Well, I've been in Michigan for about 6 weeks....I'm here until I find a job. I ended up not finishing my MP by the end of August so I have to present in December! I think it'll be really good though since I've had all this time to work on it, so that's good. I've applied to about 25 jobs so far; some of them seem really cool, but I haven't gotten any interviews yet. Sometimes it seems like no one will ever want to hire me! But I have to keep reminding myself that I haven't really been searching that long, the economy is bad, blah blah blah. I really would like to be in DC, but I'm also looking in other places too: any place that has a lot of stuff to do and isn't too cold, basically. I even applied to jobs in England and Malaysia so far! Before, I hadn't pinpointed exactly what I was looking for but now I know that the main buzzwords I'm looking for are "Conservation Planning" or "Conservation services". Defenders of Wildlife has a great website that explains what that is.
Next week I'll be going to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity in DC, so looking forward to that! A bunch of my friends from high school, college, and grad school will be there so will be great to catch up with people and wreak havoc on the city! I can't wait for people to see my Halloween costume, it's a good one this year! It'll be a surprise but I'm pretty sure it will make you laugh. Will post photos!
All in all, it's good to be in Michigan for a short while since it's almost the holidays and it's nice to hang out with the family, see the seasons changing, etc. There's a lot to do and see in Ann Arbor so it's not so bad....but definitely want to be in a bigger city for where I move next! College towns are cute and everything, but I'd like to try living in a big city for a little while, at least. Hopefully, in a place that's not too far from outdoorsy stuff so I can get a break from city living whenever I want. I've been biking a lot in Michigan including the Border to Border greenway trail in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, the Lakefront trail in the Whitmore Lake/Pinckney area, and out in Webster township east of Dexter off of Stein Rd, Joy Rd, etc. And I've been doing yoga, running, etc. so keeping myself in shape, and I've had a chance to catch up with a lot of friends, do some great shopping, revisit places from college and from growing up, etc. BUT, I'll definitely be ready to move on when I find a job! Keep your fingers crossed for me that it will be soon!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Soliloquy on a summer night
My favorite time of day is just after dusk, when the birds are making their last few calls of the night, the frogs are croaking sleepily, and cicadas are humming. It is particularly nice in the summer, when the warm air persists even though the sun has gone down, and the damp, warm, dark air envelops you like a blanket. It is an exciting time, when deer and other animals begin their evening foraging, and sounds of music, people's muted voices, and clanking of silverware and plates from people eating dinner can be heard through open windows in the neighborhood. It is a transitional time, before people head out for the evening if they have plans, or before they head to bed if they don't. It is a time filled with excitement and promise, and I feel a strong pull to be outside during this time. Eventually, I force myself to go inside for the night, but I keep the windows open for a few hours as a compromise, so I can feel the warm night breeze and evening sounds for a while longer. It's because I love the dusk/nighttime in summer so much that I could never live in a cold place, and I could never be too much of a morning person!
This evening there was a quick storm that rained about an inch in an hour, then stopped. I just went on a walk down to the West Ellerbe Creek Trail a few blocks from my house to check the level of the creek, and it was high and flowing rapidly! It's amazing what a difference such a quick storm can make in the water level. I saw two deer at the intersection of the trail and Albany Rd, who quickly retreated to the forest adjacent to the trail when they saw me approaching. I can't believe there were deer right in the middle of my neighborhood!
A quick update on my life, since I haven't posted anything on this blog in about 9 months:
Finished all my classes for my graduate program, but still working on my MP this summer, and will graduate in September. My lease goes through the end of August, so will probably stay in Michigan if I haven't found a job by the beginning of September, as I don't really have enough money to keep paying rent here.
My MP is looking at potential habitat for gray wolves in lower Michigan using GIS (geospatial) and MaxEnt software, which is a software used to predict species distributions, using telemetry data from the species' location and environmental variables such as human density, climate, elevation, slope, road density, land cover, etc. I'm still doing a bit of background research, then have to download some more GIS data, then will input everything into MaxEnt and then GIS next week or so!
I'll be taking a trip to Michigan June 25-July 12, then Chicago for Lollapalooza August 5-9. Then, I present my MP in the end of August. I'm trying to expand my music know-how and get to know some of the bands that will play at Lollapalooza, particularly indie rock bands....I think I'm ready to move beyond my limited knowledge of music which so far has consisted mostly of pop music!
I saw a posting today for a job in Gautier, MS which is near New Orleans, tracking sandhill cranes, etc as a wildlife intern from October through February. It looks like pretty much exactly what I'm looking for (I'd prefer if it was a mammal species, but whatever), so I'm going to apply! I've applied to about 4 jobs so far, but only federal jobs and I haven't heard back from any of them.
I'm trying to get more into biking....I recently discovered a whole network of greenway trails in Durham, so tomorrow I'm going to take a ride with my friend Allison and explore the American Tobacco Trail.
I'm reading Guns, Germs and Steel now, which was a Christmas gift from my mom. It's really interesting and explores why human evolution happened the way it did on the different continents and why Eurasians became more "advanced" with steel tools, guns, etc. and other cultures didn't. "Advanced" because they obviously weren't really superior in any way, they just had different factors in their society that others didn't have, and not some sort of biological superiority.
I think that is it.....enjoy my photo of the night sky below (looks way cooler in person, but oh well).
This evening there was a quick storm that rained about an inch in an hour, then stopped. I just went on a walk down to the West Ellerbe Creek Trail a few blocks from my house to check the level of the creek, and it was high and flowing rapidly! It's amazing what a difference such a quick storm can make in the water level. I saw two deer at the intersection of the trail and Albany Rd, who quickly retreated to the forest adjacent to the trail when they saw me approaching. I can't believe there were deer right in the middle of my neighborhood!
A quick update on my life, since I haven't posted anything on this blog in about 9 months:
Finished all my classes for my graduate program, but still working on my MP this summer, and will graduate in September. My lease goes through the end of August, so will probably stay in Michigan if I haven't found a job by the beginning of September, as I don't really have enough money to keep paying rent here.
My MP is looking at potential habitat for gray wolves in lower Michigan using GIS (geospatial) and MaxEnt software, which is a software used to predict species distributions, using telemetry data from the species' location and environmental variables such as human density, climate, elevation, slope, road density, land cover, etc. I'm still doing a bit of background research, then have to download some more GIS data, then will input everything into MaxEnt and then GIS next week or so!
I'll be taking a trip to Michigan June 25-July 12, then Chicago for Lollapalooza August 5-9. Then, I present my MP in the end of August. I'm trying to expand my music know-how and get to know some of the bands that will play at Lollapalooza, particularly indie rock bands....I think I'm ready to move beyond my limited knowledge of music which so far has consisted mostly of pop music!
I saw a posting today for a job in Gautier, MS which is near New Orleans, tracking sandhill cranes, etc as a wildlife intern from October through February. It looks like pretty much exactly what I'm looking for (I'd prefer if it was a mammal species, but whatever), so I'm going to apply! I've applied to about 4 jobs so far, but only federal jobs and I haven't heard back from any of them.
I'm trying to get more into biking....I recently discovered a whole network of greenway trails in Durham, so tomorrow I'm going to take a ride with my friend Allison and explore the American Tobacco Trail.
I'm reading Guns, Germs and Steel now, which was a Christmas gift from my mom. It's really interesting and explores why human evolution happened the way it did on the different continents and why Eurasians became more "advanced" with steel tools, guns, etc. and other cultures didn't. "Advanced" because they obviously weren't really superior in any way, they just had different factors in their society that others didn't have, and not some sort of biological superiority.
I think that is it.....enjoy my photo of the night sky below (looks way cooler in person, but oh well).
Night sky
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