This is what I feel I’ve been experiencing since I started my remote Directorate Resource Assistant Fellows Program (DFP) for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This summer I am working from home, and even though I am intensively reading scientific materials and experiencing things through images sent to me, I can feel the outdoors in this experience. I can feel the passion and purpose of the project I am working on and of the USFWS staff who have dedicated themselves to it. The ambience of this project does not have to be described in detail like some books in order for me to feel the space as if I was there. Somehow, I caught my mind expanding and reaching at previous experiences to match what I’ve read about at work. This is making me feel present. It is making me feel like I am in the field working on those conservation efforts that USFWS tirelessly aims for.
In 2016, the USFWS initiated the Klamath Basin Sucker Assisted Rearing Supplementation Program to prevent the local extinction of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed endangered Shortnose Sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) and Lost River Sucker (Deltistes luxatus) from Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon. During this summer, I will work with biologists to establish fertilization techniques for lined ponds used to rear endangered Shortnose and Lost River suckers. My main tasks in the first three weeks of my fellowship have been assisting in the creation of protocols, datasheets, and a Standard Operating Procedure document on Pond Fertilization. In the process, I’ve been learning new things about what is done in the field and using what I’ve learned to recommend steps to potentially improve current conservation and management practices of the species. I’m looking forward to seeing how this project unfolds and what other new experiences it will bring.
Here is a fact sheet for the two species, in case you are curious. And a video from 2018 with brief information about the project.
Aside from all of that, I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to my Latino Conservation Week event! Click here to learn more!
I will share more details about my project and how my Latino Conservation Week event went on my next blog. Keep an eye out for my name! Stay safe.
Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service - DFP
Location: Klamath Falls Field Office