I didn't manage to get funding for research in Uganda this year, but I did make it back to eastern Oregon. So, for those of you still wondering what I actually
do when I'm out in the field. This year, I only had a week to reconnect to folks in Wallowa County - the furthest east and north in OR. Here, 58% of the land is publicly owned, but managed by the US Forest Service. Literally hundreds of thousands of acres are dedicated to recreation and wilderness - Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Umatilla National Forest, Eagle Cap Wilderness, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. It's a beautiful place, which makes the area extremely attractive for ex-urbanites to buy land for a second home or retire here. This county has historically been dominated by rural land uses - agriculture, ranching, and forestry. With a team of colleauges from UNH, Oregon State, and University of Florida, I'm interested in the social and ecological impacts as the working landscape has changed over time. So, for those of you who still think I do "rocks", I don't (I'm not a geologist), and I do more than "just maps". And who thought geography wasn't cool?
I didn't manage to get funding for research in Uganda this year, but I did make it back to eastern Oregon. So, for those of you still wondering what I actually do when I'm out in the field. This year, I only had a week to reconnect to folks in Wallowa County - the furthest east and north in OR. Here, 58% of the land is publicly owned, but managed by the US Forest Service. Literally hundreds of thousands of acres are dedicated to recreation and wilderness - Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Umatilla National Forest, Eagle Cap Wilderness, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. It's a beautiful place, which makes the area extremely attractive for ex-urbanites to buy land for a second home or retire here. This county has historically been dominated by rural land uses - agriculture, ranching, and forestry. With a team of colleauges from UNH, Oregon State, and University of Florida, I'm interested in the social and ecological impacts as the working landscape has changed over time. So, for those of you who still think I do "rocks", I don't (I'm not a geologist), and I do more than "just maps". And who thought geography wasn't cool?
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