Welcome to my field blog!

 Those of you who know me well (or know anything about how bad I am at corresponding across distances/using my hopeless Facebook page), probably expect me to be relatively silent for my next 2 yrs in the field...BUT, I'm going to try my hardest not to do that. So, I'm trying a blog this time and we'll see how it goes. Of course, I'm not promising much. Living in a national park in Ethiopia and a research station in rural Kenya does not offer a lot of high speed internet options. I will, however, try to keep this updated at least every time I pass through the hotels with free wifi :) Read on for my first 'real' post, but note that I will be using a lot of pictures, some taken by my colleagues out here, thanks to you all for contributions!!

THE JOB

I am incredibly lucky to be working with Dr. Joan Silk as her post-doc through Arizona State University. We are setting up a comparative project on baboon sociality, collaborating with several wonderful researchers: Dr. Larissa Swedell of Queens College is sharing her long-term hamadryas baboon site, I will be spending about 1/2 of the next 2 yrs at her site in Ethiopia. Dr. Shirley Strum of UC San  Diego is joining us with her long-term anubis (or olive) baboon site, her project in Kenya is my second home for the next 2 yrs. We are also coordinating our data with University of Michigan researchers, Drs. Jacinta Beehner and Thore Bergman (also my Ph.D. advisors), who study geladas in Ethiopia.

SETTING UP AT FILOHA - Part I: The place

Here's a quick look at where I lived from May-July of this year.

We live at the Filoha outpost of Awash National Park. The attraction of Filoha for locals and tourists alike are the natural hot springs here that are known for their healing properties. For baboons, the attraction is the safe sleeping cliff and the year-long access to water. For us, we just love that the baboons are only 10 minutes from home - something that is a luxury at 5:30am when we aim to catch them at the sleeping site!

 Our house is the furthest of the yellow tin roofs, those lucky baboons have a great view! 

 The entire area below the cliff is a swamp for at least part of the year. This provides great habitat for numerous ungulate and bird species. 

 This hot 'lake' is home to over 20 crocodiles, we see them mainly in the early morning or late evening. Don't worry, they only get to about 2m in length here, relatively small...

 When the baboons aren't sleeping in our backyard, they sleep here at Wasaro cliff, there are beautiful sunrises here greeting us each morning. 

 Sunsets can also be gorgeous, here pictures at Filoha cliff. 

Like the baboons, we take advantage of the hot spring water, this pool is where we wash up in the evening. Sometimes the baboons hang out in the trees above us, best  shower entertainment ever!!