Went back to BC for 10 days

I went back to BC for reading week from Oct 11th to 20th.  Aside from going out twice nature-watching and five times for food, I spent most of my time indoors working.  Such is the life of a busy PhD student.

On the second day back, I went to Richmond's Sharing Farm for an hour or two with my mother.  The sky was cloudy and cool temperature - typical Vancouver.

Dew

Ottawa Butterfly Show, Carleton University

Before flying back to BC early tomorrow morning, I went to a free butterfly show at Carleton University this morning, an event I heard from my landlord last year and wanted to go ever since.  The daily show begins at 9 o'clock, and when I got there after 9:30 today, there was already a long line with parents and kids (I was the only single adult waiting in line).  About 30 minutes later, I was inside the greenhouse and enchanted by the diversity of butterflies.

I think none of the butterflies are native to Canada and are raised purely for shows like this.

Ecology labs and autumn colours

I have been incredibly busy this school semester demonstrating labs for the ecology course, grading lab reports, as well as preparing for my PhD comprehensive examination.  I tried to take some pictures whenever I am outside, otherwise I am indoors working away.

The ecology course consists of two field labs - first on the effects of abiotic factors in the stream on benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity and second on tree diversity in different successional stages - both of which take place at Gatineau Park.

Last month (September 12th), the teaching assistants and lab demonstrator went out to familiarize ourselves with the study area.

Old Chelsea Stream (upstream)