an update on my "progress" as a scientist:

in a single day last week i managed to-

1. get stuck in the mud while trying to off-road in my uga van. let me tell you, vans ain't got no traction. do not attempt to go muddin' in one. this occurred within ten minutes of my arrival at coweeta.
2. get lost in the woods. i couldn't find the path back to my aforementioned vehicle and what dubiously passes for a road at the hydrologic laboratory. so i wandered around for a while. and i wandered around some more. then it started to get dark and i realized that, as all of the employees at coweeta leave by 4:00, i was probably the only one around for miles. this thought did not comfort me. with visions of crazy, drunken deer hunters in my head (i move!), i decided to create my own path back to the van. unfortunately my "path" forced me to cross the widest part of the creek that separated me from my vehicular destination. i tried to rock hop across which leads me to number three on the list:
3. fall into a very cold creek. suffice it to say that this was not the most pleasant experience.

yes, i achieved all of this in one day. i think that is quite an accomplishment although i was disappointed to learn that one of my coworkers once drove one of the vans off of the side of a mountain. i bet it took more than a rope to get that one unstuck. in any case, i'm still hopeful that i will one day be able to top even that catastrophe. after all, i have only just begun. stay tuned for further mishaps courtesy of jenna, the untrained field ecologist...

on the bright side, i have been to at least four beer-related ecology social events in the past two weeks. as i have said before, scientists like beer. since i like beer i think that makes me a scientist despite my failure in all other things scientific. i am sure that you can see the logic in that statement. ah logic, the cornerstone of scientific theory. i shall use you and abuse you for my own misguided purposes.

for your viewing pleasure i present to you an accurate and unchauvanistic image of how female scientists dress when out in the field. i personally love how sexy my rubber waders look and how they perfectly complement my string bikini. remember kids- science is, above all else, a sexy occupation!