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Interview with Evergreen undergrad, Iris Garthwaite ‘20

April 28, 2020 / tholau29

Iris helping to tag Sitka willows as male or female (pink!) along Clear Creek at Mount St. Helens in summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy

“It’s unconventional, but I view ecological studies as a radical form of generous listening to the world around us. My current listening project (research) investigates the temporal dynamics of multitrophic interactions in aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems.”

“I am currently studying interactions between Salix sitchensis phenology, phytochemistry and stream biota at MSH. Advancing our understanding in this research area allows for better predictions of climate -driven ecological mismatch in land-water ecosystems.”

Iris helped coordinate science outreach for the Mount St. Helens Institute’s GeoGirls program in the summer of 2019. Here she is leading a pack of 25 middle school girls. Photo by Carri LeRoy

“Research at MSH with Dr. LeRoy has allowed me to:

Participate in NSF- funded research
Conduct independent stream ecology research
Co-author a peer-reviewed publication
Form strong relationships with peers and mentors
And so much more!”

“I am passionate about supporting other #WomenInSTEM and connecting youth with nature. I have such a supportive group in the L3 lab and I want to give others that same feeling of comfort with science and the natural world.”

Iris and fellow undergraduate Victoria Cowan enjoying some shade on the blistering Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in the summer of 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy

“I am so excited to have two manuscripts in progress as an undergraduate. The sky is the limit for research opportunities at Evergreen. I am looking forward to publishing our research and sharing our work with the broader freshwater ecology community.”

“Research is an art form of listening, sometimes it is with a hyporheic well, an extraction, a pH meter, a mass spectra or simply sitting by the stream. Evergreen is my academic home, it understands my way of listening and my desire not to push my way into an answer but to find patterns and relationships in a landscape of uncertainty and null hypotheses.”

Iris and fellow field assistants taking a much needed rest in the shade of willows and alders at Mount St Helens, summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy

“Instead of starting with the question- what do I want to discover? I like to enter a new study system with “what wants to be discovered?” I come from a background in permaculture, where we are taught to watch the land for quite some time before jumping in and making changes. Where does the shade hit in November? What family of plants sprout in February? Where does rain collect in December? That’s the kind of science I like to do- meaningful, thoughtful and full of listening.”

Revisiting Samples from 1981/1982 – Dr. Norm Anderson

April 27, 2020 / tholau29

Dr. Norm Anderson – entomologist at Oregon State University who did early research at Mount St. Helens with PhD student Richard Meyerhoff. Photos: OSU archives, OSU Stream Team

Dr. Norman Anderson was faculty of the Department of Entomology at Oregon State University from 1962 until he retired in 1995. He had a passion for aquatic insects and conducted research at Mount St. Helens. In 2018, his collection from MSH was given to the Oregon State Arthropod Collection.

The Oregon State Arthropod Collection is allowing us to inventory and accession part of Dr. Anderson’s collection. Photo by Evergreen student Brandy Ku’ualoha Kamakawiwoole who is taking the lead on this project.

Evergreen undergraduate Brandy Ku’ualoha Kamakawiwoole is currently accessioning a subset of Dr. Anderson’s samples consisting of 903 vials. Each vial is viewed under the microscope, counted, and recorded in a spreadsheet. Each vial is given a unique serial number provided by the Oregon State Arthropod Collection with a barcode.

http://osac.oregonstate.edu/

Some of Dr. Anderson’s samples are from as early as July 1981 following the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Photos by Evergreen student Brandy Ku’ualoha Kamakawiwoole

Evergreen undergraduate Brandy Ku’ualoha Kamakawiwoole thinks it’s cool that some of the samples are from as early as July 1981! After she finishes, the data and a paper describing her methods will hopefully be published by the Arthropod Collection.

Dr. Deb Finn – a Hyporheic Dynamo!

April 26, 2020 / tholau29

Evergreen Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) students Angie Froedin-Morgensen and Iris Garthwaite had opportunities to work with Dr. Deb Finn from Missouri State University in summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy.

Collaborator, Dr. Deb Finn (@streambug), Assistant Professor at Missouri State University, has provided many assets to our research program, far more than strictly field work. Connections like these provide Evergreen students with unique networking opportunities.

Dr. Deb Finn, measuring hyporheic depth in a shirt that matches the beautiful monkey flower in Forsyth Creek in 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy.

Working with Dr. Finn on the Pumice Plain means we had the opportunity to study the hyporheic zones of new streams at Mount St Helens! Undergraduates learned how to install and monitor hyporheic wells along the streams.

Evergreen undergraduate Iris Garthwaite checking hyporheic height in a well on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy.

Assessing hyporheic zones generated a lot of data for our team to better understand the novel watersheds at MSH. It turns out that 40 years isn’t long enough for most hyporheic zones to develop but we gained insight into up and downwelling and the potential for hyporheic habitat development!

3-year Permit to do Research at Mount St. Helens

April 25, 2020 / tholau29

Hiking the 3 miles out to our field sites in the morning. Photo by Shauna Bittle, The Evergreen State College.

With the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument as a protected landscape, our team has a 3-year permit to do research on the Pumice Plain. We hike several miles to reach our study sites, often packing along heavy equipment, but the views of the volcano are worth it!

Dr. Carri LeRoy and Evergreen undergraduate Angie Froedin-Morgensen filtering water for chemical analysis. Photo by Shauna Bittle, The Evergreen State College.

Our research in the newly formed watersheds of the Pumice Plain includes chemical analysis and water quality sampling. These data help us to understand the potential differences in water sources across Pumice Plain watersheds and predict influences on ecosystem function!

Dr. Carri LeRoy recording field notes with the mountain as a backdrop. Photo by Shauna Bittle, The Evergreen State College.

The most important thing in field work is proper documentation! What may seem like a tedious task, is a vital component of ensuring our team can continue publishing data about the primary succession of riverine communities at Mount St. Helens! Thanks to Evergreen State College for the great photos!

We ? Leaf Litter Bags in the L3 (Leaf Litter Lab)!

April 24, 2020 / tholau29

Litter bags filled with willow leaves and flowers prepped for deployment and deployed in streams at Mount St. Helens. Photos by Carri LeRoy

Litter bags filled with willow leaves and flowers for undergraduate Iris Garthwaite’s independent research project as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. We use metal ID tags to track willow identity, plant sex, and weevil attack status.

Willow leaves incubated in the streams of the Pumice Plain decompose and skeletonize over time. Photo by Carri LeRoy

Litter bags installed in streams help us determine decomposition and organic matter cycling rates. Willow leaves and flowers are colonized by microbes and aquatic macroinvertebrates that eat microbes and shred leaves. SURF student Angie Froedin-Morgensen focuses on invert ID.

Our research truck turned solar-powered drying oven – our solution to drying leaves at a remote field site! Photo by Carri LeRoy.

The whole crew gets involved when it’s time for peak leaf fall! Our studies are often limited by how much leaf litter we can catch at abscission. On multi-day trips, we get creative about drying leaves – we converted our research truck into a solar-powered drying oven!

Animals Colonizing the Pumice Plain of Mount St Helens

April 23, 2020 / tholau29

Photo trap intended to measure stream flow captures a mountain goat running along Willow Creek!

Surely, it’s not only plants on the Pumice Plain! Ecosystems have gradually flourished as more species have filled ecological niches. Ungulates and other mammals have colonized the Pumice Plain.

Our team has documented many animals on accident in our photo traps intended to measure water flow, ephemerality, and seasonality of streams!

*Huge herds of elk call the Pumice Plain home. They are protected from hunting within the National Volcanic Monument. Photo by Carri LeRoy*

While hiking across the Pumice Plain our team has encountered huge herds of elk. They were some of the first large animals to return to MSH after the eruption and they utilize this landscape for grazing the grasses, sedges, and willows of the Pumice Plain!

Sometimes our camera trap stream gauges capture other things! A big fall storm caused massive sediment movement in our streams and also carried other debris downstream. This partial elk carcass got caught up on our stream gauge on Willow Creek.

Check out the black bear print on Goose Creek on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in summer 2018! Photo by Carri LeRoy

An elk leg got wrapped around our stream gauge during a high flow event in Willow Creek! Photo by Carri LeRoy

The Phenomenal Landscape of the Pumice Plain

April 22, 2020 / tholau29

Ribbons of green show riparian vegetation along streams on the Pumice Plain. Photo by Shannon Claeson

Alongside getting to conduct research at Mount St Helens, our team has the opportunity to explore the beautiful landscape of the Pumice Plain.

The Pumice Plain is a 20 km2 region, essentially devoid of life in 1980, but slowly being colonized by a riparian willows and alders.

Close-up view of Loowit Falls on the north side of the mountain (right) and a corner of Crater Glacier (left). Photo by Shannon Claeson

Five new watersheds have formed on the Pumice Plain of MSH since 1980, each receiving water from different sources (springs, groundwater, snowmelt, glaciers). Crater Glacier is one of the only glaciers in the lower 48 to be actually growing!

We get to spend hours gazing across fields of wildflowers on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens. Photo by Carri LeRoy

Landscape scale patterns across watersheds at MSH have allowed us to explore environmental differences across watersheds that don’t vary in age, parent material, slope, or aspect on the sterile and relatively homogeneous Pumice Plain, that 40 years later, is bursting with life!

Collaborators- involvement outside of Evergreen!

April 21, 2020 / tholau29

USFS collaborator Shannon Claeson explaining aspects of the eruption to an undergraduate student. Photo by Carri LeRoy

Here are a few of the fantastic collaborators that we’ve been fortunate to have on our team!

Shannon Claeson (USFS Aquatic Ecologist; @ForestServiceNW) has been working at Mount St. Helens for over 10 years and collaborating with us for the past five years. She brings expertise in aquatic insect taxonomy and ecology to the team.

Dr. Debra Finn (@streambug) is an assistant professor at Missouri State University (@MissouriState) and collaborates with us on hyporheic flows, stonefly secondary production, and invertebrate genetics. She received an NSF-ROA extension grant to collaborate with our team!

Joy Ramstack Hobbs is a limnologist from the Science Museum of Minnesota/St. Croix Watershed Research Station and is senior personnel on the NSF EAGER grant. Joy provides expertise in phycology, statistics and undergraduate training and been a great collaborator the past 2 years!

It’s hard work hauling well pounders and hyporheic wells out to the field site. Dr. Deb Finn collaborated on hyporheic zone studies in summer 2019.

Laying out hundreds of litter bags for installation in Geo-West Creek, on the Pumice Plain of MSH. Collaborator Joy Hobbs and undergraduate student Victoria Cowan tied bags onto string. Photo by Carri LeRoy

Measuring stream width and velocity in closed canopy sections of Forsyth Creek, on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens. Look at that riparian colonization! Photo by Carri LeRoy

Data Collection in Newly Created Watersheds at MSH

April 20, 2020 / tholau29

When Mount St. Helens erupted, it resulted in a massive landslide that buried existing forests, streams, and watersheds. Since the eruption, five (5) novel watersheds have developed on the Pumice Plain. These streams on the north face of MSH have been our team’s main interest.

Undergraduates, faculty and collaborators have been able to conduct studies on environmental variation and biotic communities across these watersheds to address in-stream primary succession because of the unique ecosystem the eruption of MSH created.

We are especially interested in how riparian plants influence stream channel dynamics, increase shade, and input organic matter to these newly developing streams. Stay tuned for more about how willow sex differences and a wandering weevil alter in-stream ecosystem function!

Stream gauges in all five watersheds help us track water flow and sediment movement- even through the dark and deep snow of winter. Photo by Carri LeRoy

Tricky work of trying to keep our light loggers facing upwards in the middle of each streams – strap them to big rocks! Photo by Carri LeRoy

Field work involves a lot of hiking!

April 19, 2020 / tholau29

A group selfie after a long field trip! Wrapping up our field work in late summer 2018! Photo by Carri LeRoy

The past 3 years our team has been working under an NSF EAGER grant to Dr. LeRoy which allows undergraduates at The Evergreen State College to gain amazing field experiences and research opportunities.

Our team is composed of undergraduates, SURF students, research assistants, faculty, and many wonderful collaborators (stay turned to learn more about our collaborative work) that dedicate their summers to exploring the landscape of Mount St. Helens (MSH).

MSH is an exemplary ecosystem for our team to study how the flora and fauna are responding to large, intense disturbances as well as their processes of early succession.

Leaf Litter Lab (L3) Notes