What’s a challenge of fieldwork for you?
Ask A Biologist Monday 4/19/21
For me, it’s bug bites. I am a bit allergic to them so I use a ton of bug spray.
Answers from Biologists:
I have a challenge with climbing trees (mountain lion work)! The climbing part is fine, the landing is the problem.
Finding durable field clothes. Everything I have gets destroyed.
Carrying so many things because we have to hike to our nesting areas!
Finding the motivation to go sometimes. It takes up so much of my weekends!
Poison ivy. I wash the field clothes every day and usually need steroids and workers comp.
Briars are my enemy. Multiflora rose, in particular. It's the worst and I'm allergic to it.
Finding field pants for women. They either don't fit or get destroyed right away.
Having terrible eyesight and being asked to ID a bird or spot a specific leaf in the canopy.
Finding a safe spot to squat without mooning everyone.
Poison ivy. I react terribly to it and it's all over the riparian area.
Deadlines! We have to do field inventories and then contract programs in such a short amount of time.
Trying to stay warm. During scuba diving, everyone is fine and I'm the first to freeze.
I'm allergic to EVERYTHING. Plus bad knees.
Childcare
I'm allergic to grass. It irritates my skin…and I'm a rangeland ecologist, so lots of looking at grass.
Managing chronic injuries. I have tendinitis in both Achilles tendons.
Chiggers! I'm so allergic to their bites and they take forever to go away.
Periods and long hours in the field. I use a menstrual cup and reusable pads.
Battling chronic knee issues while needing to climb really big hills.
Finding field pants with some f#@$&Ng pockets.
Parasitic critters. Ticks, chiggers mosquitoes. Mainly due to disease.
I've got weak ankles so you know I'll be falling on my face hiking in the woods.
Cold weather and wind on the boat. My lips get so chapped. Chapstick is a must.
Delusional parasitosis (feeling like there are ticks on me constantly)
I have Crohn's and have to focus on my health during the field season…which is hard.
Driving stick. Why are all field vehicles manual and why am I so bad at it?
Allergies, mosquitoes, IBD, and asthma.
Pollen allergies
Sand in my shoes (I work on dune systems).
Staying awake on drives to field sites. Car trips make me so sleepy!
Night work. I always had a fear of the dark and every job I’ve had so far was with nocturnal animals.
I’m super sensitive to the sun, which is hard to escape where I work in the desert.
Sun. I was diagnosed with melanoma at 28, so I am constantly covered up and applying sunscreen.
Devil’s club. And ongoing knee issues.
Managing chronic pain.
I have a terrible sense of direction.
Dogs and landowners. The most dangerous “things” I encounter in the field.
The battle between not wanting to get wet (rain/on the water) and not wanting to roast.
Obsessively checking for ticks after I caught Lyme disease.
Realizing how out of shape I am once I start hiking.
Everything in the desert is bitey/pokey and also I got heat stroke once.
Being allergic to pine trees and working in a pine forest.
Stinging nettle. I break out in a super painful rash and it takes forever to go away.
Ticks and being harassed by men.
Having to explain what I’m doing to “normal” people passing by.
Having to find field pants to accommodate my wide hips.
Time. It feels so important , so it’s hard prioritizing what gets monitored and what doesn’t.
I want to be outside all day but I do not enjoy the cold or rain. Also, I’m hungry all the time.
In the Arctic, having layers for all weather no matter the season.
Doing a good job of packing food (quality and quantity) and not regressing to daily fast food.
Bugs bugs bugs
85 degree F temperatures. I got heat exhaustion in 2015 and I’m sensitive to heat now and I live in Texas.
