Landlines: Learning on the Job

This article was published in the July/August issue of Landlines, the newsletter of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.

It was a bright Tuesday morning as we drove down Oso Flaco Lake Road towards the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. Having grown up in Nipomo with an interest in nature, this was a familiar drive for me. But this Tuesday was different. I wasn’t going into the dunes as a wandering explorer. I was going on official business, as an official Land Conservancy field intern.

This summer I’m helping out ecologist Daniel Bohlman in sites throughout the county. It’s got to be the best summer job around.

Our destination on this particular Tuesday was a site near Surprise Lake, one of many wetland communities in the dunes where willows, poison oak, and other wetland plants take root. As we readied our gear at the trailhead we chatted with a group of dune scientists and representatives from various government agencies that hold a stake in the dunes. They were prepping their vehicles for their own workday in the dunes.

Then it was off to Surprise Lake. We ambled through the dune vegetation, identifying plants as we went by their scientific names: Lupinus chamissonis (silver dune lupin), Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy), Ericameria ericoides (mock heather), and many others. We spent the rest of the morning collecting data. During our lunch break we made our way towards Surprise Lake to search for La Graciosa Thistle, an endangered plant rumored to be in the area.

After lunch we returned to collecting data. Soon after our fellow dune trekkers passed by on their way out. They were in a hurry and couldn’t stop to talk, so we went back to work. Moments later we heard a shout and looked up to see that the group had stopped. Evidently they’d almost run over something.

We ran over to see what it was, and learned that a snake had blocked their path. It had been millimeters away from being squashed! One of the scientists picked up the snake, held it for a while, and offered it to the group. “I bet David would like to hold it,” Daniel said. I’d never held a snake before, but I couldn’t say no. So on my first official workday in the dunes I found myself letting a wild snake slither through my hands. “They like it when you put them around your neck.” And so I had a snake around my neck. Best summer job ever. As we made our way back out of the dunes I named the plants with more confidence.

On the job.

I’m sure anyone who’s ever hiked with Daniel will agree—he’s an amazing teacher. And learning is an important part of what I’m doing this summer. I’m not just learning about plants, field research techniques, and the local environmental scene. I’m learning about myself, my interests, and my goals.

This is an especially important time to be thinking these thoughts. I’ll be starting my second year as a student of the environment at UC Davis in the fall. I’ll admit, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re sitting in a crowded college lecture hall frantically taking notes about isotopes and integrals. When I return to UC Davis this fall I’ll have a better understanding of what I’m getting myself into, and plenty of fodder for a good outdoors-daydream escape from the lecture hall. For the time being at least, SLO County is my classroom.