Work has been really good since the last blog post! I finished up working on the species ranges I mentioned last time, the Morefield’s Leather Flower, and the Tennessee yellow-eyed grass. But this week is really important because I had to present the ranges I made to the biologists we consulted with. The first meeting I had was about the Morefield’s Leather Flower. I was super nervous because the range maps that I had been working on for the past 2 weeks are going to be critiqued by people that are experts on the species. Despite my nervousness, I was able to present my ranges as well as I could. The biologists really seemed to like and appreciate my work, which I was extremely happy about! It was gratifying to receive praise for something I put a lot of work into. That being said, I still have to tweak the ranges a little more to be perfect for them but that was expected. I was just glad that it was not a disaster. This made me a lot more confident for the meeting with the biologist for the Tennessee yellow-eyed grass biologists.
The meeting for the Tennessee Yellow-eyed grass went really well too. Unfortunately, not everyone that we needed to attend the meeting could join, so the critiques we received were limited. But it seems like the edits I will need to make will be a little more drastic compared to the leather flower’s range just because the data points that I was given to work with were a little odd. But it was overall a good meeting and good experience, even though I had a moment where I totally zoned out when I was explaining my species range!
It has been awesome being able to create these species ranges, especially since they will be the actual ranges that will be posted on ECOS. ECOS is the online system that these range maps are posted. It includes a lot of information that is related to FWS threatened and endangered species. I will include a link to it because it is definitely worth checking out:
On a different note, the photo I included this week is just me at the gym really early morning before work. I really like working out before I start doing my DFP work because I feel like it really sets the tone for the rest of the day!
Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Program: Directorate Fellows Program
Location: USFWS Headquarters, Washington Office