2017 Field Work finished for the season!

Using a cordless drill and holesaw to insert new root ingrowth cores into a control plot at the ORIDE experiment. We will estimate belowground net primary production by leaving the ingrowth core in the ground for about 1 year, then extracting next September.

CSU-Chico collaborator (and fellow Colorado State GDPE grad) Kristen Kaczynski and I finished up the 2017 field season yesterday at the ORIDE project on the Modoc Plateau (just in time- see photo above - I'm nearly 7 months pregnant!). Thanks so much to summer field assistants Allison, Nate, and Aaron (all Oregon Tech undergrads) for braving the rain and darkness to help us finish up before winter (and baby Prairie) hits! My new HSU undergraduate research assistant, Stephanie, will be processing root samples for the project in my lab on campus. Thanks Allison, Nate, Aaron, Stephanie, and collaborator/friend Kristen for making this trip such a success!