Keas and Graduate Students An Alpine Adventure 1/26/09
Opportunistic Alpine Parrots (Keas)
and Grad Students; Einat Lev and David Culp
An Unanticipated Adventure
Our last day of our field trip was a travel day back to Christchurch. I abandoned the comfort of the tour for some hiking and hostelling in Arthur’s Pass. It was Einat’s idea and she said that it is the Israeli way, to not necessarily go by the rules. It is not very often that I wake-up with one idea of how the day is going to go and end up with a totally different and one that is hundred times better.
There is an alpine parrot known as the Kea. It is quite large, a third again larger than our classroom Amazon Orange-Winged Parrot. These skylarks hang around in Arthur’s Pass Village like the homeless or street entertainers. They play with car parts pulling on antennae and windshield wipers then beg for food.
Avalanche Peak
We left on a hike that takes us from the valley floor of 2568 feet to the summit of at 5, 960 feet at 1:30 PM. On the way up I asked Einat about how she became a doctoral student in geo-physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. As a kid in Israel she always loved math and science and is a self confessed geek attending Science Olympiad competitions and excelling in physics. She loves processes not scientific nomenclature. Applying to grad school she would e-mail the faculty and ask questions to familiarize herself with the various programs. Her acceptance to MIT she contributes to good grades, her military experience, good letters of recommendation and a decent Graduate Records Exam (GRE). She is culminating her doctoral degree with Brad Hagar by writing her thesis this semester. Her second career choice would be training horses.
On Top
At the summit we had caught up with David who was half naked and checkin’ out the scene. As David would say it, it was “pretty divine.” We counted our blessings and played with the Keas. Somehow they had seen us and come up to cavort and ride the winds. Like David they were kind of wild but, not from Forth Wayne, Indiana. David had grown up with a love of math. Coupling a love for Colorado and the outdoors have morphed him into a geophysicist. He is a first year doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado, under the tutelage of Anne Sheehan.
On the Return
As we got back to town at 7:30 PM after soaking our feet an legs in a waterfall fed stream. We joked that graduate students are like Keas going after shiny things on cars and begging for opportunities. But I would differ, that these two were making their futures bright by taking advantage of opportunities like hiking Avalanche Peak. I know that I was better off for it. Though my aching legs wouldn’t agree.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Greetings, DT. I’m happy to see your new Blog! We’ll try to keep things professional and discuss scientific matters to the extent possible. We all miss you (well, maybe not yet, but I’m sure we will). The ski bus was turned around by gale force winds this morning. While driving by the lake at Eldora, we watched the ski box on the car in front of us suddenly shatter as if a bomb detonated from inside. So, you didn’t miss any skiing today.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Hi DT - I’ve learned that January 29th is ‘Auckland Anniversary Day’. Is this a holiday that is recognized on the south island? If so,what happens?
January 28th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Hey John, the trip to Eldora sounded heinous. I was just outside looking around No more land anywhere and these big glassy rolling waves. Albatross and Shearwaters (what the Irish Bloke says) are gliding just above the water. I saw a small shark and some clumps of kelp. The whole scene is very surreal. DT
January 29th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
What do killer whales eat in that neck of the woods? I hear they adapt their diet to what’s available. There are some that only eat fish and others that prefer nothing but seals. I’m guessing penguins where you are.