This is the first blog post I (Trent) have done in a very long time. I've recently started a new semester and if all goes as planned, the last semester of graduate school. It's going to be a busy semester for me but I'm confident I can come out on top and graduate on schedule. I've been spending a lot of time working on my thesis research and I'm having a blast exploring the jungle of Guam. I find a deeper appreciation of the beauty that nature has to offer every time I go outside. I don't have any co-workers that accompany me out there so its just me communing with nature. As of now, I have a few more days of field work to complete to gather my data. After that I have A LOT of time to spend on a microscope counting individual pollen grains. (I know, super boring). When that is finished, all that's left is writing my results and defending my thesis. Hopefully after that I can say I graduated and move on to building a career. So that's what I've been up to lately. We are both looking forward to coming home this year but I still have a lot of work to do before that.

The following are pictures of what we've been up to lately. One word to sum it all up is: Random
This has been my office for the past few weeks. Its a small stream is southern Guam about 200 meters below the top of a super steep ravine. The beauty is stunning but is often interrupted by swarms of mosquitoes. There's several types of fish in the river including tilapia and eels. There are also freshwater shrimp. The best thing about this place is that when it gets too hot, the deeper pools of the river are an instant relief.

I made a small fishing kit and took it to the river one day. Thanks to some survival skills, I was able to catch lunch. Good stuff!

Some days I have a looooooong time to hang out in the jungle while I collect data. There is a lot of work to do in the morning and late afternoon. That gives me some time to practice bushcraft skills as well as setting up pictures with the timer on my camera :)

Joey saw this starfish floating past us at the beach one day. She snapped a few pictures before it floated away. I thought this was an awesome picture and I wanted to share it with our friends and family.