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.