Month: May 2023

Raul Valencia, a rising senior at the University of Texas-El Paso, and summer 2023 participant in the research experience for undergraduates program at the UNM’s Sevilleta Field Station and SEV LTER Site, spent two weeks in Flagstaff in late May.

Raul worked on a variety of projects during his visit. He was trained in the use of the Flux Puppy portable CO₂ flux measurement system by Austin, visited the Flagstaff Arboretum with Oscar and helped with PhenoCam troubleshooting, and worked with Andrew on constructing instrumentation and infrastructure to be deployed in the SEV MVE precipitation manipulation experiemnt.

Raul is a non-traditional student, having already had a successful career as a mechanic and lineman. Several years ago, he realized science was his true passion and he decided to return to school for his undergraduate degree. He hopes his research experience this summer will help prepare him for graduate work in environmental science.

The picture below shows Natasha, Raul, and Austin making Flux Puppy measurements.

The Richardson Lab is committed to upholding the core values of Ecoss: Collaboration, Community, Creativity, Inclusion, Innovation, and Respect. In support of cultivating a work environment and lab culture that supports these values, lab meeting on May 3 was devoted to bystander intervention training provided through Northland Family Help Center’s “Bringing in the Bystander” workshop. Thanks to Perry for organizing this! 

On May 18, Darby, Natasha, Jacob and Andrew also participated in the Field Futures workshop on “Preventing Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fieldwork”, offered through the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) Network Network Office. The lab conducts field work at the Harvard Forest, Hubbard Brook, and Sevilleta LTER sites.