I'm sure sabbatical trips to Africa 40 years ago were very different than my experience this year. We have email, blogs, internet phones, CNN, and the like. It would have been different to just wave good-bye and hope to catch up with everything in the States when we return!
But, in reality, my time in Africa has consisted of a lot of work with folks back in Nebraska. Three graduate students working to finish their theses/dissertations, 4-5 former students working on publications, and four students working on field projects in a variety of places, including Mexico, the Sandhills of Nebraska and National Parks across the Great Plains.
In the spirit of reminding those students I do still think about them from time to time, amidst rhino watching and such, I thought I'd post some links to a cool project that has hit the news in Nebraska.
I collaborate with project leaders Steve Dinsmore (Iowa State Univ.) and Joel Jorgensen (Nebraska Game and Parks Commission), as well as the real worker--Cory Gregory (ISU MS student), on a long-billed curlew ecology project in western Nebraska. It's based at Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and we're trying to learn more about the secretive nesting ecology of this species--nest survival, nest habitat preferences, and movements of chicks after they leave the nest.
We found money to attach satellite transmitters on two adult curlews, and things have gotten really interesting now that they are migrating south (yes, already...). Joel has created a web site, where you can see maps of the birds' movements and check for updates. In addition, you can click here to go to a Nebraska Public Radio story about the project.
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Photo property of Cory Gregory
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