I started my climate change analysis taking a very direct approach to each function WAWFA is assessing. After a couple of conservations on the direction of my final product, this took a slightly different route with more emphasis on increasing climate change literature. This, for me, was a bit more objective and and I found myself running in circles with it, occasionally getting pulled in another direction, just to end up back at that original circle. Fortunately, the WAWFA core team was able to meet as a group to uncover what really is useful for the team at this point.
We have all decided through the process that more emphasis on my original direction will be more useful. What is frustrating is the feeling of lost time. What is important to remember is that the process is essential to creating meaningful work, however frustrating it could be. Though much of my research is still viable potential limits do exists now in the amount of analysis I will be able to complete in the final month and a half of my contract.
This has been a wonderful learning lesson in approaching collaboration with a diverse team when everyone is stretched too thin. With more direction now, I am excited to put the research I have done into a meaningful deliverable for the team.
My time, of course was not idle. I have been actively working with our field team to get this portion of the project up and running. According to our grant calendar, we are a little bit behind schedule, though a great amount of progress has been realized in the past few weeks.
With some wonderful guidance from Joanne Kline (a fellow WAWFA core team member and the best mentor one could have), we created a database in Access that will house all of our fieldwork data. This was a multifaceted process and the database took many drafts as we uncovered the complexity of the relationships of our data. Just last week our data mastermind at TNC, John Wagner, was able to make some finishing changes to create a very dynamic and meaningful database.
To date we have had three field days all in our Milwaukee
Basin focus areas. The first was with
six members of the team and had the sole intention of clarifying the field form
and calibrating our methods. Many
beneficial adjustments were made after this first day and allowed Joanne and I
to go a bit deeper into our assessment areas this past week. While it is still a little slow going as we
uncover more questions, we are all feeling momentum at this point. As Joanne gracefully pointed out, “the worst field day is better than the best
office day.” This couldn’t be truer and
I hope to tap into these energies as I take on the next two weeks of research
and writing.
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