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27 - 29 May: 513 sea cucumbers, one pond, and 86 trees

5/29/2018

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It's been an eventful few days here in Palau! On Sunday, we drove up to Ngardmau state to survey their marine protected area for sea cucumbers! This was a follow-up survey to some previous work by PICRC and Ngardmau State. 
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(Above) One of the members of the genus Actinopyga our students surveyed (for those interested, there were about 1.7 per square meter); (below) Jack heroically swimming against the current near the yellow transect tape. 
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On Monday, we did some quick freshwater explorations around Ngardok Lake in Melekeok state (the largest natural body of freshwater in Micronesia), and found some fun odonate nymphs and daphnia. We also did some ant surveys of some of the different vegetation types in the reserve around the lake. 
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(above) An excited Dr. Carla Atkinson checks out some of the aquatic macroinvertebrates (and cane toad tadpoles) we found in Ngardok Lake. (below) A close up of one of the many mosquito larvae we found in the lake, taken in the field through Anuschka's cellscope. 
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 Finally, on Tuesday, we spent the morning planting about 86 native trees in an eroded Bauxite mine site in Ngeremlengui State with the Ebiil Society. 
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27 May 2018 - Time flies when you're snorkeling in Palau!

5/26/2018

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Hi everyone! Whew, I guess it's a little more tricky to make lots of blog posts while you're knee-deep in a field course than I thought! 

We're about half way through the course, now, and we've been focusing on learning about some of the marine environments of Palau, as well as the terrestrial critters that live in the limestone karst. 

Students who have taken a classroom-based course with Dr. Rundell know that crinoids (at least the little disarticulated cheerios of their stalks) are a very common fossil in the Devonian rocks in Central New York. Far fewer students from SUNY-ESF have actually gotten to hold a living crinoid, like Maddy is here: 
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Jack is taking a vertical photo onto a 0.25m^2 quadrat for later quantification of coral cover, and Audrey is doing some non-quantitative explorations of the coral diversity: 
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In addition to some of the marine work we've been doing, we've collected some land snails on the limestone karst, and looked at some really cool archaeological sites, including one of the  Yapese stone money quarries in Airai: 
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Just to wrap things up... here's a diplommatinid in the genus Hungerfordia! 
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Medical advice for traveling to Palau (that I'm technically not qualified to give)

5/1/2018

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Technically I can't *really* give medical advice, since I'm not a doctor or any other kind of licensed medical practitioner.  But if I *could* give medical advice, I might say something like "before traveling to a different country, it's always good to check on the CDC website for what immunizations they recommend, and, like the CDC website says, it's a great idea to check with your doctor." I'd also probably send you a link to the CDC page on Palau: 
  
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/palau

While you're talking to your doctor, it also might be a good idea to ask for a full course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic like Cipro. The most likely use for this would be a stubborn skin infection that you get because a cut doesn't stay clean enough. I got a staph infection in my foot once because I was doing field work in flip-flops, walked through some thorns, and then walked through some muddy puddles. We'll have some basic wound management supplies handy (Dr. Rundell and I have lots of experience trying to keep cuts and scrapes clean while doing field work in the tropics, so we have some strong opinions on this), but more stubborn infections (or other bacteria-related illnesses) are still completely possible, so it's nice to have the option. There are definitely antibiotics available in Palau, but it can be convenient to have a full course handy that you've already spoken to your PCP about. 

Finally, if I were feeling really overqualified to give medical advice that I'm not qualified to give, I might say something like, "don't get anti-malarial meds. I've never heard of anyone getting malaria in Palau, and most of the meds have side effects that are severe enough it's just not worth it." Also, the CDC site for Palau doesn't say anything about Malaria. 

It's a great idea to bring some over-the-counter allergy and anti-diarrhea meds with you. There is a wide range of over-the-counter and prescription medications available in Palau, so refills might be possible, but it would be best to try to travel with a sufficient supply of all medications you might need for the duration of the course. Both allergy and diarrhea meds often seem to be necessary at the most inconvenient times, so it's a great idea to pack some of each. 

There are a few different types of biting flies in Palau (e.g., mosquitoes), and an annoying mite called "chiggers" that are common on some islands. There is also a tree in Palau that can cause a similar reaction to poison ivy, especially if you make a lot of contact with it in the rain. For all of these reasons, it can be nice to have some sort of anti-itch cream. If you've had severe reactions to poison ivy in the past (to the point where you've needed a prescription to clear it up), it might be smart to ask your doctor for a course of whatever helped the poison ivy clear up before. 

If you're allergic to bees, or if you have had systemic/anaphylactic allergic reactions to anything, please please please let us know about it, and bring an EpiPen. 

Honestly, Palau is a very safe place to work. Lyme disease scares me more than anything you're likely to get in Palau, and I've repeatedly told my own parents that in most ways it's much safer for me to do field work in Palau than in Massachusetts (where I'm from) or New York. In general, as long as you:
- stay well-hydrated (and well-electrolyte'd),
- practice good safety around the water,
- keep your cuts and scrapes clean, and
- manage your exposure to the sun,
you shouldn't have any problems, and we should all have an awesome time! 

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    Rebecca Rundell & Jesse Czekanski-Moir

    Co-instructors, 2018

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