A little late for the "we've arrived!" post, especially as JonS stepped foot on this island almost a month ago. But here's the deal. Every year the AntLab from the University of Oklahoma, comes to Barro Colorado Island with the aim of finding out a little more about how the forest works. I'll let the other members of my lab–JonS, MattD and RisaW–clue you in as to what they're doing and why. Suffice to say we are a diverse group with diverse backgrounds but held together by a common fascination with the forest and its inhabitants, particularly the social, wingless, denizens of the soil and treetops that give our blog and our lab its name.
To my mind, the real purpose of this blog is to record our impressions about how fieldwork happens: the "two steps forward and one step backward" nature of any project as it goes from an abstract notion in a coffee shop to the moist, sticky, grimy gorgeous forest, the incredible things you see in the forest if you just keep your eyes open, and the folks and critters you meet along the way. There are some pretty talented folks working in the lab this go-around, so have a sit down, scratch those chigger bites, and let's get going!
