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GBI Media Contest October 2021 Submissions

GBI Media Contest October 2021 Submissions

We went with a simple theme for the October media contest: Fall. The season certainly brought out the beautiful autumnal colors captured in the images below. And, of course, given the build up to Halloween, we received a few holiday-specific submissions, including our winner above. This photo was submitted by Research Associate, David Fleshman, who is serving alongside the BLM as a stream survey crew lead in Elko, NV. He provided the following lore to accompany his photo: “Elko stream survey crew (Fleshman, Robyn Holmes, Hanna Muntz, and Emmi Petersen) encounters a werewolf on the way to survey the Mary’s River. Werewolves can commonly be found in Northeast Nevada in Fall during the migration season. Mimicking their behavior is the best way to avoid a deadly attack.” We’re pleased to report that their strategy worked, and they all made it through the frightening encounter safe and sound.

Enjoy the additional submissions below!

Mikayla Oligney, Research Associate, Engineering Technician with the BOR, Geotechnical Engineering group. “My friends and I with pumpkin heads around a creek at our school.”
Mya Yazbek, Water Quality Research Associate at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. “This is a photo of a dragonfly perching on a stick. In the background you can see fallen leaves resting at the bottom of a pond.”
Becky Lausch, Research Associate, Biological Technician at Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge. “When I think of Fall, I think of beautiful colors but I also think of all the organisms that are undergoing fall migration. Millions of animals, some only a few months old, are moving across the planet. How spectacular! I found this Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) refueling for its migration on a Mojave Thistle (Cirsium mojavense) on the refuge.”
Leah Simantel, Research Associate, Ecological Restoration Specialist at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. “Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is named for its scores of velvet ash trees (Fraxinus velutina). Once abundant on the refuge, many of these trees were removed over the years to make way for agriculture and mining; some were lost to fires that escaped human control. The trees that remain provide us with a sense of what these landscapes used to be – and what they may return to, if given the opportunity. As their leaves change, marking the passage of time, I am reminded that restoration of this place requires humility, foresight, and most importantly, patience.”
Annabella Helman, AmeriCorps, Carnivore Monitoring Crew Member with Sierra & Sequoia National Forest. “Pacific fishers have recently been listed as an endangered species due to low population numbers. They are threatened by various impacts such as habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, and human toxicants from illegal marijuana farms. Our crew is a part of a long-term monitoring project studying the Pacific fisher, Pacific marten, and other co-occurring carnivore species via yearly surveys of baited camera and track plate survey devices. This project aims to produce scientific data to inform land management practices and track the effects of change over time at a landscape scale. Attached is a photo from the Carnivore Crew’s pumpkin carving event to celebrate the spooky season! I carved our primary study species, a fisher, on the left and another member of our crew, Abby, carved our scent lure for our baited camera trap trees that we call gusto.”
Brianna Mann, AmeriCorps, Carnivore Monitoring Crew Member with Sierra National Forest, Kaiser Pass. “Ezmie Trevarrow looking out over a mountain lake on a cold October morning on our way to check the camera station in search of the endangered fisher.”
Aaron Richards, Research Associate, Forestry Crew Lead with Stanislaus National Forest. “We’re gonna form a grunge band.”

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