Youthful Energy!

March 24, 2014

Ongoing work at the cave has had an infusion of dedicated young people lately. Nikki Saadat, a sophomore from Antioch College, joined us in mid-January, and will be helping

Graduate students Lara Maspoli and Natasha Yamamoto cut fence panels for an experimental enclosure to be used for studies of tortoise grazing ecology.

everybody with everything going on down there until early April. Natasha Yamamoto and Lara Maspoli, graduate students working with tortoise expert Dennis Hansen at the University of Zurich, joined us in late February and will be studying aspects of tortoise feeding, seed dispersal, nutrient flux, and other useful details over the next few months.

Most recently, British Columbian Lindsay Armstrong came to work with us. He was one of the best students in last summer’s Archaeological Field School. Linz will help us with all phases of maintenance, visitor services, and research. In particular, he has been working lately with Chris Landreau, our key archaeological volunteer, to finish the work and close up the large pit in the South Cave excavated last summer.

Some of you may remember Emma Reed, an undergrad from Cornell University who worked with us last year on the fossil snails from Makauwahi Cave. She has almost completed her project in Dr. Greg Dietl’s lab at Cornell University, and will be presenting the results at the Island Biology 2014 symposium this summer in Honolulu. Lara, Natasha, and Dr. Burney will also be giving presentations at this upcoming international symposium focusing on evolution, ecology, and conservation of islands worldwide.