8/13/2024
Over the years, I’ve learned that creating goals helps me stay on track. By reflecting on the goals I made in the previous year, I can create goals to learn from my mistakes. This summer, I am working on multiple research projects in Dr. Smith’s research lab. First, I use digiKam, an image organizer and tagging editor, to tag photos taken in California in 2021. Second, I traveled to California to do field research where I collected fecal pellets, DNA, fleas, and observational data on California Ground Squirrels. Third, I set up camera traps, fur traps, and looked for beaver lodges and dams along the Chippewa River.
Previous research goals
Last year, my research goals for my digiKam project were to finish tagging photos from albums in 2021 and analyze the activity patterns of the species in the area. I was unable to finish tagging all of the photos from 2021, so I discussed with Dr. Smith about recruiting people for the research project and prioritizing albums. Now, there are more people to help me work on the albums and we are prioritizing albums that were taken during the times when there were audio recordings of coyotes. This summer, we tagged almost all the albums that we decided to prioritize and by the time school starts we’ll be finished with the albums.
My goals for field research in California were to prepare Team Squirrel for field research and collect field research data in California. Before going to California, we had multiple zoom meetings to discuss what we need to do in the field, what to expect, and what to wear. In California, Team Squirrel collected field data on California Ground Squirrels where we discovered that they hunt, kill, and eat California voles. We later found out that this behavior has never been published. Currently, I am uploading research article citations about California ground squirrels, predation exhibited in similar species, and California voles.
My goals for the beaver project were to find beaver lodges and dams along the Eau Claire and Chippewa River as well as set up camera traps and fur traps. I traveled across the Chippewa river by kayak with Dr. Smith and some other research students to set up camera traps and fur traps. We found beavers along the Chippewa river by the videos taken from the camera traps.
Research goals for next year
My goals for the digiKam project are to finish the albums that we decided to prioritize by September, analyze the tags in R to see the data we collected, and compare our data to data collected from audio recordings. Learning from last year, prioritizing albums from last year allowed the team to create a doable goal for the summer. The amount of albums that were left to tag would have taken us about two years to finish at the pace we were going.
My goals for field research are to upload citations for the paper that will be published and understand how to write a research paper. From previous experience, I've learned how to efficiently look up research citations, create citations, and upload them to a reference manager.
My goals for the beaver project are to record where they’ve been found, analyze videos taken from camera traps, and analyze DNA from fur traps.
Another goal overall is to set at least two hours everyday dedicated to research in the summer and 1 hour every other day during the school year.
Reflecting
I’ve learned how to priotitize projects, work efficiently, and that I need to be ready for new ideas, projects, and adventures to be a researcher. There is always room for learning from the past to be prepared for the future. This year, I plan on focusing more time to research in order to prepare myself for graduate school.
Comments