Monday, April 12, 2010

What are you up to now?

Charlotte Chang
REU '08

Mentor: Mike Kaspari
Project: Soil salinity in a temperate forest ecosystem impacts ant foraging behavior (abstract)

Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA
College and major: Pomona College, Biology, class of 2010


What you miss most about the REU program:
I miss Tim's cooking, the house full of REU love, and the woods.

What you miss least about the REU program:
Being far from home was about it.

What about the REU program has stuck with you:
The research skills I gained, the friendships I made, bike rides (soars?) down the steep hill to the left of Harvard Forest, and the cows.

Have you stayed in touch with other REUers?:
Absolutely!

Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans:
Participating in the REU program has made it much easier for me to continue doing ecological research, and anything related to environmental science. I gained skills that helped me conserve my school's own field station (the Bernard Field Station, home to a critically endangered coastal sagebrush habitat). The literature I read and conversations I heard/had at Harvard Forest helped me pick up techniques to address this issue.

What you're up to now:
In summer '09, I studied grassland birds in Montana, some of which are endangered because of poor land management practices. I’m still working toward getting my school to not destroy our field station.

Want to see more alumni profiles? Check out our Harvard Forest REU alumni blog.

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