turkey will pop out. Maybe they'll make eye contact. Maybe he will pass a knowing fatherly glance. In all likelihood, he won't even notice and the little fuzzy turkey will wander out on his own into great big world of stuff to scratch.

Urban Birds

DISCLAIMER: The following is purely speculative. The opinions within are only held by me, not other smart scientists.

Take a look at the following pictures. Ask yourself, what doesn't belong?

One of these things is not like the other... One of these things just doesn't belong...

Studying conservation biology, I have to often wonder, what actually is out of place here? The bird? Or the people? The buildings? The walls and fences?

Regardless of what should or should not exist in these places, it's all been thrown together now, so what is there to do? How to react?

We often look at these 'urban birds' (I'm going to call them) and think, "Oh, great, they can live in among humans. They are everywhere on campus/in the neighborhood/in the park. They'll be just fine in the long run. These are not the species we need to be concerned with."

But is this true? Is having the ability to live within human society a good thing for an individual? for a species?

A quick google for health benefits of  'green spaces' and 'natural diets' would try to convince you that even for humans, separating yourself from the average western lifestyle improves your overall fitness and well-being. What would make us think that birds that scavenge around a park for discarded french-fries are any healthier than the people whose diet consists of these high-starch, low-protein meals.

As humans, we seem easily tricked that quantity bests quality when it comes to food. We're lured by advertisements for extra value meals, and I at least always seem to have room for the chips piled high on my plate, even when the sandwich was enough. However, eating the extra chips, in a society of excess, doesn't make me healthier.

Could this also be lowering the health of our urban birds? Not enough good stuff, like the seeds they would eat in a natural environment, to go around?

Well this may be OK if only sub-par individuals were living like this. If only individuals that didn't win the competition for the better field/garden/forest territories ended up in the trashcan at McDonald's.

But what if these urban birds, like us, are drawn like a moth to the flame? There's so much food to go around. What if they prefer the suburban lifestyle?  They could stuff themselves silly on the rubbish people toss aside.  Maybe the trash can at McDonald's is the preferred habitat. What if urban birds are flocking to the cities and poisoning themselves on our discards?

Well in that case we may have a problem on our hands.

At this point you should be picturing a big vortex of death with urban birds flying willing into the center.

You may be thinking, "Rach, you're nuts." Or, "What kind of bird would prefer to live in a city? This would never happen."

Enter: House Sparrow

If you know anything about birds or invasive species, you'll know that these guys are not exactly struggling in their world population. Listed as 'least concern' by the IUCN, the house sparrow has become a common resident on virtually every continent. They've been so successful in their colonization because of their omnivorous abilities and their close association to human development. Studies have even indicated that the little finches prefer suburban environments over large green spaces.  

Ironically enough, their populations have started to see a major decline in the last 50 years or so. Now red-listed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in their native UK, house sparrow populations have decreased by over 70% since 1977. One of the possible reasons suggested by the British Trust for Ornithology is "Reduction in the availability of favoured food." 

Could the ubiquitous house sparrow be the passenger pigeon of our era? Disappearing as no one watches.

Something to ponder.

Blinded By the Light...

Got a chance to go 'Spotlighting' last night. Here, this is not, as in the US, commonly known as a way for rednecks to hunt deer, but instead a great way to see the huge diversity of nocturnal animals that Australia hosts.

Drove away from Brisbane a bit to the 'Greater Glider Conservation Area'. Oh my gosh, is that a gremlin in the tree? No, just a greater glider!

Other highlights (cough cough... get it?) were common ringtail possums, brushtail possums, and my first wild Koala! We saw one healthy individual, and unfortunately one infected with chlamydia. Don't laugh, it doesn't mean this little guy is slutty or forgot to wear a rubber. This highly communicable bacterial infection has been running rampant around the Queensland Koala population, and has devastated their numbers. Cutting the population down by over 50% in under a decade, this disease is literally threatening the existence of one of Australia's most iconic species. Our naturalist guide for the night reported the diseased Koala, and so hopefully this guy will be brought into custody and treated with antibiotics. 

On a happier note.... look how cute they are! And also the tawny frogmouth (the nocturnal insectivorous bird to the right). Look at his silly frog mouth. Also got a good view of a powerful owl. This is the biggest owl in Australia, and has the biggest range to go with its large size and booming call. So it's lucky to catch a glimpse of this bird at any point in space and on one particular night! 

Also got a chance to see some of the creepy crawlies of the night. Some baby wolf spiders, golden orb weavers, this huntsman spider, and my very first CANE TOAD! There were also some swamp wallabies crashing through the bush. Although probably cute and cuddly like the above animals, I'm listing it here, because it sounds like something from a bad 1940's horror film. 

Australian vocab:

scribbly bark: An australian tree (Eucalyptus haemastoma) as seen at right here. Can't understand why they'd call it scribbly bark...

But seriously, a moth larvae that lives specifically just below the bark of this tree, makes this really cool pattern.

Joke of a Science?

Reading an old review paper (Shea 1998) this morning, I came across this. Kind of funny, kind of sad.

"Population management: a joke of a science?

There were four population ecologists shivering and starving, trapped in the boreal winter – a conservation biologist, a fisheries scientist, a theoretical ecologist and a pest manager. A moose appeared on the horizon and came thundering towards them – 1000 kg of warm edible flesh. Each scientist drew on his or her expertise and dealt with the moose using all their respective discipline’s wisdom:

• The conservation biologist couldn’t decide on an objective. He died wondering whether the moose’s existence was more important than his own.

• The fisheries scientist used the wrong model. Based on her prior knowledge of elk, she predicted that more moose would be coming, so she starved in anticipation of a herd that never appeared.

• The theoretical ecologist drew out his laptop and quickly wrote a program to calculate the optimal distance at which to shoot the moose. His calculations proved that the optimal distance was an imaginary number, and he would have been successful had the moose entered imaginary space.

• The pest manager knew immediately that the moose had to be killed – the only question was with what – pesticide or natural biological control? She opted for the environmentally friendly biological control and released a wolf, which turned around and ate her."

Koala Hugs

It's the Queens Birthday! Happy Birthday! OK... not really. Her birthday's in April. But each 'please-let-me-still-be-associated-with-Britain' country that celebrates this holiday just kind of picks it's own day to do it (usually in early Summer). Queensland, being the exceptional rebel state, decided just this year to skip the traditional May/June celebration date, ignore what the rest of Australia does, and just stick it on October 1st. QLD apparently moved Labor day from March to May this year too, just to confuse it's citizens. Meanwhile, half-way across the pacific, the new gov't, a.k.a. military regime, of Fiji has decided to get rid of Queen's B-day altogether. Good on you, Fiji. But poor poor queen. She doesn't get any attention anymore.

The holiday weather is unfortunately quite wet, but Saturday Gwen and I headed to a Koala Sanctuary (Lone Pine) in Brisbane this weekend for a little personal time with some Australian fauna. As you can see below, koalas and kangaroos are scary and vicious... trying bite and claw...

We also got the opportunity to walk around Oxley Creek commons with Hugh Possingham and his adorable mutt, Douglass. And took the train up to Boondall Wetlands to check out some slightly-less-invaded looking forests. I added 46 birds to my life list... the proportion of which may be skewed just slightly to the walk with Hugh, the professional birder. (OK. 40:6)

Australian vocab:

'Well done' & 'Good on you': a phrase of congratulations or approval. Similar to the western meanings, but can be applied to situations ranging from actual congratulatory situations, to double-fisting red and white wine, to correctly paying the entrance fee to a park.

WTF Australia?

So, walking around Australia is something like walking through a US pet store. There are parakeets, cockatoos, zebra finches, iguanas, sugar gliders.... it's kind of silly that half the things we buy as pets come from this one continent. 

All the same, the wildlife in Queensland is pretty cool, and I haven't even walked out of this one suburb! 

Yes, the one is dead, but it's the first marsupial I saw! I've started a short bird list and might start posting it here as I go along. I also saw my first fruit bat flying around last night! 

I'm pretty satisfied with all the new flora and fauna to be seen, but as the following story shows, there are down sides to being on the other side of the world!

My infatuation with all things new and different became tenuous when I realized I hadn't bought any tortilla chips at the grocery store during my first run for staple items. As many of you may know... tortilla chips are a staple for me. I never add them to a shopping list, because when I see them in a store, I automatically restock my cache. You can see how this may have worried me... tortilla chips must not have come into my line of vision while wandering the grocery store! I tried to calm my fear of the worst, but a nagging voice kept whispering... 'maybe there were no tortilla chips'. 

Next trip to the grocery store, I had my priorities set. I first come across the Mexican food section. Filed under 'Asian foods' this section was one shelf of taco kits, a single type of corn tortillas, and a small variety of 'taco sauces' and 'guacamole spices', all which look to have been marketed by Taco Bell. There are 2 pint sized (literally) bags of white corn Mission tortilla chips. A small sigh of relief. But I am confused by their very small size, and more confused that the red label Mission chips next to them are not just the familar triangle shape that the red label usually indicates, but an "extreme cheese" version. WTF?

I again try to convince myself that there must be a whole mass of normally sized and flavored tortilla chips in the regular chip aisle of the store. My shaky confidence quickly dissolved into terror, and shamefully enough almost tears when I found the "Corn chip section":

It is filled with DORITOS!!! Those are NOT tortilla chips. I am devastated. I ended up buying the 2 bags of Mission chips (I did the math, and they are 2/5 the size of a normal bag in the US), as well as 2 other equally tiny bags of a "Deli-style corn chip with sea salt" which have poppy seeds in them and do not taste like tortilla chips (seriously, WTF Australia). So in the end I have spent $8 AU ($8.50 US) on what amounts to be ~ 1.5 bags of sub-par tortilla chips.

It's going to be a long 3 months.

Helllllooooo Brisvegas...

(Brisvegas: actually a slang term for Brisbane, QLD; at least from people in Melbourne)

After two days of trying to not fall asleep in Melbourne, I flew up to Brisbane, where I will be spending the next five weeks at the University of Queensland, St. Lucia. I'll be trying to meet (and get feed back from) a variety of researchers up here. There are so many acronyms associated with this one academic department, I feel like I'm in the US gov't!

EDG - Environmental Decisions Group
CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
NERP - National Environmental Research Program
ARC - Autralian Research Council
CEED - Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decision Making
GCI - Global Change Institute

... to name a few. And there's surely more I'm missing.

I've gotten a chance to meet with Hugh Possingham yesterday (For those of you not in my field reading this, he's kind of a big deal in conservation biology, particularly systematic conservation planning and decision science). I'm hoping to go out birding with him at some point in the coming weeks. He's does monthly surveys in some locations around here, and has already told me the best place to find a bowerbird within driving distance of Brisie (another slang name for Brisbane)! Heck yes!

I also gave a talk at the departmental morning tea today. There are lots of marine/reef people studying here, so hopefully a few of them know who I am now, and I'll be able to get some feed back on the MPA project I'm doing here.

On a side note, we should have tea and scones in TN once a week! I suppose our equivalent in 2 dollar tuesdays at Sunspot, but tea and scones is so much less committal and more inclusive.

Australian vocab:

"room to swing a cat": refers to amount of space in a particular location/venue. (ex: "Wow there's a lot of people in this pictionary game. There's not enough room to swing a cat in here"). Apparently has actually been tried by at least one native Victorian, resulting in devastating outcomes for the cat.

capsicum: pepper
muesli: granola, or pretty much
flat white: espresso with a ton of milk in it, but not a latte, cause that's also on the menu
brekkie/brekky: breakfast
paw paw: papaya...  that one confused me
mangosteen: mangosteen (yea, ok, it's the same, but it's still the first time I've eaten one!)

If you're reading this blog entry, then you probably already know a bit about where I am and what I'm doing here. However, a wise man once told me, you should start by stating your purpose. 

Well, I'm am starting on a 3 month visit to Australia (primarily University of Queensland, Brisbane, and University of Melbourne) funded by the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED). I'll be working with Michael Bode to look at how the size and spacing of marine protected areas on the Great Barrier Reef impact a model fish population. I hope to also spend my time developing other research interests and questions to start outlining a dissertation proposal. I plan to share my research progress and ideas here when applicable, as well as share the occasional random anecdote or lesson learned.

So, after crossing the international date line & the equator, eating 4 Korean airplane microwaved meals, watching 6 in-flight films and sleeping approximately 4 cumulative hours, I was welcomed to Australia this morning by this gorgeous sunrise over Melbourne city center.

Thus far, I've managed to find the University of Melbourne campus, drink about 4 cups of coffee and meet a handful of students, post-docs, and faculty - all whose names I'm promptly forgotten due to lack of sleep - at the ecology 'morning tea'. I hope to do better tomorrow.

New Australian vocabulary:

vego:  vegetarian ("Gwen is a vego, so we'll add chicken separately")

greenie/brownie: pro-environmental people, and pro-industrial or pro-agriculture people respectively (possibly of Tasmanian origin)