Library of Congress I was completely unprepared for how astoundingly beautiful the Library of Congress is. From the outside it looks like another of the many federal buildings constructed in the Classical style. The interior, though, was spectacular. The ceiling of the Great Hall is magnificent–take a look at this stained glass! We joined a…
Author: Allison J. Gong
A tourist in the nation’s capital – Day 3
National Archives We spent the morning waiting in line to see things in the National Archives building. The lines to get in were very long, and even though we’d bought a membership the night before so that we could bypass the entry line, once we got inside the building there were more lines to go…
A tourist in the nation’s capital – Day 2 (part 2)
Lincoln Memorial This is one of the most easily recognizable monuments in Washington, DC. It graces the back of our $5 bill and sits directly across the Reflecting Pool from the Washington Monument. Everybody knows what it looks like. From the outside, especially from the bottom of the steps, this is another imposing marble edifice….
A tourist in the nation’s capital – Day 2 (part 1)
Monday 26 March 2018 — Memorials On Monday we ventured south of the Mall to the Tidewater area, where an extension of the Potomac river floods into a basin and forms a tidal pond. This area is where the famous cherry trees of Washington, DC, are concentrated, and we hoped to catch some of the…
A tourist in the nation’s capital – Day 1
Spring break for me this year was the last week of March. I generally don’t travel far for spring break because it’s nice to have a week of nothing to do but not be working. This year, though, we decided to visit Washington, DC, for most of the break. I had never been before and…
Saving a species
How does a group of people go about trying to save a federally endangered species? The answer, of course, depends on the species. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that it takes a tremendous effort over many years by many dedicated and talented people, all of whom know that in the end their work…
Birds of a feather
For a long time now I’ve wanted to document a phenomenon that I’ve observed many times: the way that some birds change color when they move from the light into the dark. I’m sure you’ve noticed this before, in the vibrance of a peacock’s tail that turns to black when the bird moves into the…
Getting skunked by birds
This week I took my Ecology students to the Younger Lagoon Reserve (YLR) on the UC Santa Cruz Coastal Science Campus. The YLR is one of 39 natural reserves in all of the major ecosystems throughout the state of California. The UCSC campus administers five of the reserves: Younger Lagoon, the Campus Reserve, Fort Ord Natural…
Trailblazers
Who do you think makes these tracks in the sand? Any guesses? Here’s another photo, taken from farther away to give you a bigger picture of the scale of things. Believe it or not, the maker of these trails is the little black turban snail, Tegula funebralis. They are one of my favorite animals in…
Students begin observing succession
This week’s field trip for my Ecology class was the first of two visits to the Santa Cruz harbor. The students’ task was to select a site to monitor for a semester-long study of ecological succession. The floating docks at the harbor are the ideal site for this kind of study because I know from…