Last summer (winter?) in Australia, I traveled to Lizard Island to study the ferns there. Lizard Island is located off the coast of northeastern Australia in the Great Barrier Reef. Lizard Island was named by Captain Cook because of the large goannas that roam the island. As far as field work goes, it was aContinue reading “Ferns on Lizard Island”
Category Archives: Field Work
A Year in Canberra, Australia
This past year, I received a NSF GROW fellowship to study ferns in Marilyn Ball’s lab at the Australian National University. I was based in Canberra, the “bush capital,” for most of my time in Australia. ANU is indeed situated in “the bush”! The university is surrounded by hills covered with native plants and wildlife.Continue reading “A Year in Canberra, Australia”
Natalie’s paper accepted to Plant Disease
Our lab recently had a short paper (a disease “note”) accepted to the journal Plant Disease! The paper is titled “First Report of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Stem Canker and Plant Death in Malosma laurina in Southern California.” Pepperdine graduate (class of 2017) Natalie Aguirre is the lead author on the paper. Over the last coupleContinue reading “Natalie’s paper accepted to Plant Disease”
Santa Cruz Island, January 2018
Earlier this month, several of us took a field trip to Santa Cruz Island to continue our research project on foliar water uptake in island ferns. This time, we were transplanting island ferns to the mainland for further experiments. As always, the boat ride was fantastic! Dolphins followed us part of the way, and theContinue reading “Santa Cruz Island, January 2018”
Summer Adventues
This summer, I spent three weeks doing field work at La Selva Biological Research Station in Costa Rica! The field station is located in the beautiful Costa Rican rainforest. The rainforest is alive with frogs, bugs, and many other critters! The howler monkeys woke us up every morning. Sloths are hard to spot inContinue reading “Summer Adventues”
Superbloom in Anza Borrego Desert
Last week, my friend Sabrina and I went to the Anza Borrego desert to check out the superbloom! Many of the flowers grew close to the roadside. We found some beautiful Cheilanthes parryi! This small fuzzy white fern grows primarily in the shade of large rocks on the shady side of the hill.
Ferns at Pinnacles National Park
Last November I went to Pinnacles National Park. I found many ferns, most of which were Goldback Fern (Pentagramma triangularis, pictured below). We also saw Coffee Fern (Pellaea andromedifolia) and Bird’s Foot Fern (Pellaea mucronata) growing in the sandy soils around the Pinnacles. I was surprised to find so much Giant Chain Fern (Woodwardia fimbriata), because thisContinue reading “Ferns at Pinnacles National Park”
Ferns in Olympic National Park
This summer I visited the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park in Washington State. Here in the temperate rainforest, the plants receive more than 100 inches of rain each year! The trees are covered with moss, and the ferns thrive in the understory. The Hoh Rainforest is next to a river fed by melted glaciers. IContinue reading “Ferns in Olympic National Park”
Ferns in Redwood State Park
This summer I went camping in Redwood National and State Parks to look for ferns! Many fern species grow well in damp and shaded redwood understory of northern California. I found several species of ferns that were new to me! The fern above is Blechnum spicant, which is a dimorphic fern, meaning that the fronds withContinue reading “Ferns in Redwood State Park”
Santa Cruz Island, June 2015
In June 2015, our lab at Pepperdine University compared the uptake of water through the leaves (foliar water uptake) in ferns on Santa Cruz Island and ferns on the mainland Santa Monica Mountains. Santa Cruz Island experiences frequent and heavy fog. We hypothesized that island ferns would have increased foliar water uptake compared to mainlandContinue reading “Santa Cruz Island, June 2015”
Holmlund Lab 