Hello Goodbye: The Comings and Goings of CPBS Friends

By: Johnica Morrow

The wind is whipping through the trees here this morning as we begin the final week of 2nd session. Before long, the station will see the faces of eager educators here to engage in a geology workshop called the Earth Science Institute. They will stay through Thursday to learn all about the basics of geology through activities that can be used in their classrooms. This week's seminar will be geared toward the geology of CPBS and will involve a hike led by our very own Associate Director, Jon Garbisch. The hike will commence after dinner (around 7:00pm) on Wednesday.

The summer seminar series continued last week with a poetry reading. Dr. Larkin Powell, professor of conservation biology and animal ecology at the School of Natural Resources, read excerpts from his recently published book of prose and poems titled Cursed with Wings. This collection was inspired by Powell's time in the field both domestically and abroad. Some of the pieces were clearly written as a result of the time he and his family spent in Namibia as part of the Fulbright program in 2009. Others were written about the Nebraskan landscape and her history of human occupation. The book is divided into three sections; one about frustration, one about the flickering moments in life, and one about the end, loss, and grief. Powell read pieces from each of these sections and had the audience laughing, near tears, and in silent awe for the hour. This was an exciting and different way of utilizing our seminar series that went over well with students, faculty, and staff. We were lucky to have Dr. Powell agree to share with us...especially since he was asked the day before if he would be willing to speak!

All proceeds from the sale of Dr. Powell's book go to support the Future Professor Preschool in Namibia, a school that teaches rural children English to that they are able to attend elementary in the city. This was where his wife, Kelly, volunteered while the family was in Namibia. You can purchase a copy of Cursed with Wings online here.

Last week also saw the end of the 2-week art course, Eco-Printing into Bookmaking, and we said goodbye to our enthusiastic and hard-working group of newly-minted printing experts. The last few days of class were a blur of pressure-printing and experimentation with fabrics. The class created their own "Art at Cedar Point" woodblock and made t-shirts. They also pressed some of their designs onto tie-dyed bandannas that were laying around waiting to be used. The students used everything from plants to fish to create beautiful books inspired by their time here at CPBS. It was sad to see them pack up and leave...the library and conference room seem empty, forgotten, and abandoned without scraps of paper covering the tables and pots of ink waiting to be rolled onto blocks, stencils, and plexiglass. What's that saying? Art is ephemeral. I suppose that makes it fitting to know that there was magic happening (seriously, I saw how transferring worked...even after being explained the science, it still seemed like magic...), but now the class is over, the students have left, and it's time for new faces to use these spaces in different ways.

A new batch of tie-dyed CPBS t-shirts has made its way into our inventory over the last few weeks. The designs were created by staff and interns residing at the station. The brilliant colors come compliments of Dharma Dyes, a professional-grade product that has phenomenal staying-power. The shirts came out looking rather professional if I do say so myself! Be sure to grab one on your next trip out to CPBS to show support for your favorite field station!

The Comparative Physiology class is still going strong for their final week. Between tracking and temperature-taking, the students have learned a great deal about the biology of ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata).

After the educators taking the Earth Science Institute workshop leave at the end of this week, that station will see the arrival of 4-H students here for a weekend-long Insect Camp. This is sure to be a blast for kids learning all about the entomological life buzzing, fluttering, crawling, and swimming around the station. Pictures to come!

Snippets from Second Session

By: Johnica Morrow

The station's second summer session has been full of expression and excitement! We are almost half-way through this session and we have seen the bright eyes of budding scientists, the excitement of discovery, and the outpouring of creativity all at once.

Here's some highlights from the past week and a half:

Young Nebraska Scientists Enjoy Biology at CPBS
Last week a charter bus arrived at the station full of high school students anxious to start a week-long exploration into the biological world. These students came from a variety of schools throughout Nebraska to listen, learn, and immerse themselves in the station's culture. This is the third year that CPBS has hosted the Young Nebraska Scientists. The program includes a variety of activities led by biologists from a diversity of research realms. The students learned how to  track, trap, dissect, and identify organisms including turtles, insects, and the parasites of fish and small mammals. The students were able to stay on campus to get the full cedar point experience in the same way that UNL students do while taking our courses.

Zac Warren Presents Bat Acoustics Research for Seminar Series
Wednesday the CPBS summer seminar series continued with a talk given by new School of Natural Resources graduate student, Zac Warren. Zac spoke to a crowd of seasoned biologists, interns, and art students about the research he is conducting this field season. His work involved recording the sounds produced by a variety of bats across the state of Nebraska to gather range data on these winged mammals. His seminar provoked a discussion of bat ecology that involved artists and scientists alike and left the audience with new understandings for how researchers study these
amazing animals.

Comparative Physiology Students on the Move for Box Turtles
Dr. Gwen Bachman's Comparative Physiology class has been busy working with box turtles to understand the way that these poikilotherms function. The year-old turtle enclosure nestled atop the hill to the north of Goodall Lodge has seen lots of traffic from chelonian and mammal feet over the last week and a half. Dr. Bachman's graduate students, Abby Neyer and Ben Reed,  have offered additional help and guidance for the novice turtle researchers as they study what makes these tetrapods tick.

Eco-Printing Into Bookmaking Students Inspired by Nature
Students taking Dr. Karen Kunc's Eco-printing into Bookmaking course have also been busy this session. Bursts of creativity are scattered throughout the library and conference room as students press, paint, and transfer their work onto pages destined for hand-stitched books. The students have drawn inspiration from plants, protists, fish, snakes, and a variety of other things that the landscape has to offer. Using both traditional and experimental techniques for working with organic material, the class has produced a number of beautiful prints that have been integrated into their projects.

Experimenting in the Kitchen: Vegan-Friendly Meringues
This morning our kitchen staff also got into the experimental spirit. After preparing the lunch entree, which contained chick peas, they decided to try making meringues out of the left over juice from the beans. "Very skeptically, we placed chick pea juice in the mixer, turned it on, and walked away," said kitchen manager, Airrica Roddy. "When we came back, we were in utter disbelief because of how beautifully it had whipped up." A little sugar, vanilla, and almond extract later, one of this summer's best-loved desserts was born. We have had an unusually high number of vegetarian students this session as well as a vegan student. Making a vegan-friendly version of the classic meringue was certainly a first in station history and this method also utilizes what would otherwise be tossed out after extracting chick peas from their container.

Upcoming Events for Second Session 
The last week of this session (June 22nd-26th), CPBS will host a workshop for educators called the Earth Science Institute.

The station will also be hosting a 4-H Insect Camp over the last weekend of this session.

More about current events at CPBS to come in future posts!