Yesterday, we started out playing in the mud, and we ended up seeing some traditional Palauan singing and dancing at the Night Market. First, playing in the mud: we worked with some folks from Ngiwal state and the Ebiil Society to plant trees and lemongrass to stem erosion near their new state office building. In the wake of the construction of this building, the river downhill had become noticeably impacted by sediments after heavy rains, so it seemed like a great opportunity to try to lend a hand. SUNY-ESF is a forestry school, after all, so the least we can do is participate in a tiny bit of re-forestation while we're here! 

Next, we headed down to Koror (our first time there this trip!) to check out the aquarium at PICRC. We got super-lucky and happened to be around when the aquarist was feeding some of the animals, including two Nautili and a black-tipped reef shark. We also got to see the sailing vessel or voyaging canoe Alingano Maisu. 

The next day, we spent most of our time at the waterfall in Ngardmau, learning about different stream environments. If you click this link, you should be able to view a 360° view of the Diongradid river, with Brett & Ben sampling in the distance, downstream of the photographer (click the link, and then click on the picture to enter 360-mode in most browsers): https://photos.app.goo.gl/2B2HMwP2oEAKfy9K7 
Also, scroll down for some other shots from our field work on June 8: 

Today, our students had the honor of participating in what (I believe) is the first bioblitz in Palau: an effort at Ngardok Lake Nature Reserve. Omar Basilius and a variety of different people from Melekeok and beyond participated in the effort to document as many species as we could, using our eyes, ears, and (in some cases) the iNaturalist app. Our students had a great time getting a holistic view of the terrestrial ecosystems of Palau, interacting with a variety of people with knowledge of plants, birds, and the invertebrates of Palau. 

After spending several hours at the reserve, documenting species diversity and contributing to our understanding of Palau ecosystems (you can see some observations by us and other folks here), we returned to the village to just explore the intertidal zone and think about what we'd seen. We had an awesome dinner made by Rebecca: 

Then they went night snorkeling! (and Jesse wrote this blog post). Not sure what they saw yet, but I'm sure it was awesome :) 

Last night (June 3rd) most of our students arrived, and we shared some dinner (takeout from Yano's) across the street from the Melekeok Statehouse. For most of the students, it was the first time they'd tasted taro (a staple starch in many tropical Pacific island cultures), and for some it was the first time they'd been near the Pacific Ocean.

Melekeok is about half way up the east coast of Babeldaob (the largest island in the Palau archipelago), is the official seat of the Palau national government, and is home to a number of beautiful and unique habitats, include Ngardok Lake (where we'll go participate in a bioblitz on 6 June). It's also home to lots of great Palauan people, who we're very thankful for, especially all the great folks at the Melekeok State Office, and the Ngardok Nature Reserve. 

In the picture above, the Pacific Ocean is about 4m beyond (to the East of) the students. Melekeok is about 7.5 degrees north of the Equator, which means that it's pretty much all ocean to the east of the students for almost 2,000 km until you get to Chuuk, and then another 2,000km beyond that before you get to Ailinglaplap atoll (Marshall Islands). 

Then it's pretty much just ocean for more than 10,000km until you get to Isla de Coiba, just of the coast of Panamá.

Below, you can see the students practicing snorkeling with guest instructor Anuschka Faucci (from Leeward Community College) in the ocean they only heard last night. For the rest of the day, the students will spend time getting comfortable in their new surroundings, and making observations of the nature in and around the village we're staying at. 

On Wednesday, we went to the waterfall ("Taki") of the Diong Era Did (sometimes spelled "Diongradid") river in Ngardmau state on Babeldaob island. We spent time with guest instructor Dr. Carla Atkinson learning about some of the different lotic habitats (riffles, runs, and pools), and ways of sampling invertebrates (kick nets, d-nets, shrimp traps left overnight). We found at least five species of freshwater crabs and shrimps, but curiously few insects (only some simuliids, chironomids, a single damselfly nymph, and some small aquatic hemipterans we haven't figured out yet. Neritid snails were also abundant, but we think that by and large, decapods dominate the Diongradid. 

(above): Chris and other students walk down the rock pools of the Ngertebechel tributary (below): Jani and Laura cross a suspension bridge on the way to the Taki (a Japanese word for waterfall that Palauans often use to refer to the second image down)

On Thursday, our students had most of the morning and early afternoon to work on their final presentations, and then they heard from our Palauan friends Kiblas Soaladaob and Tarita Holm. Kiblas has a masters degree in Pacific Studies from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and has thought a lot about Palauan culture and identity in the context of other Pacific Island cultures. Tarita has a masters degree in forestry and has worked on a variety of conservation projects in Palau. 

Then, sadly, on Friday, we had our last day. As I type this, at about 9:30pm Palau Time, the students are enjoying their last few hours in their apartments. Earlier today, they gave some great presentations on what they learned about conservation biology in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments in Palau. 

We asked the students to do some quick reflections about the course, and guest instructor Dr. Anuschka Faucci put them into a word cloud: 

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. 

(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. 

​

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. 

(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. 

 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. 

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: 
​

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: 

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: 

Just to wrap things up... here's a diplommatinid in the genus Hungerfordia! 

In a previous post about what to wear while you're doing field work in Palau, there are sort of three core concepts: 
 
1) Protect your feet from thorns/sharp rocks/stonefish, etc. 
2) Protect your body from bugs and the sun
3) Don't overheat 

An important point the blog post didn't cover that pertains directly to point 2 is sunscreen! 
 
If your ancestors came from a place further away from the Equator than Palau, you might have a tough time with the levels of sunlight here. Even Palauans who work inside have told me that they get sunburned if they spend all day out on a boat. For those of you with fair skin, the only way you're going to be able to come away from this course without injuring yourself is to wear sunscreen when we're outside.
 
However, a growing body of research has begun to show that many of the most common active ingredients in sunscreen can be toxic to invertebrates and potentially contribute to coral bleaching. Ingredients that have been linked to detrimental effects on aquatic life include:
benzophenones   
oxybenzone
avobenzone
Oxybenzone (BP3)
Octyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC)
Octocrylene (OC)
4-methyl-benzylidene camphor (4MBC)
Triclosan
Methyl paraben
Ethyl paraben
Propyl paraben
Butyl paraben
Benzyl paraben
Phenoxyethanol
octinoxate  
 
Some research has also shown that the very small particles of metal oxides (zinc and titanium) used in some sunscreens/sunblocks can also be detrimental to invertebrate health.
 
Since this research is relatively new, it seems that many companies that manufacture sunscreens haven't quite gotten the memo yet, so there are still lots of options on the shelves in the US and Palau that include these active ingredients. I checked two of the local dive shops here, and one of them carries a brand optimistically called "reef safe," but it has Avobenzone as one of the active ingredients. The other dive shop had a less deceptively-named sunblock that included Ocinoxate. The only sunscreen I was able to find that didn't include any of ingredients that are suspected to be harmful was this one:
https://www.amazon.com/AVEENO-Continuous-Protection-Sensitive-Sunscreen/dp/B01N1LV18Z/
Which has zinc oxide as the physical sunscreen barrier. If you have to buy sunblock in Palau, this might be the lesser of several evils, but as I mentioned earlier, the zinc nanoparticles are still potentially problematic for marine and freshwater invertebrates.
 
Anuschka, our guest instructor from Hawaii, has asked around, and says that Stream2Sea
https://www.amazon.com/Stream2Sea-biodegradable-sunscreen-mineral-sunblock/dp/B017BVN9BC/
is a favorite among some of the graduate students. There are others that could work as well, potentially including
Beauty by Earth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFNDWSY/
The Honest Company: https://smile.amazon.com/Honest-Company-Mineral-Based-Sunscreen/dp/B01E2327PG/
Badger: https://www.amazon.com/Badger-SPF-Sport-Sunscreen-Cream/dp/B00J4F7W94/
 
We'll bring some sunscreen to share, but it would be really great if you could get some environmentally responsible sunscreen, and perhaps even try it out before the course! This is a conservation biology course, so we want to make sure we minimize our potentially negative impacts on Palau, while minimizing the sun's potential negative impacts on our bodies.  
 

Further reading:
I haven't ever assigned a reading from "Vogue" before, but this is a pretty good, to-the-point article about sunscreen ecotoxicology: 
https://www.vogue.com/article/reef-safe-sunscreens-oxybenzone-free-sea-turtles-environment-stream2sea 
 
Jellyfish Lake in Palau, because it is small, somewhat hydrologically isolated, and potentially visited by up to 100,000 tourists a year, is a particularly sensitive area. As it's one of the primary draws bringing tourists to Palau in the first place, this is really where the interests of conservation biologist and ecotourism have the potential to conflict. Our friends at the CRRF and some of their collaborators conducted this study a few years ago:
http://coralreefpalau.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CRRF-UNESCO-Sunscreen-in-Jellyfish-Lake-no.2732.pdf
 
Other, more technical sources include:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-08013-x
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10750-016-2746-2
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/13720/noaa_13720_DS1.pdf?
https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/etc.2560 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X17301005 

Hi everyone! 

As we get closer to the departure date, you might be thinking about what to pack. Well, here is a start: 

To some extent, it makes sense to have separate clothing and gear for different habitats, so we'll break up this blog post a little bit. But also keep in mind that many days we'll be fairly amphibious: we probably won't do sampling in all three major habitats in one day, but most days we'll be either terrestrial/marine or terrestrial/freshwater. 

In town / front country: There will be a day or two you'll be in nice-ish front-country (as opposed to backcountry) settings: you'll be interacting with Palauan elementary school students and their teachers, or the staff of a variety of NGO's and governmental agencies, so it would be good if you had an outfit or two that would not be offensive to moderately conservative mid-western Americans. Palau has a lot of foreign tourists, so the in-town dress code is fairly relaxed: you can pretty much wear things you'd wear on campus during the summer. Some of our front-country time will be spent in air-conditioned rooms, though, and they're sometimes quite chilly, so it would be good to bring at least one or two outfits that you'd be comfortable sitting around and using a microscope for a few hours when it's in the mid-60s. I usually just bring some long pants and a polypropylene long-underwear top or two. The long underwear top can also double as a rash-guard (discussed in the marine habitat section). 

Terrestrial habitats: If you're from the northeast, chances are you've had the experience of being in the woods when it's hot and humid. Chances are you've walked through a thorn patch or two, and chances are you've run into some high densities of biting insects. For our terrestrial field work, it would be a good idea to be prepared for all of these things. That means it's a good idea to have long pants and close-toed shoes that let you walk through a thorn patch and avoid mosquitos a little bit. Synthetic pants sold at outdoor supply stores are a pretty good option: 
https://www.sierratradingpost.com/pacific-trail-stretch-cargo-pants-upf-30-plus--for-men~p~199pp/?filterString=mens-hiking-bottoms~d~9932%2F 

Thick cotton pants (e.g., jeans) will tend to be uncomfortable in the humidity. They're pretty good for places like Arizona, but in the humidity of Palau they pretty much won't dry out... ever. They're find for front-country wear, though. 

Usually on our terrestrial/freshwater days we'll be under a decent canopy of trees, so sun protection won't be quite as much of an issue, but it can still be nice to wear a light long-sleeved shirt, again, for biting insects and thorns. My favorite field shirt is a cotton men's seersucker dress shirt I got at a Ross Dress-for-Less in Guam. Hopefully I'll be able to find it for this trip so you can all revel in how awesome it is :) 

Footwear for terrestrial habitats is also kind of a tricky situation. Most of the terrestrial work we'll be doing could involve a short jaunt through the water, so leather hiking boots probably aren't a great idea (like jeans, they won't dry out, and will sometimes start to rot). It's hard to find shoes that will both let you get wet and fend off thorns a bit. The neoprene booties scuba divers use are actually pretty good, but don't provide any ankle support: 
https://www.amazon.com/NeoSport-Wetsuits-Premium-Neoprene-Pull/dp/B000LK1O86 
https://www.amazon.com/Mares-Equator-2mm-Dive-Boots-10/dp/B002SEE07A/

Same goes for these Japanese gardening shoes (tavi's) that some people wear. They're canvas and rubber, so they breath better than neoprene booties, but they're not great for long hikes over hard-packed trails, where you would want more insole cushioning and more ankle support. 
https://www.japan-zone.com/store/rikio-jikatabi-c-3_35.html 

Many people who do terrestrial field biology in the tropics wear some kind of rubber rain boot, similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/Tingley-31151-Economy-Agriculture-15-Inch/dp/B005F186FA/
I personally find this general style of boot uncomfortable (they're pretty hot, and they abrade my calves when I walk, etc.), but lots of people I've worked with in, e.g., Panama, think they're great. In Borneo, I've done tropical field work in something like this,
http://says.com/my/lifestyle/adidas-kampung-best-made-in-malaysia-rubber-shoes-for-hiking-and-mountain-climbing
These were honestly great, but I don't know if you can get them in the US. If you had some old, beat-up sports cleats, those would probably work pretty well, too.

A good compromise might be some old running shoes you don't mind getting wet. There are some close-toed shoes specifically made for use in the water, but it might not really be worth getting them for a 2-week course. 
https://www.sierratradingpost.com/mens-water-shoes~d~451/ 

https://www.sierratradingpost.com/womens-water-shoes~d~664/ 

For walking around in the woods, you'll probably want a backpack like the one you might use for school. It's useful to have at least some part of your backpack that is waterproof. Some heavy-duty garbage bags and zip-lock bags are good for this, or, for a more long-term solution, something like the small version (4L) of this might be nice: 
https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Lightweight-Dry-Sack/dp/B001Q3KKDC/

(Beyond this course, if you're thinking about doing marine or freshwater work (or super-rainy days on land), it can be nice to have a solid dry bag with backpack straps, like this:
https://www.skogakust.com/products/backsak
But keep in mind that if your water bottle leaks while it's in this bag, the water will stay in the bag. So, having one or more waterproof/water resistant containers within your bag can be nice.)

Freshwater habitats: The freshwater habitats we'll be working in will mostly require between 15 minutes and 2 hours of walking through the forest, so you'll more or less have wear clothes you'll be comfortable in both places with. For freshwater sites we can access directly from the road, it would probably be most comfortable to wear shorts and some kind of Teva- or Chaco- like sport sandal. But I've had bad luck walking through thorns and then walking through the mud (had to miss a few field days because of a staph infection in some thorn scratches), so it's probably wisest to stick with your terrestrial outfits: old running shoes or neoprene booties, and long pants. The parts of the rivers we'll be visiting will mostly be a bit too shallow for snorkeling, so expect to get wet up to your knees or waist, but you don't need to be prepared for fully swimming in the water with mask, fins, and snorkel. The deeper parts of the rivers tend to be closer to the estuaries where there are lots of mangroves, which is where crocodiles tend to hang out, so we won't be swimming there. 

Marine habitats: 
In our marine surveys, it'll be important to be comfortable in the water, but it's also important to be comfortable taking short walks across potentially sharp corals and stones, so the combination of "open-heel" style fins and rubber-soled neoprene booties is pretty nice to have: 

neoprene booties:
https://www.amazon.com/NeoSport-Wetsuits-Premium-Neoprene-Pull/dp/B000LK1O86
https://www.amazon.com/Mares-Equator-2mm-Dive-Boots-10/dp/B002SEE07A/

or something like these: 
https://www.amazon.com/Barerun-Barefoot-Quick-Dry-Water-Sports/dp/B07B49YS4C/  

fins (recommend "open-heel" design to accommodate booties):
https://www.amazon.com/Cressi-Palau-Short-Snorkeling-Medium/dp/B004EAXJ1Y/
https://www.amazon.com/Snorkeling-Adjustable-Fins-Versatile-Flippers/dp/B00XO2VU2I/
https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Divers-Proflex-FX-Fin/dp/B00YAO649I/

For the booties and the fins, it's OK to go pretty low-budget, but when it comes to masks you probably want to spend more than $40, and make sure you try your mask on. You should be able to put your mask on your face, breath in a little bit, and hold the mask on your face with no hands and no strap: that's how you tell it's air-tight. Having a mask that really fits your face really makes a huge difference in how much you can see while you're snorkeling. Here's a quick youtube video that talks about fitting a mask to your face in case what I just said doesn't make sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv7o8EeAIYY  

Another really useful item of marine clothing is a long-sleeve rash guard:
https://www.amazon.com/Lapasa-Sleeve-Guard-Protection-Rashguard/dp/B07794CJXR/

The water is warm enough (generally around 82 degrees F) in Palau that people don't usually snorkel with a neoprene wetsuit, but the rash guard is nice because it provides some warmth, and also protects you from the sun. If you're coming more or less straight from Syracuse to Palau, your body might not be great with dealing with being in the tropical sun all day. Similarly, for women, it can be nice to wear knee-length shorts while you're snorkeling, since it's basically extra sun protection (and can give your legs a bit of extra protection while you're doing terrestrial field work on combined terrestrial/marine days). If you get cold easily (and/or want some extra sun protection and/or modesty), it might be worth looking into one of the longer swim-suit designs, like this:
https://www.amazon.com/One-piece-Protective-Swimsuit-Height/dp/B0112MXU56/

In addition to warmth and protection from the sun, longer swimsuits also provide some protection from stinging cnidarians, like jellyfish and firecorals.

For getting your salt-water-y gear from the boat to the car, it can be nice to have a mesh bag like this: 
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Snorkel-String-Shoulder-Strap/dp/B008NAAOJQ/ 

If it's raining on the boat ride home, it can get pretty chilly, so it's nice to have a light rain jacket. In the forest, I personally think it's a little too hot for raincoats, and it often feels more comfortable to use an umbrella. Umbrellas can make activities like eating and writing in the rain much easier and more pleasant.

Finally, for both freshwater and marine surveying from out of the water, it can be very nice to have a decent pair of polarized sunglasses. Polarized lenses genuinely do cut down on glare from the sun reflecting off water (it's not just a gimmick), so they can help you see below the surface. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on sunglasses, but you might want to spend more than $10. When you try on the sunglasses, look at the sky (if it's daylight and you're not too far into a store), and tilt your head from one side to the other. The sky should change color perceptibly as you tilt your head. Here are some somewhat reasonably-priced sunglasses with polarized lenses that float: 
https://www.rei.com/search.html?q=polarized+sunglasses&r=brand%3Apeppers%3Bfeatures%3AFloating&origin=web&ir=q%3Apolarized+sunglasses 
 
For doing work at night, it would be great if you had a headlamp. If you can, bring a waterproof flashlight as well, in case we get the chance to go snorkeling at night. There could be some pretty cool stuff going on in the ocean with the full moon on May 29th. 

So, in summary, the tl;dr version of what kinds of clothing/field gear to bring: 

Front country pants (1 - 2; synthetic or cotton: for wearing in overly air-conditioned buildings)
Front country longsleeve shirts (1 - 2; consider a medium-weight polypro long underwear top or flannel)
Front country footwear (doesn't have to be fancy: just something relatively dry and mud-free; I usually wear flip-flops aka slippahs aka zories)
One or two semi-respectable front country tops (for wearing when we're presenting things to school kids or meeting important people)
Backcountry pants (2 - 3 pairs; synthetic, to protect against mosquitos and thorns)
Backcountry longsleeve shirts (2 - 3; cotton or synthetic; see notes about pants above)
swimsuit (1 - 2; a good idea to rinse off with freshwater after use)
shorts: good for mixed backcountry /  front-country (5 - 7 pairs, e.g., "board shorts")
tshirts for back-country / front country (5 - 8)
Rash guard / longer swimsuit options
underwear and socks for 7 - 8 days (we'll be able to do laundry at least once during the course)
Light raincoat / poncho (ponchos are super-cheap and can also cover your backpack)
Umbrella
Backpack 
1 - 2L water bottle(s)
Mesh bag (optional, but can be nice)
Shower towel
Saltwater towel
Neoprene booties / water socks
Fins
Mask & snorkel (make sure it's a good mask that fits your face! see discussion above!)
Waterproof watch (an inexpensive waterproof watch can be really handy; it would be good if at least half of you had one)
writing implements (especially pencils)
Laptop (if you have one)
camera (if you have one)

OK, thanks for reading! Definitely feel free to ask Jesse or Dr. Rundell questions, or add comments below!