Back to school!

Hey all,
So I just posted the last of the Asheville photos on facebook. Looking back on all those photos, I was reminded of how beautiful it was out there...when you're there, you get kind of used to it and forget how amazing it is. Now, I'm in my third week of the semester back at Duke. I only have 3 classes: statistics at NC state, wetlands, and watershed management. I'm also TA-ing Land Use Principles and Policies, which has been an interesting experience so far! The first assignment is due Thursday for that class, so we'll see how grading goes! I'm also taking Advanced Latin Dance at Duke, and two other dance classes (Broadway and hip-hop) at a local dance studio, 9th Street Dance. I'm also playing intramural volleyball, finishing my term as treasurer of student council, and helping out with other groups and attending seminars, career/resume workshops, and trying to figure out my MP (master's project). I'm having trouble finding an MP advisor; I think things will go a lot smoother once I find one. So, things are pretty busy, but it's kind of fun! I went to Beaufort for the Neuse Riverkeeper Triathalon this past weekend which was a great time; there may be photos posted if you google it. It was awesome to see the 2nd year coastal students who live there this year, and see the Marine Lab and what their life is like down there. It seems a lot more laid back than the Durham campus, almost kind of like summer camp with a dining hall and little cabin-esque living quarters (although most Nicholas students lived in regular houses). I shouldn't say "regular" houses, they were actually really huge, gorgeous houses! We got to spend some time on the beach, we went to Fort Macon beach which was awesome...really soft sand, and the water was pretty warm! Well, should probably get some reading done, but I'll try to update this more often! Ciao...

Only 12 more days in Asheville...

Welll...it's nearing the end of my time here in Asheville, and I figured I'd put some pics on here to capture what it's like here OTHER THAN all the scenic mountain vistas and hangin with the Dukies, which is what the majority of my facebook pics are. So here they are, and in reverse order...I was too lazy to drag them all around into the correct order. Most if not all of these aren't on facebook, so enjoy!

Also..thought it'd be worthwhile to note...despite seeing bear scat, tracks, fur, and hearing it shuffle around in the woods, I never actually saw a bear on the property that Foothills owns! HOWEVER, I did see a bear crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway at about milepost 430 the weekend before last, which was awesome! I was in my car and it was quite a ways away, so not a dangerous situation and it was just great to be able to see one! Between that and the coyotes, I have now had my charismatic megafauna fix for the summer!

In other news...I've been making major progress on my management plans and should finish those up in the next couple of days. My last day at my internship is next Friday, the 14th, then I'll be moving the following day, the 15th! How time flies when you're having fun...

Also, I got offered a TA position for Land Use Principles and Policy this fall! I really liked the class last year and the prof is very cool, so I think I'm going to accept it! Which means that between that and the salsa dance show I want to try out for, and the MP, and student council, and all my classes, and being social, it's gonna be a ridiculous year, but whatevs! It's my last year of school probably ever, so I'm gonna make the most of it!

OK, without further adieu, here are all the photos of random crazy Ashevegas!

Bucolic scene of US-74, it was so pretty to drive on!

Lake Lure Inn...where Patrick Swayze stayed while filming Dirty Dancing!!!

Top of a waterfall in South Mountain State Park...

Fence lizard on one of our properties...

Tuft of bear fur on one of our properties!

Eastern box turtle on one of our properties!

One of the hazardous :) stream crossings on one of our properties...I think this is the one I slipped and fell into...

Bear print!

Bear scat!

La Zoom comedy tour funny painter guy!

La Zoom tour funny lady!

Crazy strawberry, blue cheese and lavender thing that was kind of disgusting, although it looked pretty!

Statue lady downtown...

Yummy chips and salsa at Salsa's!

Been a while!

I got a little behind for a while there, sorry about that! So....hmmm...my internship is going well, can't believe I'm over halfway through already! I've been busy working on my management plan which is going pretty well, but the days in the office are kind of long. I got to visit the property for the first time the other day, which was great...I got to see some coyotes! And some bear and coyote footprints and scat. I also fell in the stream during one of the stream crossings in the property, so all my papers and digital camera got wet, but the camera seems to be still working so that's good!

I've been getting to explore the area a lot, which has been really cool. There's so many great hikes and outdoor activities! And restaurants as well. I went backpacking in Shining Rock Wilderness/Cold Mountain last weekend which was great! It kicked my butt since I was so out of shape, and I ended up doing an 8 mile hike all by myself in very remote wilderness which was a little scary, but overall a great trip! It was my very first backpacking trip, and I learned a lot about outdoor survival, hehe.

A couple things that I'm proud of are: I've been reading a lot more, which is something I've been wanting to do for a while and so glad I'm finally doing it! I've been realizing how much I don't know about environmental issues and just the world in general, so reading definitely helps to improve that! I recently read:
Suburban Nation: by Andres Duany et al, about New Urbanism and sustainable development
Song for the Blue Ocean by Carl Safina: about the state of various fish species and factors affecting their decline worldwide...a great book!
Audacity of Hope by Obama: I'm about halfway through this. Very readable and I'm learning a lot!

Also...I've been cooking a lot more, which is great not only because its healthier, but also cheaper and I feel so accomplished when I'm done! I'm making a lentil and rice dish right now that smells deeeelish!

Here's some pics from the past few weeks (I took a week long trip back home to Michigan as well):

Pictured Rocks in the Upper Penninsula, Michigan

Tahquamenon Falls in U.P.

Spot, the guide dog at Catawba Falls!

Catawba Falls.

In Asheville!

OK so I've actually been in Asheville for a week, got behind on this! I went on a road trip for a few days out to the Outer Banks (by myself) which was really cool, the main point was to see some of the unique ecosystems out there so I definitely fulfilled that! Here's some of my fav pics from that, there's a lot more on facebook...

This was a preserve on Ocracoke Island.

This was a beach on northern Ocracoke Island.

Alligator alongside a trail in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Cool cypress trees in Pettigrew State Park (the Moccosion overlook).


So that was a nice getaway for a few days. I had some delicious sheepshead fish that was served grilled and pecan-crusted...yummy! I should have taken a picture for the blog, hehe.

So I got to Asheville last weekend and moved in. My roommate is on vacation in Scotland and won't get here til Wednesday. Here's the house:

Cute house! Cool rocking chairs on the porch.

My room...j/k...a little greenhouse that I think I can use if I want...


View from the back porch...lotso trees!

Back porch...super cute.

So I had my first week of work...it was awesome! Tuesday I was pretty much talking with the people there the whole time, familiarizing myself with what they did....Wednesday we spent all day outside doing a baseline documentation report (BDR) on a piece of property that will be conserved under a conservation easement....Thursday I worked from home, doing readings, and Friday one of my coworkers drove me around all over western NC showing me various properties in 4 of the 8 counties we cover. I should have taken photos, but I'll be going back to those places in the next few months so plenty of photos will be forthcoming. Some particularly beautiful areas were Chimney Rock, Grandfather Mountain, and Wilson Creek...one thing that struck me when we were driving was the huge difference in temperature when we were at higher elevation and lower elevation....when we were up above 6000 feet it was quite chilly and the vegetation looked like early spring still, but then 15 minutes later we were at 3000-4000 feet and it was like summer, quite warm and everything was fully leafed out. Pretty cool all the microclimates that you can experience in a relatively small area...I love North Carolina for that!

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend and so far haven't done anything too exciting, but I probably won't do any big trips cuz I'm a little bit worn out from all the driving! It's an hour commute to Morganton, and although it goes really fast (and the office is a really nice 2nd floor downtown office with big windows!), it still makes me not want to be in the car when I don't have to be. Deja vu of my time commuting from Ann Arbor to Detroit! Some day, I hope to not be so reliant on my car!!!

I caught up in some movies last night...watched Milk and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Watching Milk was really inspiring and made me realize that I really haven't been enough of an activist and need to be more of one in terms of standing up for the causes that I believe in. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was pretty good but weird ending...I guess typical Woody Allen.

Ok well I need to get out of the house for a bit, more later!

Mason Farm Biological Reserve

So I went for another trip to the Mason Farm Biological Reserve today. It's in Chapel Hill, near the botanical garden, I found about it from my Con Bio class at UNC. It's nice because you need a permit to go there and it's kind of tucked away so there's not usually too many people there.

Here's some photos:

There's actually a deer in this one, just to the right of the post and to the left of that tree branch.

This "pond" (more like a wetland type deal) had a lot of turtles, I think they were painted and box perhaps?

I just bought a bunch of new field guides so I can actually identify wildlife around here, which will be really nice to have this summer.

Also, one more thing I just had to include:

This is one of the cute neighborhood cats, Javier! Awwwww....

And...scene.

Passed all my classes!

Seriously, at Duke I'm excited to just pass my classes, whereas at U of M I still cared about grades and tried to get an A. I ended up doing the best in Conservation Biology, which I was a little surprised about because it was a surprisingly challenging class (taught by Peter White at UNC), then Business Principles I did next best, then Environmental Law (phew), then Economics of Sustainable Development. No surprise there, I thought Pfaff was a good professor but took awhile to get into the swing of the class/his way of thinking. And then the Duke Forest Practicum was just pass/fail so I passed, woo-hoo! I really liked Judd and I hope to go on the Western Field Trip next spring which he leads, you get to go to the Eastern Cascades next year! (this year was the Western Cascades). Although you have to camp out to reserve a spot for the trip...what is it with this school and having to camp out for everything??? Sheesh. :-)
Toodle-loo for now!

Robert Redford movie kick

Since Robert Redford's campus visit a few weeks ago to accept the Duke LEAF award, I realized I hadn't seen too many of his movies and thus have been on a RR movie kick the past few weeks. I like him because he doesn't overact, seems relatively down-to-earth and has a lot of great nature footage in his movies. I have most recently seen/rented:

A River Runs Through It (1992)
Not the most exciting plot, but great footage of MT and Brad Pitt. Redford directed it but isn't in it.

The Horse Whisperer (1998)
Directed by and starring RR. Read the book as well and thought the movie was a nice rendition. Scarlett Johanssen's first starring role I believe, she's so little!

Out of Africa (1985)
Incredible movie. Memoir of the life of Karen Dinesen, a Danish Baroness who moved to a farm in what is now Kenya and ran a coffee plantation. Awesome cinematography and fascinating story.

Sneakers (1992)
I normally don't like this type of movie (about "hackers" or basically computer geeks) but this one gets the adrenaline pumping but also has funny parts. Love it.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Cool seeing Redford and Newman in their prime. Fun Western, more watchable than other Westerns I've seen.

I think that will be it for my Redford movie kick....for now!

End of first year at Duke!

Well, it's finally the end of the first year at Duke and I can't believe I totally slacked on keeping up with this blog throughout the year! I found a place to live for my summer internship in Asheville and I'll be moving there on Sunday! I need to find someone to sublet my apt in the meantime, yikes!

I'll be working with Foothills Conservancy this summer...doing management plans for some land that they own. Can't wait to be out there and breathe in that fresh mountain air! And do some relaxing and not have any homework to do! And I can't wait to try out all those awesome restaurants in Asheville that people keep telling me about.

My roommate's name this summer is Catie and she's from Montana! Can't wait to hear stories about Montana and what she's done.

Well the next few days I'll be packing then I'll be leaving Durham behind for a while! I renewed my lease at my apartment so I'll be back in the same old place for the 2nd year of grad school:

Stay tuned for more!