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Where My Wild Things Are

Since it has been way too long since my last blog post, a lot has changed and evolved in my own life, and I have been remiss in keeping updates about the research side of things due to a >brief< 279 page document that is my final dissertation.  I have a number of things that I should be writing about today: my move to Montana last spring, my defense (which was successful), my current

By |2021-04-05T05:27:18+00:00January 23rd, 2016|Montana|

Of Primates and Personhood

A recent opinion piece in the Menagerie section of the NYTimes got me thinking about my history and beginnings with animals.  As I work through the long marathon of my dissertation research, analyzing and writing up data on a daily basis, I’m reminded that my work is largely a result of my earlier experiences and disillusionment working around animals in various settings.  The piece is a well-written reflection that stirred a number of memories about my own animal

By |2021-04-06T16:32:28+00:00November 3rd, 2014|Montana|

The West, Revisited

Few things bring me as much excitement as autumn.  Really, I’m a sucker for all things fall.  I’ve been lucky to have my favorite season filled with an exciting lineup of traveling, presentations, seeing my favorite peoples…and dissertating of course.  I recently went back to the Rockies to spend a few weeks researching, working, and breathing in the mountain air as much as possible.  The trip was intended for professional meetings and a few more site visits that

By |2021-04-06T16:38:20+00:00October 16th, 2014|Montana|

To Montana, With Love

Last days are always bittersweet, and the conclusion of fieldwork is no different.  Labor Day weekend is notoriously symbolic as the end of summer, and for me it represents the wrapping up of my research out West.  I've been home a little over a week, and, unsurprisingly, it's taken me a few days to get back in the swing of New York City's pace.  It's hard shifting gears from a summer of open spaces

By |2021-04-06T16:44:19+00:00August 31st, 2014|Montana|

Country Roads

The past week or so has been an odyssey or, rather, a number of them.  So far this summer, I've managed to put over 2,000 miles on my rental car (AKA the Aloha mobile--I'm sure I make many kids playing the license plate game very happy with that Hawaii plate).  I like to talk to people in person, and many of the individuals I speak with live in various cities and towns around the

By |2021-04-06T16:47:32+00:00August 15th, 2014|Montana|

Sense and Sensibility: Ethnography, Podcasts, and Sandi

When I first got to Montana and started writing down my field notes, I took a few pictures and sent them off to my advisor Cindi.  Nothing screams appropriate quite like sending your advisor a picture of you doing a cartwheel in a field.  However, she took it in the vein I intended, and told me some good advice: 'Have fun, ask questions, and use your senses all the time!'  This reminder is something

By |2021-04-06T16:50:05+00:00August 5th, 2014|Montana|

Research, Outdoor, Adventures, and Yellowstone

Taking a break from my daily schedule of interviewing, hiking, and exploring, today seemed like a good day to check in.  Having been out here in the GYE for a little while now, I'm amazed that I still find myself surprised and elated with what I encounter on my various travels.  I've been bouncing from town to town doing interviews with people from different backgrounds, trying to make sure I hear from as many

By |2021-04-06T16:51:53+00:00July 29th, 2014|Montana|

Flying D, Black Bear Dens, Howling Wolves…and Me.

The past couple days at the Flying D ranch were at once surreal and terrifically exciting.  We left U of M and drove down to the Flying D ranch, one of Ted Turner's 15 Western U.S. Ranches (makes my small Queens apartment seem absurd).  This ranch and his others are special in that they're designated as what (Montana State Senator) Mike Phillips calls a 'wild working landscape.'  In other words, the bison ranching done

By |2021-04-06T16:28:12+00:00July 18th, 2014|Montana|

Arrivals, NACCB 2014

Despite an early morning wake up of 3am and a series of turbulent flights, I managed to make it to Bozeman on Friday the 11th for the start of my summer field season.  Bumpy starts aside, there’s a very interesting experience that happens to me whenever I fly to this area of the West.  I’ll be looking out the window at the puffs of clouds, occasionally seeing the long plots of land that look like

By |2021-04-06T17:09:15+00:00July 13th, 2014|Montana|

Welcomes, A Few Thoughts, and Things To Come

As my first post, it's only fitting to welcome everyone to my website and explain what this blog will include in the future.  I'm gearing up for my last round of fieldwork out in the Yellowstone area for my dissertation research on large carnivore conflicts.  I will be updating this website and my blog as I carry out the remainder of my interviews, observations, and treks from Jackson Hole through to Bozeman.  Be sure

By |2021-04-06T17:21:06+00:00June 28th, 2014|Montana|
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