My Summer in the Lower Ozarks

Working as a Field Botanist for The Nature Conservancy

For the first two weeks that we were employed, we had an intense training session to orient us with the Missouri flora. Under the instruction of Blane Heumann and Cindy Becker, our crew of six quickly became very familiar with the most common plants that we would see all summer long. After this two week period, we spent the next two and a half months working four days a week, ten hours a day in the grueling southern Missouri heat. Working only four days a week gave us three days each weekend to take field trips, go to the drive-in, or float down the Current River on intertubes. I also had some first's while living in Missouri - my first Bluegrass Festival, my first rodeo, my first ambulance ride, my first copperhead, and my first 45 minute drive to the closest sign of civilization. To get an idea of my summer, take a look at some of the my links from this page. To start you off, here is a picture of "The Projects", where we lived. I shared a room with two other people, and the setup was pretty much like residence hall life. There's my red car next to the building.