In Portland

Hello everyone!

I'm in Portland at the Ecological Society of America conference. My flights went well. No issues getting from Botswana to South Africa. The flight was also pretty smooth from South Africa to Atlanta. I sat next to a girl who was from LSU (I definitely had to proclaim Go Gators! to that) but she was nice and was coming back from a missions trip in South Africa so we got along fine. There were long lines but overall things went fine in the Atlanta airport. It was pretty tough being a 45 minute flight from Chelsea and instead getting on a 5 hour flight in the opposite direction, but I did it. That flight went well too, but when I got to Portland my bag wasn't there. It turned out ok, it was put on the next flight so I only had to wait at the airport about an hour extra and I talked with another conference attendee who was coming in from Brazil.

I've been staying with our friends Nick and Tara from UC Davis. They're living here now and have been very hospitable to me. My friend Amy and her friend Jude were also there for the first two days of my stay so it's been fun times seeing old friends. We've gotten to do lots of neat things like visiting a HUGE bookstore (something like 6 floors spanning an entire city block with tens of thousands of books), eating at a Morrocan place where you sit on cushions and eat your 5 course meal entirely with your hands, and watching Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in a movie theater/pub where you can get burgers, pizza, cookies, or beverages served to you while you watch.

In addition to this I've been very busy at the conference. It's the largest ecology conference in the US and there are something like 4000 attendees. The program is over 200 pages for this one week conference. I presented a poster last night on the data I collected last year in Botswana and it was well received. A teammate of mine also did a presentation on the project we've been working on for the last year for my IGERT fellowship and that got some good interest and feedback also. I've gone to a number of interesting talks that will help inform my research as well as some workshops that should help me be a better teacher and improve my job applications in the future.

One of the neatest things, however, was a social Monday night for Christian ecologists. I wasn't sure what it would be like but when I walked in people were sitting in groups discussing how we can best reflect Christ in our careers, what it means to "give up our lives for Christ" in our chosen fields, and the connections between our Christian faith and the conference theme of Preserving, Utilizing, and Sustaining our Ecosystems. There were probably around 30 people there and it was really neat to be reminded that even though it may feel like it, we are not alone in this field. There are other Christians who are successful ecologists and professors and yet also love the Lord and want to serve Him through what they do. I was definitely encouraged by this. At the end we all prayed together that we might be a light this week and as we go back to our various universities. Very cool!

It is finished!

Well...the work is never really finished...but the fieldwork for 2012 is. Yesterday we finished sampling in the Chobe Enclave. It was harder to find places to sample than we expected and we only got 15 samples but hopefully that'll be fine. We also dipped back down into the park to collect 4 more samples in an area that had high MSDI values but which we only had 2 points in. Hopefully now we can get a better sense of what's going on.

I leave tomorrow afternoon to head straight to Portland for the Ecological Society of America conference. I'm excited for this new conference but it's a bummer that it keeps me from seeing Chelsea for another week. Oh well, it'll work out.

I appreciate you all following along with my adventures this summer. I'll try to give an update once I'm back but just in case I don't get the chance, thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Tim

Pray for Skiller

7-30-12

For those of you who are of the praying persuasion, I’d like to ask you to pray for my research assistant, Skiller. We have been having some very interesting spiritual conversations. It started about a week and a half ago. We were headed to the park when we saw a woman wearing a DWNP (the wildlife department that I work closely with) uniform waiting for a ride. Having an extra seat, I pulled over and we offered her a lift. It turned out she was going to the regional wildlife office, not the front gate like we were, but it was still on the way so it wasn’t a problem. After proceeding to the front gate we checked in like normal. There was a Motswana lady standing by the gate and I said hello to her as I went in. When I came back out Skiller said she was looking for a ride to Chobe Game Lodge, a lodge inside the park. We weren’t planning on heading that way since it would take longer, but the route to the lodge would still get us close to our final destination so again we gave her a lift. After we had dropped her off Skiller looked at me and said, “So what makes you different from other white people? No one ever offers a black person a ride and you just went out of your way to give two people rides.” I was surprised and a bit disappointed to know that the white people here have such a poor reputation and such little compassion. I tried to explain that because God has given so much to me I try to help others as well. I said I would like to be helped if I were in their situation so I try to help others when I can. He didn’t really say anything to that so I left it as it was, praying that the Lord would use the situation as He would.

The next conversation came over dinner a few nights ago. I’ve been learning a lot about culture in Botswana and especially among the Herrero, Skiller’s tribe. One night I said that while he had told me a lot about the culture he hadn’t mentioned many spiritual beliefs so I asked what kind of religious or spiritual background he had. He described a system of ancestor worship that he held to and which seemed fairly important to him. I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that but when he asked if I was a Christian I took the chance to say that I was and to describe what I believed, giving a quick summary of the Gospel. Again, he didn’t really have much to say after that and I left the conversation praying that he would think about what I had said and that the Lord would open doors to other conversations.

A few nights later the opportunity came. We were talking about a variety of things when he noted that I was very different from Botswana men because even though my wife was thousands of miles away I was sitting in my tent every night rather than going into town to chase after women. This is a rather sad commentary on the sexual morality of Batswana (citizens of Botswana) and matched what I had heard before from others. What was interesting, though, is that I found that Skiller was very open to talking about the issue and seemed to feel something wasn’t right about the way they were treating women through their infidelity (“their” in a general sense, he wasn’t clear on whether he was part of that or not). This led to talking about other moral issues of a related nature like the spread of HIV and drinking. As that conversation started to die down I decided since we were already talking about heavy things I’d return to issues of spirituality.

Praying for wisdom, I began asking him for more details about what he really believed about his ancestors and how the dead could influence the living. He talked for a while, really opening up and sharing his views. One thing he said really stood out to me. He said that although he prayed to his ancestors, he believed there was one creator God. He said his ancestors served as a sort of intermediary for him to make requests to and get guidance from God. I feel like the Lord really set this up because this was a perfect connection. I told him I completely agreed that we needed an intermediary between God and men because God is so perfect and we are so broken. But I said that where we differed is that instead of looking to ancestors as my intermediary I look to Jesus. I borrowed an example from my Crusade training in college and adapted it to Skiller’s context. I asked if he’d ever to Victoria Falls and he said he had. I pointed out that if we were both to try to jump from one side of the falls to the other, he would probably go farther than I would (I suppose it’s true what they say about white men and jumping J) but that nonetheless neither of us would make it across. The gap was just too far. In the same way, the problem I saw with ancestors serving as the intermediary is that since they were fallible people, they weren’t qualified. That’s why God came down Himself in the person of Jesus and lived a perfect life. He is able to span that gap that none of the rest of us can and that is what makes Him the perfect and only intermediary. Reading back over that I feel like that sounds far more eloquent than I actually was…I didn’t have my thoughts all that quite put together and I fully attribute whatever good was said to the Spirit speaking through me.

We talked for a while more and Skiller surprised me suddenly by saying that he truly believed that some day he would become a Christian. I asked why someday; why not now or soon? He said he hadn’t found a church he liked. He’d been to several and he didn’t like what they taught or did. I responded that while getting involved in a church is definitely important to do, it doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to KFC makes you a chicken (they don’t have McDonald’s here but they do have KFC). I suggested that first he focus on his personal relationship with God, praying and reading the Bible to get to know Him, and then worry about finding a church later. I talked about having to find a new church when I went to Davis and again when I moved to Florida and how the criterion I used was finding a good Bible-believing and teaching church. I asked if he’d ever read the Bible and he said yes, he’d read his mother’s. I asked if he would read one if he had his own and he said he definitely would. I told him I’d try to find him one before he returned to Maun.

That is pretty much where the conversation was left. I was encouraged by Skiller’s openness to talk about things and about his comment about believing he would eventually become a Christian. Some day may never come, however, so for those of you who are Christians I would appreciate if you would be praying for Skiller that he would come to a real and personal relationship with Christ. We only have two more days together (probably less once I actually get to internet and get this posted) so please be praying for God-given opportunities for further conversations. Pray also for me for wisdom and that the Lord will be the one speaking through me. Finally, please pray that I will be able to find a Bible for him. I have one idea of where to look but I do not know if the store is even there anymore. Also, we’re likely to be pretty busy over the next two days. I want to make this a priority, but it will be tough as there are other demands on my time also. Thank you!

7-31-12 Update

Praise the Lord! We got a Bible for Skiller! We had some time this afternoon so we went searching for a Christian bookstore I remembered in town. We found it and got him a small NIV Bible. I'm so glad this worked out! I think I'm going to suggest he start with the book of Luke. I know many people like John but I've always found the opening chapter to be a bit metaphoric and for someone who doesn't have English as their first language I figure the straightforward approach of Luke is better. Please be praying now that he reads this Bible and that the Lord uses His Word to change Skiller's heart.

Almost done!

7-30-12

The research is going very well! We completed all 200 random points that I originally generated for the area (technically we skipped two because the GIS layer said there was a road where there really wasn’t so we couldn’t get to them, but we made up for them with some extra opportunistic sampling). We then spent the last two days doing further random samples along other roads that weren’t in the original GIS layer. He currently have done almost 60 of these. We were supposed to finish these in the park today but after completing one training sample we returned to the car, tried to turn it on…and nothing happened. No click, no engine turning, nothing. I popped the hood and took a look but it wasn’t clear what the problem was. Another car drove by and as it pulled up I tried it again and it worked! Praise the Lord! The clock had reset so I assume the battery had fully died but when I talked to Thata about it later he said he didn’t think it was the battery (though he didn’t suggest what else it could be). Not wanting to risk breaking down on the little access road we were supposed to try next we left the park and headed into town. Since then we haven’t had any problems and I really don’t know what the issue was. I wonder if it could be from using the inverter to charge phones, laptops, etc. There have been a bunch of times in the past few days where we turned the car on, drove a short distance (like 200m) while charging, and then turned it off again and then repeated. Maybe that wore things down. This afternoon we didn’t charge anything and we had no more problems. I still do want to collect data on that access road so hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday we’ll be able to do it. I’ll just keep praying for no more car trouble.

In the afternoon we drove to the Chobe Enclave, a set of 5 villages west of the park. We were looking for areas that are human impacted where we can test our methodology to see if it applies to more than just elephants. Yet again, Skiller was a huge help as we talked to chiefs and officials in three villages, requesting permission to collect data in their areas. I suspect I’d have had a much harder time of it without him there. We have permission in two of the villages (the chief was out in one and we’ll have to try talking to him tomorrow) so hopefully starting tomorrow we’ll be collecting some data there.

This all reminds me, I’m not sure I ever described what I’m doing here (if so I apologize but you get to read it again). My dissertation research involves impacts of elephants on large herbivores and vegetation in southern Africa. As a Geography major I am taking a spatial ecology view of this, looking at elephant impacts on spatial distributions of species (the data I collected last year), elephant movement in relation to vegetation impacts (the project we’re starting in Addo), and detecting elephant impacts via satellite remote sensing. This last part is what I’ve been collecting data for these past three weeks. We are gathering information on the status of the vegetation (how impacted it is by elephants) all across the park and are hoping to link that to what we learn from the satellites. A technique called the Moving Standard Deviation Index (MSDI) has been proposed to work for detecting elephant impacts (basically it picks out variable areas in the landscape with the assumption that elephant impacts break up the normal vegetation patterns) but there hasn’t been much work done to validate it. The data I am collecting are designed to assess whether the MSDI really works. If it does I can use it to look at patterns of elephants in space and how that affects how other species use the landscape. I can also use older satellite data to look back in time at how elephant impacts have changed in the park as the elephant population has increased. Even if the MSDI doesn’t work I have been thinking of other ways to use the data I am collecting to get at some of the same issues so it will be useful either way. This has meant far more time staring at plants and far less watching animals than I prefer, but I am excited about what the data may tell us, helping improve elephant management.

7-31-12 Update

This morning we stopped to get fuel and when we tried turning on the car again it wouldn't start, same as yesterday. Fortunately we were at the filling station and the attendant there checked it with us and determined that the battery terminal was loose so after tightening it down (thanks again Uncle Ed for the socket wrench set! We really would be in trouble without it) things worked fine.

We went into the park and finished data collection there. I'll admit part of me is a bit sad about being done working in the park, I like it there a lot. Then again I'm also really excited to be coming back home to my wife and family and friends.

After that we headed back into the Enclave to start data collection there. We only got a few done but we found some other interesting sites so hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to go and finish the work there.

The end is in sight! Praise the Lord!

Vehicle troubles

It wouldn't be a trip to Africa for field work without some vehicle troubles. I'm using the trusty Mitsubishi Pajero that I've used each year I've been here and in general it's working well. The engine had been making a squealing noise, however, for the first few minutes when we turned it on. It did it some last year so I wasn't too worried, but one morning it was extra loud so I popped the hood to check. It's a good thing I did. One of our fan belts had come off and was rubbing between the engine block and the alternator, causing the squealing. It was almost worn completely through. There are two fan belts so we were able to drive it into town to the auto part store. We had to wait for them to open but eventually we got a fan belt. Then it needed to be put on. They didn't have anyone who could do it but I thought I remembered how from fan belt problems we had back in Moremi Game Reserve in 2010. I didn't want to mess up the car further, however, so we thought we should double check the procedure. Fortunately Skiller's girlfriend is a mechanic so we called her in Maun and I described what I thought I should do and she confirmed that it was correct! My Uncle Ed gave me a socket wrench set for Christmas that had metric attachments and I was able to use that to loosen the alternator, slip the new fan belt on, and tighten things up again. We turned the car back on and everything worked fine! It was back into the park for another day of work...

The work progresses

We've now completed about 160 training samples! This is wonderful and is more than I expected to complete this summer...and we still have another week of data collection time. I am very excited by the progress we are making. Something growled at us from a bush the other day, making us quickly retreat to the vehicle, but other than that we haven't had any other close animal encounters.

In camp it's been fairly quite on the animal side, though two nights ago there was a big elephant that came and ate from the tree right next to my tent. In the morning there were a number of branches on the ground next to my cement slab that the elephant had ripped from the tree. Last night as I was gathering firewood I looked up and saw a herd of buffalo standing staring at me about 150m away. Buffalo can be quite dangerous so I kept an eye on them, collected wood in the opposite direction, and built a nice big fire to keep them back...and everything went fine.

It's crazy to think it's only a week and a half until I head home. There's still lots to do but I'm looking forward to being back.

Update on research and things

Hi all,

The work is going really well! Skiller is a great research assistant. We've taken 45 training samples in the last two days. Considering I was hoping to average 10 a day, that's excellent! I hope we can keep up this pace because then I can get more samples than the minimum I'd set. In this case, more data will always be better. No more scary animal encounters during the training samples. It's always a bit disconcerting when you research assistant suddenly asks if you know how to climb trees while you're out in the middle of a sample...but he was just checking.

Things have been quieter around camp. Two nights ago a herd of buffalo came by camp, but the kept a wide distance from our fire so things were fine. This afternoon Skiller found what he says was a snake track. If that's what it was then it's from a BIG snake. He said Mr Cash said there were African Rock Pythons around. Based on the track size this one is probably at least as long as I am. Personally I'm hoping not to run into it.

Thanks for your prayers, there's more I'd love to say but I'm out of internet time so it'll have to come later. I hope you all are well!

Tim