MAY 2012
After accumulating $500 in funding for my master research in 2 years, I have managed to secure $5000 for my PhD dissertation work. This is after I heard last week that I received the the Rosemary Fund grant of $2000 from the Society for the Study of Evolution. This grant is only available to PhD students in their first two years so this was the last year I was eligible. SSE is a great society and they publish one of my favorite journals so receiving a grant from them was certainly a boost to my confidence. It will also greatly help my first two years of research. I will be able to purchase all of the field equipment I need to get started and even purchase some long term data loggers which I did not think would be possible until next year.
I have already made some purchases including a Kestral 3500 weather meter. This will allow me to record air/water temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, among many other weather variables in a nice hand held waterproof/durable yet still accurate weather meter.
I also ordered some waterproof high accuracy temperature probes and infrared thermometers from ThermoWorks which should be here next week.
The piece of equipment I am most excited about is the HydroSense II which I just received from Campbell Scientific earlier this week. This item will allow me to record soil moisture quicker and more accurately than some cheaper options making it a worth while purchase despite the hefty price tag. It also has a built in GPS so I will be able to confirm all measurements recorded are for the correct plot when I am entering my data.
I am really excited to get out into the field!
Still waiting on one more grant for the spring season…
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