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Out West Student Blog

Jul 25 2016 | Out West student blog
4am and the pre-dawn darkness saw me jolting awake, wriggling into some hiking clothes, and stumbling out the door with pack and camera in hand. By 5am I was in government vehicle with the park videographer, literally racing the sunrise. Our goal: capture the Mariposa Grove in early morning light.
Jul 25 2016 | Out West student blog
Our main goal on the grants team is to design, fund and implement environmental projects. It helps that the health and economic benefits associated with parks and public spaces are easily defensible.
Jul 20 2016 | Out West student blog
I usually spend at least half of my day in the field, though, as my main task now is to find and record anti-aircraft positions from WWII. It is hard to imagine, even as I wander through batteries and find fire control stations on various ridges, the state of military readiness that San Francisco used to be in.
Jul 17 2016 | Out West student blog
I see real-life (and really cute) examples of these wildlife problems. The other day, I held a Cooper’s hawk in a beach towel while Christy drove it to the local wildlife rehabilitation center. It had flown straight into a transparent glass-covered breezeway, and glared at me for the whole ride.
Jul 13 2016 | Out West student blog
I’ve decided to research the park service’s relationship with the seven American Indian tribes traditionally associated with the Yosemite area. I hope to revise several web pages on the official Yosemite National Park website and perhaps lay the groundwork for a future exhibit. It’s a very complex topic with a lot of conflict.
Jul 13 2016 | Out West student blog
Having been here for five weeks, I can say that the park is wild. I’ve had to stop in the middle of the road to let a herd of bison pass me, and I’ve hiked trails that lead to beaver dams miles away from any human settlement. However, I can also say it is run efficiently and effectively. All sorts of people in all sorts of occupations work here. There are rangers and shopkeepers, true, but there are also architects and geologists and computer scientists and even a historian.
Jul 13 2016 | Out West student blog
The fact that the old road we were driving on just happened to also be part of America’s newest National Scenic Trail – and what had brought me to northeastern Washington – certainly surprised me. Excitedly, I stepped out of the rig to take a look around.
Jul 13 2016 | Out West student blog
The concrete construction site wasn’t just ordinary construction – and the concrete wasn’t too ordinary either. This was a “green alley,” a community-based urban cooling and greening project, and the concrete wasn’t of the fry-an-egg-on-it variety. Instead, through light, reflective surfaces, porous surfaces, and carefully placed vines and fruit trees, the alley throws sunlight back into the air, providing a center of cool air for the surrounding community.
Jul 13 2016 | Out West student blog
Since mid-June I’ve been working at a non-profit publisher called Heyday. Heyday makes books, specifically, books about California. Okay, pause. Let’s unpack that statement.
Jun 27 2016 | Out West student blog
It's exciting to be working on a project that could affect the daily lives of so many fishers in this area. Access to real-time data as well as archives of past months and years would give anglers an edge in knowing where the best places to go at different times of day, seasons, and years.

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