Let me introduce myself and a few foxy friends I made today

Hi Steemit, I'm Lindsey.

I'm a master's candidate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where I study boreal forest ecology. The majority of my long summer days are outside collecting data with which I will spend many many more hours in the winter trying to say something useful. I am investigating wild blueberries and cranberries - a staple in many Alaskans' diets - to better understand what environmental factors have the greatest influence on berry productivity. I hope to use machine learning to map out how berry productivity may vary across the landscape but I'm still learning the skills to make it happen.

As a fellow in the Resilience and Adaptation Program I aim to use the ecological data I collect to inform and educate people in the state of Alaska about how berries may be changing and how that could affect us directly, via berry availability for foragers, and indirectly, via berry availability for game animals.

Today as I walked to a field site I met a few young red foxes. Previous animal encounters this summer included moose, grouse, hawks, owls, and an eagle but up close and personal with a fox was a first!

Tomorrow, I pack raft to work. Alaskan summer is the best.