Starting in 2017 (reflecting on how far we’ve come in the last 6 years) and now with the internship application deadline coming up for our new reintroduction program, I’ve been reflecting on what our program may mean to developing biologists. That started me thinking about doing a little mini-blog series on “Where are they now?” which would update everyone on some of their favorite interns! I’ve keep in close touch with a couple and lost track of others but I managed to start tracking down everyone to see where they’re at. Who better to start with than one of my very first interns during my PhD, Grace Russell!
We’re reaching WAY back with Grace who was the Fall intern in 2013, the second year of our internship program, and when only one student was at Bifengxia at a time. She was the 5th intern we had and did a fantastic job on personality, stereotypic, and maternal care observations. She was also a fantastic blogger and took beautiful pictures! She was the author of the very popular, “Fun Five Facts About Pandas” series. If you haven’t had the time to read it you should definitely take this opportunity to delve deep into our archives!
Grace and I have been keeping in touch via Facebook so I knew she had an awesome job as a Research Assistant at the Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit in Scotland where she conducts research on the populations of marine mammals and oversees training of interns! I contacted Grace in December to see if she’d reflect back on her internship with PDXWildlife and update us on her new job!
Here’s what she had to say:
“There are certain experiences that you’ll find yourself always coming back to. An experience that you just know you will carry with you for the rest of your life. An experience which makes you smile every time you think about it, and you want to tell the whole world about. Seeing a giant panda for the very first time was one of those experiences for me, and collecting data for PDXWildlife’s projects, well I guess you could say I was in heaven. I was the sole winter intern for PDXWildlife in 2013, and spent August to November making friends and family jealous of my job. Technically my title was PDXWildlife Research Intern, but personally I think “holder of the most amazing job in the world”, is more accurate.
2013 cub and mother
I arrived in Chengdu, China, to start my journey to Bifengxia, Ya’an – The China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda. The first few days felt like I was an alien who had landed on whole new world full of new culture and tradition. Anyone who has travelled into rural China will understand that overwhelming feeling of “wow!”. At first I thought, what on earth have I got myself into? It didn’t take long however for me to transition from newbie to eating Baozi (pork buns) for breakfast, drinking Baijiu (rice wine), ordering Dan Chao Fan (fried rice), drinking hot tea by the Qingyi River, and making dumplings with the Panda Base team. I was lucky enough to be involved in most of the studies conducted by PDXWildlife. The Personality Study involved giving one of four different objects to the panda and recording their activity for one hour. The Stereotypical Study aimed to record any stereotypical behaviour exhibited by the panda within a one hour period. Last but not least the Maternal Study, where I sat and watched a new mum and her cub for an hour and recorded the movements and vocalisations of them both.
When I wasn’t working, I explored the surrounding region of the Sichuan Province. I ventured to Le Shan Dafo, Mt Emie, Shang Li Ancient Town, and the glaciers of Mt Hailuogou. Following the internship, I travelled to Zhangjiajie National Park, Guilin, YangShuo, Hangzhou Shanghai, Xi͛an, Qingdao, Mt Laoshan, Panjin, and Beijing. China is so rich in its natural environment, culture, food, and hospitality. It was a tough slog getting around with my limited Mandarin, but I soon learnt that the Chinese were so friendly and willing to help.
Completing the Giant Panda Research Internship with PDX Wildlife gave me invaluable experience in conducting field research methods and techniques. I worked independently to coordinate and collect necessary data, enabling PDXWildlife to enhance the current scientific knowledge on the captive breeding program of the giant panda. I became proficient in behavioural observations, data recording, data entry, and communication with the Chinese team. I also had side projects to complete, including writing blogs for the PDXWildlife website, researching and writing reviews on various research articles, and one that I will never forget – organising frozen panda poo for analysis!
Currently I’m working for The Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit in Scotland, conducting inshore and offshore cetacean surveys for mark capture-recapture analysis. I train interns in marine surveys, photo-identification, species ID, and research methods and analysis. Even though I have changed from terrestrial to marine mammals, the research methodologies, techniques, and lessons are very transferable. The skills I learnt from my internship with PDXWildlife are ones I still use today. I couldn’t be more grateful for my time at PDXWildlife. I have such great memories from my time in China – ones I will share with anyone willing to listen! I want to continue on the path of field research, whether that be with marine or terrestrial species. I’m hoping to gain a PhD position, and aim to make an important contribution to scientific literature.”
-Grace Russell (PDXWildlife Alum 2013)
We’re so proud of Grace and the contributions she’s making towards marine mammal conservation! She allowed me to share this video of her’s that gives you an idea of what her daily schedule is like. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/YWxM3KEN8h4