Back at it!

So it's been a loooong time since I wrote about science... that's because I was doing a bunch of short contracts, and none of them had little, if anything, to do with biology (or fieldwork). Luckily, all that has changed!

I submitted my thesis to my thesis committee at the beginning of December and ran off to Australia to explore while my committee did their thing. I got back in January, completed revisions, submitted in January and defended in February. I cranked through revisions, got my thesis in by the March 1st deadline and got back 1/2 of the winter semester's tuition. Whoot!

Andrea, Master of Science. It has a nice ring, don't you think?

Shortly thereafter, I applied for an internship with the provincial government of Nova Scotia. I interviewed (and was very sincere about my desire to work in wildlife management) and got the job! My specific position is "Population Ecologist", and I'm responsible for modelling population dynamics from harvest data for furbearers and large mammals. This information will help guide management decisions.

I also get to help out with the other programs, and assist with fieldwork when people need help... so I have interesting things to talk about again :D I'll save them for another post, but I'll leave you with a picture of one of the first places I helped out with some fieldwork (a pond near some cut overs).