Month 2, what a whirlwind!
The past month has been a whirlwind - not a bad one, just a crazy busy one!
First off, I learned how to do the Hydrofluoric (HF) part of the pollen prep, very excited about that. Not scared of you anymore, deadly chemical! PALAB’s technician Mari Trapote has been very kind and patient showing me the ropes as we processed various aerial pollen traps together. It´s been a while since I was in a lab working on pollen preps, so it was nice to go back to that.
This month was crucial for the organisation of my fieldtrip to Peru in July, so while I´ve still been able to carve some time to enjoy my new life in Spain, most of my days were spent figuring out the necessary research permits, fine tuning the daily schedule of my trip, smart budgeting and solving logistical issues. But with the help of the wonderful staff at the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) we were able to arrange everything and now I am vaccined, I have my flights booked and the first couple of hotels reserved!! Departure date: 26th June, return date: 27th July. It´s coming up way too fast, but the excitement is real. The plan is relatively simple, and will enable the maximum number of modern samples and pollen traps that I can install within my month of fieldtrip, as well as the coverage of most ecosystem types to ensure the best representation of vegetation diversity and taphonomic sources.
The other thing I´ve been incessantly chipping away at has been the pollen traps. While we already have aerial traps relatively figured out in the tropics after many years of study by accomplished researchers as well as myself, traps for the collection of pollen in water have somewhat been left untouched. Lake traps have been implemented before, but river traps not so much (if at all). So, our team´s collective brain worked hard in the past month to design a prototype of pollen trap that could be installed in fast flowing rivers and collect sediments while simultaneously filtering them, and allow the collection of pollen using a series of decreasing mesh sizes. The result is something that looks a little like a bazooka made out of PVC bits. We´re currently in the process of trialing it and seeing whether it will behave as planned. If this works, I will then have to think exactly where to install it in the field, but that´s a whole different question. Hopefully, it will open the doors for some exciting results!
What other brain-niggling puzzles have I been dealing with you may ask? Many, mostly administrational (there´s a lot here in Spain, but as an Italian I am well-accustomed to dealing with them). Another important task has been sorting out the filming of my documentary. The main issue, as simple and direct as it sounds, has been funding. It´s a comparatively smaller deliverable than the goals of our project, but if done properly it becomes a significant financial commitment. Filming needs specific cameras, tripods, stabilisers, lights, microphones, screens… and the good stuff is way more expensive than I realised! Sadly, we´ve had to drop the idea of adding a videographer to my trip who will now collaborate as a consultant for the creative part of the documentary and his expertise filming will aid the entire process, but this means that I will have to be the researchers as well as the videographer… we´ll see how that goes!
Basically, lots of parts are in motion and lots of things are happening (what I chose to write here hasn´t even been the half of it, just the most news-worthy bits!) and the next month will be incredibly busy as I move closer to my departure date. I am sure more problems will arise, but as researchers we´re here to find answers. And, with all the luck, everything that we have begun this month will give us the answers we need.
Signing off to go eat some padrón peppers.
-Dael
