We’re always excited to receive images from the field, and we love to share those with readers so that they can see something of the experiences, the locales, the flora, and the fauna that our field personnel encounter on a regular basis. We were blown away, then, when GBI Research Associate Nicole Dart sent us more than a hundred superb photos of Sequoia wildlife. So dazzled were we that we decided to put together a gallery of just a small sampling of these images for your viewing pleasure. Nicole also provided us with an overview of her experiences and methodology.
My name is Nicole Dart and I am currently working as a wildlife technician in the Sequoia National Forest through GBI’s research associate program.
After receiving my bachelor’s degree in Biology from Sonoma State University last spring, I worked as a fisheries technician in the central valley of California, where I got to work in rivers monitoring local fish populations. During the summer I also took on an internship at a wildlife rehabilitation center in which I assisted in the care of a variety of orphaned and injured wildlife. This fueled my passion for wildlife and motivated me to expand my work with animals, leading me to work for GBI.
My role as a wildlife technician primarily involves surveying for Spotted Owls and Northern Goshawks in the French Fire footprint of the Kern River Ranger District, and the Windy Fire footprint of the Western Divide Ranger District. Every day that I am out in the field I make sure to bring my camera with me, you never know when you’re going to see something exciting!
The camera that I use is a Canon PowerShot SX70 HS, which has a 65x optical zoom that really comes in handy when trying to see an animal from far away. I have also found that having a camera can be extremely useful when trying to identify an animal. Instead of relying on your memory of something you might have seen through a pair of binoculars, you can refer back to an image and accurately identify the species.
When photographing wildlife, you do need a great deal of patience as they typically do not stay still, but being able to capture the beauty and behavior of an animal makes it all worth it, and I am happy to share these images of the incredible wildlife of the Sequoia National Forest.
For as long as I can remember I have always had a passion for wildlife, and after getting this position I knew that I wanted to bring a camera with me in order to document what I encountered, and to share those special experiences with others.
