Heading back to Peru

HEY GUYS!!!

So I have some cool amazing news… I will be returning with FPI (Field Projects International) to be a head team leader over the primate section of the program! Starting May 4th I will be back in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru at the small field station called “Los Amigos Biological Station”. I am SO excited to be doing this for many reasons! This is a full circle moment for me since 3 years ago I was once a research assistant (equivalent to an intern), and now I will be going back to teach the undergraduates, which I once was. I will be doing daily tracking of different monkey groups, gathering many types of data, and showing them how to use different programs to enter and process it. I will also be helping our other teams’ projects some as well which includes birds, bats, mammals, and amphibians.

Now a little lesson on what telemetry is and how we actually find the monkeys. One monkey in the group (usually the dominate breeding female) will have a very light radio collar on. We use this old telephone looking wire thing which connects to a signal receiver, and we can change the frequency of the signal similar to changing the radio station to look for a specific station. In this case, changing the frequency changes which group of monkeys we will be tracking. Starting off at camp you point the telemeter in 4 cardinal directions seeing which direction is stronger. You can tell by a faint beep that emits from the receiver which direction the monkeys are in. From there you go walking in that general direction on our trail system until you have to enter the dense jungle. Once you get close enough, the signal will be very strong in all 4 directions meaning that you are very close to that group. That is when you use your sight and hearing to look for movements, or listen for jumping from branch to branch. The monkeys always know that you are there way before you realize that you are even near them haha. So being super knowledgeable of your surroundings helps spot them before they disappear further in the jungle.

Here are an array of pictures of all the ‘fun’ times we have using telemetry to track down the monkeys:

I love being able to persue things that I’m so passionate about (conservation, research, education, and so much more) no matter the location. I have always known I wanted to work with animals and have loved the earth, and now I have a job where I can share both of those amazing things together. Life is short. Go find those things that make you happy to live and want to wake up and make a difference around you!

Talk to you guys soon!

Luke