Week 12: Plague, Bats, REU, and More!!

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Greetings and Happy May!

Wow, did this semester fly by for you all, too? It has been by far the busiest, most challenging semester. I think I am taking 16-17 credits, have been working part-time, applying for scholarships, getting set-up at ASU, trying to collect bat data, and get everything in place for my REU in Flagstaff this summer. Also, I have almost finished a full-year helping/partly teaching Mia's first year at Kindergarten, which has likely been the hardest thing, thus far. 

That being said, it is Teacher's Appreciation Week. Thank you so much Dr. Chapman, Josh, and Matt for all of your guidance and support! I really value all of the knowledge and advice you've given me. 

I'm so excited for this REU. My mentor will be Dr. Hofstetter, who I actually read about in one of my biology classes long before I saw he picked me to work under him this summer. We are going to be working with bark beetles, climate change, wildfire impact, etc. I've been buffing up on the bark beetle and doing a little reading so I have a little background knowledge under my belt. 

Picture credit: USDA Forest Service https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/resources/health/field-guide/bb/index.shtml

I'm not sure what to do about my Plague project. Is there a way to say the data in inconclusive or there's no direction relevance between my variables? 

My bat project, however, is a great one. I narrowed it down to one really specific variable. It doesn't explain the entire concept but, it could be the start to a possibly life-long study. 

Good Luck with finals, everyone!!




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