Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Fairy Lake Vegetation Survey

Being a paleoecologist has many wonderful benefits.  One of them is spending time outdoors in beautiful places.  After retrieving a sediment core from Fairy Lake, James Benes and others returned to the area to conduct a vegetation survey.  The survey helps James understand the modern pollen record found in the top layers of the lake sediment core.  Another beautiful day in the Bridgers!










Fairy Lake

Spending the day on Fairy Lake in the Bridger Range (essentially Bozeman's backyard) was quite a treat.  Retrieving the lake sediment cores for James Benes' master's thesis took place on a spectacular summer day.  Below are some photos of the excursion.











Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Coring in the Mission Mountains

Dr. Dave McWethy, with M.S. candidate Pico Alt from the Paleoecology Lab cored in the Mission Mountains.  They were joined by students from the Salish Kootenai College in the Flathead Valley, and some other helpers.  The field work was part of Pico Alt's master's thesis and addresses the goals within one of the latest investigations for the MSU Paleoecology Lab.  It was a beautiful day for coring!