That Georgia Biologist

This past week has gone very well. I'm excited; I've finished the first of three rotations this week and am excited to work under a different professor starting next week. So far I've had the chance to do both field work as well as start creating a theoretical framework of knowledge on plants (translation: read lots of scientific papers!). This past week I attended a lecture by a forensic botanist who came to Athens, and that was really cool learning how plants can be used as evidence to help solve crimes! To celebrate my scholastic progress, my parents and sister very kindly came down and spent the weekend with me :) I was so excited to take my family to the botanical gardens and play tour guide. In between extolling the (many) virtues of my favorite local destination, I managed to take a few photos that I thought you might like to see. Enjoy! :) ~Austin The autumn crocuses were some of my favorite from this trip.  These black-eyed su...

Guess it's been a little while since I've blogged! Been busy, been good. I have (and continue to) read lots of scientific papers, and once a week, I am going out with a senior graduate student working on a small project, of sampling herbaceous diversity in a nearby forest. I'm really enjoying the experience!! This past weekend one of my good friends came to visit me, and while having fun catching up, we drove up to and explored Tallulah Gorge State Park. I had never been before; I really enjoyed the experience. Definitely a very pretty gorge and waterfalls, and we certainly got our exercise walking up and down all those stairs! I really enjoyed my visit and look forward to visiting again with more friends and family. Attached are some of the pictures that I took that I thought you might enjoy. Hopefully I can go again and photograph the gorge when the fall colors hit! ~Austin  Some of the first falls that we saw. They were very pretty, and just outside of...

My week has been good :) While there is still lots of new stuff to learn, overall it is a very smooth transition academically. The grad students are welcoming, the professors friendly, and yes I still remember how to crank with a capitol C!!  Yesterday evening as a bit of a reprieve I spent some time at the botanical gardens. I really enjoyed my time; and especially was delighted at all the butterfly photos I was able to capture. I hope you enjoy them! :) -Austin  Happy happy happy! I like the color yellow  :D  Beautiful setting for a bench.  Not sure what species this flower is, but it sure is lovely! :)  Such an inviting path...   Jatropha integerrima above, and very likely Helianthus annuus below.  Some pretty periwinkle - I want to learn the exact species!  A Firey Skipper butterfly above, and Red-Banded Hairstreak butterfly below!  Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Ge...

Well hey there everyone! I'd just like to add a disclaimer, if you will, to this blog...I'm pretty sure the majority of the content on here will be turning into "this week at the botanical gardens", and less of what I'm actually up to. But so be it! :D This week was good. I went through almost eight hours of orientation by the UGA Graduate School, and now I feel properly oriented ;) I'm very impressed with the culture of respect, integrity, and academic excellence - stuff I can definitely get behind. Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly and I feel super grateful and excited to be here. I even have my own desk!! :D Had my first three days of class, and I'm happy to report that they went well. I'm taking two honestly pretty fascinating classes - one on how to clearly communicate your science to laypeople, and the other on generally how to be a good graduate student. Both are going to be a really good investment of my time, I can tell al...