A pictorial tutorial on sampling macroinvertebrates

     Well as promised I finally got around to putting up pictures of me and the rest of the research crew sampling Macroinvertebrates on the Boardman River. The research crew is composed of me, David Petry, Nathan Hadley, Casey Shoaff, and Joel Betts All the pictures below were taken by Nathan Hadley, a fellow researcher on the team and, I might add, an excellent photographer. I'll put up another post soon about my exciting weekend in Washington with family and friends. For now enjoy the pictures of beautiful northern Michigan and wish you had a job as awesome as mine.

 The whole team (Aside from Nathan who is taking the picture)

 Walking to a research site

 Taking velocity measurements

 Casey Shoaff

 Former Brown Bridge Pond

 Casey and I

 David Petry leads the way

 Taking a sample (Joel Betts is closest to camera)

 Recording Data

 Getting wet while sampling

 Not all work

Joel, Nathan, and, David helping me take a sample 

 Me fighting the current

The river getting the best of me

The importance of the Sabbath Rest

"Another Sunday Morning Comes..."
by Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir.

Another Sunday morning comes
And I resume the standing Sabbath
Of the woods, where the finest blooms
Of time return, and where no path

Is worn but wears its makers out
At last, and disappears in leaves
Of fallen seasons. The tracked rut
Fills and levels; here nothing grieves

In the risen season. Past life
Lives in the living. Resurrection
Is in the way each maple leaf
Commemorates its kind, by connection

Outreaching understanding. What rises
Rises into comprehension
And beyond. Even falling raises
In praise of light. What is begun

Is unfinished. And so the mind
That comes to rest among the bluebells
Comes to rest in motion, refined
By alteration. The bud swells,

Opens, makes seed, falls, is well,
By becoming what it is:
Miracle and Parable,
Exceeding thought because it is.

Immeasurable; the understander
Encloses understanding, thus
Darkens the light. We can stand under
No ray that is not dimmed by us.

The mind that comes to rest is tended
In ways that it cannot intend:
Is borne, preserved, and comprehended
By what it cannot comprehend.

Your Sabbath, Lord, thus keeps us by
Your will, not ours. And it is fit
Our only choice should be to die
Into that rest, or out of it.

Warning: I get a bit wordy in this post    



     I have been thinking for some time now (Most specifically since I took an environmental ethics course in college) about the importance of the Sabbath rest for the individual, society as a whole and the land itself. Taking time to rest, recuperate, rejuvenate, and just bask in the glory and beauty of God's love is something that every part of God's Creation should have an internal longing and outward commitment to. On the individual level taking time to put aside the cares of this world and spend time in God's Word and His World brings not only physical relief but spiritual as well. Finding a peaceful spot void of all distracting noises and people, surrounded by the beauty of God's nature, with a Bible in your hand, and a poem such as the one above by your side is truly a beautiful and enlightening thing.    

      On the societal level the importance of the Sabbath rest can be seen, not in its diligent practice, but in it's woeful disregard. In this hectic society of constant motion, endless work, events, and decadent self-gratification, the idea of taking days, hours, even minutes to simply stop and reflect on something, anything for that matter, is a total anathema. The modern man may be smart, fast, hip, up to date on the latest technology, and a master of societal workings, but he knows next to nothing about how to properly rest. True rest, that is the Sabbath rest ordained in Genesis 2 where God set aside the seventh day "and made it holy"  (Genesis 2: 3) and commanded in Exodus 20:8-11 as a blessing and mandate to the people, is a concept entirely foreign to the modern mind. Even when people take a "rest" from their jobs to go on vacation, how often does this rest really correspond to true Sabbath rest? Often, rather than spending their precious vacation time to reflect on the beauty of God and his creation, they squander their time on grandiose schemes of meaningless self-fulfillment or materialistic pleasure.The results of this complete disregard for true rest are telling. Rather than returning refreshed from a wonderful vacation of relaxation and meditation ready to do God's work in the world, often travelers return just as worn out as they left and complaining about the work they must begrudgingly go back to the next day. What has happened to the sense of contentment and peace that should follow a time of well rested peace?  

     Finally there is the Sabbath of the Land, an intriguing and glorious commandment from Yahweh to His people in Leviticus 25:2-7, that has unfortunately been almost wholly disregarded by both the Israelites then and Christians today (Read the passage now before you forget, as you no doubt likely will by the time you finish reading this sentence). As the Israelites were coming into the land God specifically set out parameters of how they were to live that they might be his witnesses to the world and chief among these commandments was the mandate that the people set aside a Sabbath year every seven years that the land and its people might rest from their work and think on the extraordinary care of Yahweh  No food could be harvested during the Sabbath year except that which was already on the trees, and after 7 Sabbath years a Jubilee year would occur in which all land returned to its original owners. It is interesting to note, and somewhat depressing, that the specific reason given by God for the exile of Israel is that they failed to keep the Sabbath of the land (Leviticus 26:28-35, Leviticus 26:43. & 2 Chronicles 36:16-21). To punish his disobedient people and give the land it desperately needed God sent his people into exile for 490 years, 7 years for every Sabbath year missed while Israel was in the land (My prof Dr. Gathany did the math, not me, and I trust him). Clearly then if God is willing to subject His own people to 490 years of captivity for failing to give the land its proper rest He must deeply care about rest. As Christians that desire to follow the example of our Lord and the teachings of Yahweh why do we not follow the commandments he specifically states and care for the Land He has given us? Why do we not treasure the Sabbath rest as a gift? 

     I put a poem in my blog to urge me (And whoever else chooses to read this crazy blog) to move toward this longing and love of the Sabbath. Wendell Berry has a way with words that will always amaze me and move me to deeper understanding of life and nature. I highly recommend you go back now and read the poem again (If you read it at all), preferably with a good cup of tea sitting by a lake or pond and watching the sun go down. Anyway I hope this giant discussion  about rest and the Sabbath didn't bore you too much (And if it did, I highly doubt you read this sentence anyway). I'll soon post a shorter post about my trip this last weekend and some pictures from two weeks ago.   

        

Well today I started the nitty gritty side of research and sat poured over a plate of ethanol/water all day trying to identify macroinvertebrates for my study on the Boardman river, MI this summer. Macroinvertebrates for those of you who don't know (The non-science geeks among my followers, if I have any at all) are any invertebrates that can be trapped in a .5 mm (Or 500 micrometer if you prefer) net. In case you're a geek like me and are wondering, I'm specifically looking at benthic (Bottom dwelling) aquatic invertebrates (Often in their larva or nymph forms) such as caddisflies (Trichoptera), mayflies (Ephemeroptera), beetles (Coleoptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), dragonflies (Odonata), worms (Oligochaeta), true flies (Diptera), and a few other macroinvertebrate orders. (You should look these orders up on wikipedia to more fully appreciate how amazing they are) A comparison of the number and variety of tolerant and intolerant (That is to pollution levels) species found over time at particular sites will allow me to gain some understanding as to the overall health of the stream over time. (I realize this may be boring some of my readers and if so do not be alarmed for all is not lost; fun pictures will eventually come). First, however, I need to sort and ID all these beautiful creatures, a process harder than you might think considering all of them are on the mm or cm scale. Right now I'm simply organizing them into their respective orders but eventually, I will have to key them all the way to the genus level (Review your taxonomic ranks now at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxonomic_rank if you don't remember them). I'll post more on this stuff later if I don't receive a thousand angry comments about annoying scientific discussions on the blog.

     Anyway lots of long but fun days in the lab ahead for me and plenty of other things happening as well up here. The climate here in northern MI is currently very similar to WA and the trees remind me of home, but the bugs do not. Went fishing the other day for the first time in some 10 or so years and actually caught some fish including a 10 inch small mouth bass on Small Twin Lake (Due entirely to the wise fishing tutelage of my fellow researcher and friend Joel Betts). Caught two more fish the next day on Big Twin Lake. I put the picture here of my first catch to keep all you entertained who were profoundly bored by the entire first paragraph of this post. It also proves that I a member of the Hayes family can actually catch fish. Eventually when I get around to it, I will post pictures of my field work last week on the river and something about the books I am reading. Also I'm a groomsman in a wedding this next week so I'll probably post something about that. 

Copyright: Joel Betts

Me and a fish contemplating the meaning of life

 

Christian in his natural habitat? What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean Christian's natural habitat is Michigan, or California, maybe Honduras? Who knows, not me. I thought it was an apt title for an environmentally related blog and quite frankly, it was the only one I could come up with so you are stuck with it. If you don't like if you can , in the words of the immortal Jeeves and Wooster, "jolly well lump it." Anyway I have created this blog for several primary purposes. First I want to inform those of you who actually care as to what I am up to and where I am in the world. Second, for the more philosophical or literary minded I will be posting snippets and thoughts about things I am currently reading or thinking about. Third I wanted to create a place where I could post pictures and share thoughts about my favorite subject, the environment. If for any reason any or all of these particular goals are not to your liking I recommend you immediately remove this page from your favorites (If it is already there which I doubt) and disavow all knowledge of its existence. To tide off any of you picture lovers here are a few pictures of Au Sable Michigan where I am staying this summer (Look it up at ausable.org). It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever stayed in case you are wondering. You should be jealous. More Pictures to come of my research experiences.

The View Outside my Window

The Lodge

Louie's Pond

Earth Hall

Study Hall

Well I have started a blog now and will soon be posting things on it (Hopefully) about my experiences in Michigan, Honduras, and California. Here is a highly formal, somewhat ambiguous bio of me and specifically my scientific pursuits.


Christian Hayes is a recent graduate from Cedarville University, receiving a BS in environmental science. While at Cedarville, Christian studied a wide range of scientific disciplines but developed an abiding interest in both the aquatic and marine ecosystems. His interest and experience will serve him well as a member of the Au Sable Boardman River restoration team.
Christian has conducted personal research in the past and presented at the 2012 Ecological Society of America Conference in Portland, Oregon. He is an Au Sable alum, having taken two courses in marine biology and marine mammals at the Pacific Rim Campus in Summer 2012. Christian has recently been accepted to the Masters in Biology program at Loma Linda University, California where he will be working with the ProTECTOR organization in Honduras to study and promote the recovery of endangered sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean. In his free time Christian enjoys hiking, piano playing, and  racquetball.