Syzdekistan

Today I embarked on my last field trip with Parsons. My last day is Friday. On Monday, I start a new job with the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). Parsons has been a great company to work for and it was very difficult to leave. I started with Parsons about a year ago and have been helping with the biological research for groundwater development in Eastern Nevada. Specifically, we are doing field work to characterize the wildlife of the area to help mitigate the effects of proposed groundwater development.

We have been working on a variety of projects which has been very fun and educational to me. As a bonus, I get to see some amazing parts of Nevada. First of all, we have been working with bats. Although we have done some mist-netting for bats at springs, most of the bat data we get from automated acoustical monitors that we place near the springs. Every night a timer turns on a sensitive microphone which records sonograms to a CF card and then a consultant reads the sonagram and identifies the bats.

We also have been doing mammal surveys. This winter Aaron and I did many days of pygmy rabbit surveys along proposed pipeline routes. During the warmer months, we have been doing small mammal trapping. This entails setting out several hundred live traps, and trapping the nocturnal rodents. We’ve found all kinds of critters including deer mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, kangaroo mice, kangaroo rats, chipmunks, squirrels, and even a few voles. We’d also catch the occasional cottontail rabbit, horned lizard, or spadefoot toad. One site we trapped dozens of hungry mormon crickets.

In the winter, we did winter raptor surveys and now we are doing some breeding bird surveys. So tomorrow, I’ll be up at 3:00 A.M. and heading from Ely over to Eureka County and spending the morning counting birds. I can’t believe I am giving up this job!

Of course, all of this work with Parsons was for SNWA so my new job isn’t going to be very different. In fact, my desk will move about 200 feet and I will keep the same phone number and email. I know the people I will be working with and I really like them. The main change is a change in departments. I was supporting groundwater and I am moving to surface water. Surface water entails a lot of work at Lake Mead and the two small rivers we have in Southern Nevada, the Virgin and the Muddy. I’ll be catching fewer mice and more fish. There will be less travel. There will be more heat and no more snow. I will get to play around on boats. There will be less travel and fewer nights away from home which is the main reason I applied for the job.

I must say that I really appreciate everything Parsons has done for me over the last year. They are a top-notch corporation and really treat their employees well. In fact, my supervisor suggested that I apply for this SNWA job and I cannot thank them enough for the support they have given me.