Planning a field season

The days are long. The weather is good. Must mean it is almost field season!

I leave tomorrow! How did that happen?! First to Penang in Malaysia for the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, then back to the Caribbean for another round of specimen collection.

This year is a little different as we were exceptionally fortunate to be awarded a Darwin Plus grant from their brand new local scheme. The additional funding means I have help this year and will hopefully not be imaging specimens at 2am on the dining table in the cottage I was staying in! The extra money also means we can travel to other islands and so will be surveying sites around Providenciales, South Caicos, Grand Turk, and East Caicos. I am especially excited about the East Caicos diving as it involves a week on a liveaboard working near the largest uninhabited island in the Caribbean!

Planning a field season is a lot of logistics and scheduling. I have shipped 4 boxes (over 50 kg) of equipment out to Turks and Caicos. We have ordered over $12,000 worth of lab equipment which arrived in Miami yesterday to be forwarded. I have booked 15 flights for myself and those helping with the project, organised 5 different accommodations on 3 different islands, and filled in so many forms!

Some of the equipment that was shipped to Providenciales.

LETS DO THIS!