Wolf Science Center first impressions and dissertation topics

As I a writing this I am sitting in Wolf Science Center student house in Austria. I am here for three months to collect data from my undergraduate honors project.

First things first is that I have no idea what my project will be as of yet. A lot of ideas are floating around as of now and obviously we need to test whether they can be conducting in the center or not. I think so far my project will be about cognition in wolves and dogs or behavior. Everything seems exciting here and the other students all have exciting projects so I am hoping my project will be equally exciting.

The Center is very well organised. Wolves and dogs are all raised in the same conditions and exposed to the same stimuli so their behavior would be comparable. The staff are all very careful about repetitions, stats and are very science oriented which is good for me as it means my data would be quite concrete. Testing enclosures are always sought after so organisation is present to dictate which person tests which wolves or dogs.

Also it is a great place for dog lovers. We spend some time with puppies, we have access to the puppy house where you can sit and be loved for hours on end by young puppies( just dog puppies for now) and dogs are around everywhere as members of staff all have dogs. It is great to be exposed to so much nature as the forest and birds and animals are all around us.

Lets take a minute to talk about sacrifices though. This is a bit more of a personal note but I feel it should be here. Throughout the blog I have talked about following your dream and pursuing a career you always like Working with animals usually means travelling and that means making commitments you may not like. At the time of the writing I still have about 117 days left( a few more or less depending on my data collection). This is the first time for me that I have committed to something big.I left Aberdeen and ventured into an unknown place with unknown people and for me that was terrifying. Not to mention not seeing friends or family or people you love. It is a bittersweet feeling. On the one hand leaving people and your house behind and on the other hand pursuing a dream and a project you spend a lot of time organizing. Endless emails, phone calls,money, networking and writing went into making this project and trip a reality and when it came to the last few days I was feeling very anxious and nervous about it. Pursuing your dreams and making sacrifices isn't as easy as people think it is.

Overall I am extremely pleased with my selection on where to conduct my project whether it may be and I am happy I got to pursue my dreams. On the other hand the sacrifices and the worry just work as a painful reminder that not everything good comes free. This project has to be perfect and get me a good grade. Otherwise it may not be worth it.

Species of the week: Emperor penguin

Species of the week:
Emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri)

1. It is a species of penguins endemic for Antarctica.
2. It is the tallest and heaviest species of penguins with their height reaching 122cm and  22 and 45 kg in weight.
3. They feed primarily on fish and crustaceans.
4. They can remain submerged for 18 minutes at a time and can go down to 535 meters in depth.
5. They are the only species to breed in winter forming large ice colonies with other members of their species.
6. The female lays an egg and the male incubates it while the mother is out foraging.
7. Once the chick is born the parents then take turns foraging and caring for their chick.
8. They can live for about 20 years in the wild and up to 50 in captivity.
9. They coordinate their foraging with others of their species as they are highly sociable species.
10. They are listed as "Nearly Threatened"by the IUCN due to the habitat loss and loss of food availability. 

Updates and the summer blogging

So this blog post is a bit more personal but it also concerns the blog itself so read on if you are interested.

As of the 20th of June 2014 I will be away for three months in Austria at the Wolf Science Center, conducting research on wolf behavior. This is a massive step towards my goals and personally it is something that I am excited and terrified of.  I am unsure of how much internet access I will have but I will try and blog my experiences as  much as I can.

Which brings me to issue number two. Since I will be blogging my experiences, the blog may be a bit more focused on that over the summer. I will try and have species of the week ready for every Sunday before I depart and I will try and get a few posts up on a queue to be available.  Now if there is complete radio silence on my part just assume I am too busy working on my project or that I do not have enough free Internet time. I intend to keep a diary anyway so I will probably post them once I return if I can't do it on the time of writing.

That's all for now and I hope you all have a great summer.