Chiang Mai and an internship!

One of the tree seedlings that are part of Hathai's study...measured and tagged.

How has it already been two weeks since I finished the semester and left Chiang Saen?
Life in Chiang Mai has be a whirl of forests, excellent food, and even better company!

My internship is with a Fulbright researcher named, Hathai, who is affiliated with FORRU, a forest restoration nonprofit that is part of Chiang Mai university. We spent the first few days visiting plots on Doi Suthep (a mountain next to Chiang Mai) that are being converted from farmland back to forest. We measured seedling's height and diameter as well as taking hemispherical photos (photos of the canopy above a seedling) which can later be used with a computer program to calculate the amount of light the seedling will receive throughout the year. As you can see in the picture, you have to use a fish eye lens to take the photos and the contraption is used to make sure the camera is completely level, what you can't see is that in order to take the photo you must be below the lens. So every time we took a picture Hathai and I literally laid in the leaf litter so we wouldn't show up in the photo. I met some very nice bugs right at eye level.

It was amazing how much cooler and wetter it was in the forest than in the adjacent agricultural land. It painted such a stark contrast and makes it easy to see why this is such important research/work. The plots we were working on were planted in 1998 and 1999, but FORRU has added a plot each year since 1998 and plans to continue doing this. They work with the nearby hill tribe (Hmong) village to find new plots that the villagers no longer use/need for agriculture.

Our first day out in the field was cut short by an unexpected thunderstorm and downpour--it is the dry season after all...we were on our way back down the mountain when a villager stopped us to tell us about a fallen tree blocking the road. We were redirected through the village on some of the steepest most narrow roads. This proved a bit adrenaline inducing in Hathai's giant 4-wheel drive truck. The road up to the plots requires 4-wheel drive as it is basically two parallel strips of concrete that you attempt to keep your wheels on because otherwise it would wash away in the rainy season...the amazing part is the villagers go up and down on their motorbike/scooters. The reward at the end of the harrowing drive was a beautiful rainbow stretching across the entire valley!

The internship so far has been GREAT. I forgot how happy it makes me to be outside hiking around all day. And it has also been wonderful living with the other Fulbright girls and sampling Chiang Mai's vast array of Western and Thai food...Mango and sticky rice with purple sticky rice, banana orange mango smoothies, organic salad with cheese, to mention a few. More pictures on the way...the internet at the guesthouse doesn't like to let me upload them. Miss you all and stay safe! Sending lots of love and support to everyone in Japan!

crl