Field Research
Emma Steigerwald, a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, moves in to collect a spider that will be used as part of the California Conservation genomics project (CCGP). A project focusing on Californian biodiversity and aiming to build the most comprehensive genomic dataset ever assembled for conservation science.
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Emma Steigerwald, a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, collects spiders from vegetation for the California Conservation Genomics project. Going into the forest by night when spiders are active, she uses the stick to beat the vegetation causing all sorts of small invertebrates to fall on the sheet below - she then picks out the target species and releases the rest.
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Emma Steigerwald, a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, holds a captured spider that will be used as part of the California Conservation genomics project (CCGP). A project focusing on Californian biodiversity and aiming to build the most comprehensive genomic dataset ever assembled for conservation science.
Surveying Biodiversity
Biologists and members of a Peruvian Biodiversity survey observe and take photos of a enigmatic glass frog species as it perches on a leaf in the nighttime jungle. Boots on the ground research like this is critical to gathering baseline data on species' distributions, populations status and other trends to inform conservation work.
The Andean frog crew captures a large Telmatobius tadpole
The Andean frog crew braves the rain in the high Andes and is rewarded with their goal! Michel holds up a bag of small Pleurodema tadpoles. These frogs are the highest elevation amphibians in the world.
Sampling for amphibians at a high altitude peat bog (Bofedale) in the Peruvian Andes.
A light trap draws insects to a sheet where they can be catalogued. An observer stands nearby looking for interesting specimens.
Sampling for amphibians at a high altitude wetland in the Peruvian Andes.
The Andean frog crew makes their plans for the day determining how far they will trek into the mountain pass to find their target frogs.
A small school in the remote Peruvian Andes, the children wear traditional Quechua garb.
A small school in the remote Peruvian Andes, the Quechua children look at comic books about the environment and threats to local biodiversity.
Treating alpacas with antiparasitic in a remote section of the Peruvian Andes.
Emma Steigerwald, the leader of the Andean frog team surveys a valley before descending into it to search for frogs.
Emma Steigerwald, the leader of the Andean frog team with the pack horses that transport the teams food, tents, and scientific equipment.
The Andean frog team has breakfast on a cold morning after snow.
Emma Steigerwald, the leader of the Andean frog team & Gumercindo, a local member of the frog team during a pause in their transect across an Andean pass.
Gumercindo, a local member of the Andean frog team pauses and thinks about the route to traverse down to the small village below.
Gumercindo, a local member of the Andean frog team during a pause in their transect across the Andean landscape.
Gumercindo, a local member of the Andean frog team attempts to coax a reluctant packhorse through a narrow and steep rocky decent.
A visitor to one of the remaining California vernal ponds, these seasonal ponds fill with rain water and are important homes for various threatened wildlife.
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