Anyway, some background before we delve into the amazingness of my blog. In my school, seniors have these thingymajigs called Senior Projects (click the link to learn more), where we take our third trimester off to intern/volunteer/work at a certain...place, depending on what one is interested in.
As I love animals, I chose to intern at Liberty Wildlife, a rehabilitation center for injured or infant wild animals. I'd like to give a huge thank you to my faculty adviser Ms. Mandigo and my on-site mentor Ms. Suits for helping me get this amazing opportunity!! Also, before I continue, let me tell you now that I will not be studying elephants or anything related to elephants, because I know my blog title may cause some misunderstandings. If my lack of elephants disappoints you, I sincerely apologize and advise you to stop reading now. Okay, back to my work at Liberty Wildlife. I plan to study the relationship between human's impact on the environment and wild animal's behavior as they adapt to the human's changes. To put it more fancily, "How do humans inadvertently influence animal’s behavior and what can be done to lessen our impact?"
Okay, I realize this question is really vague, but I do intend to choose a specific species to study (probably some bird), depending on which species is more likely to be admitted into Liberty Wildlife during my third trimester. From there, I'll do research on how those animals behave in the wild, what habitat they live in, etc. and then observe the injured animal's behavior and compare the wild's and injured's behavior. Keep in mind, the animals brought into Liberty Wildlife are those who have NOT successfully adapted to the changes humans made on their environment. Anyway, things will happen and I will write about them here, so be sure to read my blog, that is, if you're interested in those things.
Oh, and before I go, you may notice a poll on the right called "Next Week's Background." One of my friends Nicole gave me an amazing idea to change my blog's background every week (because I'm indecisive and can't choose just one animal), so vote or comment below on which animal you'd like to see next, and I'll change the picture and say something interesting about the animal.
For example, this bird is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon.
A fun fact (if it's not fun, pretend it is): Apart from looking amazing, they are the largest species of pigeon in the world (about the size of a turkey), so cool, right?
Anyway, that's all for now. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, just reply below and I'll get back to you once and if I can.
Have a nice life, and always look both ways before crossing a street.
Okay, I realize this question is really vague, but I do intend to choose a specific species to study (probably some bird), depending on which species is more likely to be admitted into Liberty Wildlife during my third trimester. From there, I'll do research on how those animals behave in the wild, what habitat they live in, etc. and then observe the injured animal's behavior and compare the wild's and injured's behavior. Keep in mind, the animals brought into Liberty Wildlife are those who have NOT successfully adapted to the changes humans made on their environment. Anyway, things will happen and I will write about them here, so be sure to read my blog, that is, if you're interested in those things.
Oh, and before I go, you may notice a poll on the right called "Next Week's Background." One of my friends Nicole gave me an amazing idea to change my blog's background every week (because I'm indecisive and can't choose just one animal), so vote or comment below on which animal you'd like to see next, and I'll change the picture and say something interesting about the animal.
For example, this bird is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon.
 |
| Hi, I'm a bird. |
A fun fact (if it's not fun, pretend it is): Apart from looking amazing, they are the largest species of pigeon in the world (about the size of a turkey), so cool, right?
Anyway, that's all for now. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, just reply below and I'll get back to you once and if I can.
Have a nice life, and always look both ways before crossing a street.
Can I get a like for this first post, woo woo! I think you did a great job of letting your personality shine through in this introduction (knowing from experience). You successfully captured my attention with your conversational tone as well as that bird picture (I think I'm in love). I'm excited to read about where your research is going to lead you. So, I know animals are a big interest of yours, but how did you arrive at the idea of connecting animal behavior to humans? Is there a specific aspect of humans that affect animal behaviour the most? Keep up the awesome work (I'm looking forward to the various backgrounds that you have in store for us)!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kiri! Thank you for your kind words and being the first to comment on my blog! I am still expectantly waiting for you first post so I can reply to it too! :) You should be in love with the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, as it is an awesome animal (and they have one at the Phoenix Zoo, so double awesome). To answer your question, as well as loving animals, I also have always had a passion for environmental science (specifically how humans impact our environment) and psychology. So, I like to think of my research question as a kind of mesh of all three interests. To answer your other question, from my research, which you can find in my final proposal, it seems like urbanization impacts wild animals the most, as we are changing their home. But you know, I think the answer can change depending on which type of ecosystem or which species one refers to. For example, in places like Costa Rica, deforestation is a huge human impact that affects the rain forests and animals who live there. Anyway, we'll see what what happens in Arizona, and I hope the rest of my backgrounds make you as happy as this pigeon one. :)
DeleteOh my goodness, Korina! I love this so so much :) This post sums you up so perfectly, and I swear I could hear you saying this monologue (I don't know if that's the write word) in my head. You've made your blog very captivating, from the gifs to the poll. In terms of your project itself, will you be directly interacting with the animals, or simply observing from the sidelines? Also, has there been any prior research on this topic, and if so, do you have any general ideas on what human feature (s) impacts animals the most? I can't wait to read more about your project, and follow you along through this wonderful journey :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Saleena! Now that I finally finished my post, I can start replying to yours, which was also amazing! And I guess I have a knack for entertaining people with my strangeness, so yay me! I can't tell you for sure what I'm doing exactly at Liberty Wildlife. I think it'll be a mix of natural observation and maybe some interactions, but not too much as I'm not technically "qualified" or "trained" to work with certain animals. About the prior research (which you can read more on in my final proposal), urbanization seems to be the most impactful on animal behavior as we are directly changing their habitat, which consequently forces them to adapt. That's as much as I can tell you now before my work actually starts, but if I learn more, I'll be sure to keep you and everyone else updated. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my post, and I hope you enjoy my blog in the future. :)
DeleteAhhhhhh I love this! I am very excited to hear all about this project and your research, Korina. Besides loving the virtual pets and the quote of the week and the poll, I think you should totally continue the crucial life advice at the end of your post. Also, I do have one question: for your research question, are you going to be looking at how humans impact the environment to influence animal behavior or are you just going to be looking at direct impact on animals? Or both? Again, I'm so excited to keep reading about your research. Yay!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, Shreya! Thank you for putting so much excitement in your comment! And, I have much wisdom that I'd like to share with the world, so I shall definitely continue with those bits of life advice. :P
DeleteI'm not positively sure what I'll be doing, but as far as I know, I think I'll be seeing how humans have impacted an animal's habitat, and how that impact affect the animal's behavior, but maybe some of my research will come from the direct impact on animals... that's as much as I can answer you now. Hopefully, my answer will be more concrete later. Sorry, and thanks again for your enthusiasm! Make sure to feed the virtual pets lots of food!
Cool Blog! I want elephants! Sounds very interesting. So what kind of behaviors are you thinking of observing? How will you quantify the difference in behaviors for stastical analysis? I'm sure all of your experience volunteering at the Phoenix zoo will come in very handy at this internship. Your blog is incredibly entertaining. I will be sure to follow it weekly.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wanted to vote for the llama, but the polls said they were closed. :(
First no elephants, then I can't vote! I feel betrayed.
Thanks for commenting! I'm sorry that you feel betrayed, and I hope it doesn't deter you from reading my blog again. I made sure to give people enough time to vote on the background (at least, I hope I did). To answer your questions, I plan on observing general behaviors such as sleeping and eating patterns, and maybe how the animal behaves when around humans. I'll figure out more once I'm on my site. To answer your question about statistical analysis, I guess I can plan on analyzing the amount of times the species does a certain behavior. For example, if a usually diurnal animal begins to fall asleep during the day, I'd take note on how many times that animal falls asleep during the day. If another animal of the same species does the same behavior, I'd count the amount of times this behavior occured and analyze potential reasons this may be happening. I really tried to answer your question, so if I didn't answer it well, I apologize. Thanks again, and have a nice day.
DeleteGreat first post ! I LOVE the idea of switching up your background each week and letting your audience vote. What a fun and interactive idea!
ReplyDeleteWill you decide fairly quickly into your internship which species to focus on? Also, you mention that you will be working with those animals that do not successfully adapt to man-made changes in the environment. Are injured animals collected from areas where these changes are known? Are specific areas targeted? Are these the areas in which you will observe wildlife?
I can't wait for your next post - keep up the great work!!
Thanks, Ms. Mitrovich! I'm really excited to see which animals I'll have the pleasure of putting on my blog. To answer your questions, my first task when I start my internship at Liberty Wildlife is to choose an animal to study. I'm hoping to know by the end of my first week, so I do plan on deciding quickly enough. Also, for your other question, this goes into the whole process of how an animal is brought in. Usually, someone calls in and tells a Liberty Wildlife employee that there's an animal that needs some type of aid. The employee asks where the animal was found, what (in the caller's opinion) seems to be wrong with it, and so on and so forth. I want to study animals from areas near here, just so when I'm presenting, my audience will be more experienced with what I'm talking about, and so it would be easier for me to study the species in the wild. However, since my observation can be biased, I also plan to do some computer and book research on the species' behavior to get some more data on how these animals behave. I'm not sure how well I answered any of your questions: I'm still trying to get this figured out. So I apologize if any of what I wrote was confusing and if you'd like me to clarify, just comment back and I'll try to be less unclear. Thanks again!
DeleteHi Korina! This is amazing! It is so cool you are so driven to help the amazing animals on this planet! Have you done things before with animals? Like volunteering at a shelter? Also how hands-on will this project be for you? Will you get to physically work with lots of animals? So excited to see more with your projects!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julia! I do actually have lots (well, I wouldn't say lots, but a fair amount) experience with animals. I've volunteered at the Phoenix Zoo for the past 3 years, learning the animal husbandry of farm animals and working at their Animal Care Clinic. I don't know exactly how much I'll get to interact with the animals. I know I'll be working with Liberty Wildlife's vet to take data on how some of the animals are injured, but I haven't discussed this with my on-site mentor in much detail yet. I'll let you know once I get a handle on my work and everything there. Thanks again, and I can't wait to read more from your blog too!
DeleteHi Korina! Your passion for this project clearly shows through your blog post and open voice. With the animals at Liberty Wildlife, is there a certain species that you think was most affected by human impact on the environment? Would you be analyzing animal behavior and get hands-on experience with the animals at Liberty Wildlife? I like that your project centers around human impact with the environment, and the effects on wildlife, and on that part, would be considering habitat loss and habitat restoration initiatives in your study? Your project sounds super interesting and I look forward to reading your blog and learning more fun facts on animals throughout the project!
ReplyDeleteHi, Sri! Thanks for commenting on my blog! I'm going to use my first week at Liberty Wildlife to figure out which species I should study, but off the top of my head, I know the California Condor is experiencing a lot of trouble lately adapting to chemical run-off caused by factories. Their egg shells are becoming weak due to the DDT entering their systems and so lots of chicks are dying. However, I don't think I'll be studying the condors. But, as birds are most vulnerable to any change in their environment, I'll probably be studying a bird species. For my project, I'll be analyzing this species' behavior once it's admitted into Liberty and additionally I'll be studying the species' behavior in the wild and compare the two. I don't know how much hands-on experience I'll get with the animals yet, but I'll keep you updated as I figure out my place on my site. Also, as habitat loss is global and has a huge impact on wildlife, there is a good chance I'll be looking into that once I start my research, as well as ways to restore the habitat if needed. Thanks again so much, and I can't wait to read more of your blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Korina,
ReplyDeleteI love this first blog post, I can clearly see your passion for animals. I was wondering if you are working directly with the injured animals at Liberty Wildlife, and if so, are you only working with the species you have there, or doing research online about other species that you are interested in. I'm excited to see where your research will take you.
Hi, Malia! Welcome to my blog and thanks so much for commenting! I'm not yet sure how much physical contact I'll have with the animals, but I'll keep you updated once I figure out my role in Liberty Wildlife (my first day is on Wednesday). I have to choose a certain species depending on the "potential availability" during my time at Liberty Wildlife. Basically, this means that I have to go through the records of animals admitted in the past years during the February-April time period, and, based on probability, choose which species I want to study then. However, there's a good chance that during my time there, I'll analyze other species' behavior, just for fun, and then report what I see on the blog. I hope I answered your question well enough, and thanks again!
DeleteHi Korina, I enjoyed your first blog post! I was wondering how you would be observing wild animals in your research project. More specifically, will you be visiting any specific sites near Arizona or somewhere else to observe animals in their natural habitats? Thank you, and good luck with your research!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jacob! I'm glad you're enjoying my blog so far, and thanks so much for commenting! For my project, I want to study an animal native to Arizona,
Delete1) because I feel that the audience of my presentation this May will connect with my research better if I talk about an animal they're familiar with
and 2) because, for the reason you mentioned, I don't really plan on traveling anywhere far to be able to study the species in their natural habitat,
so, yes, I will be going to regional parks in Arizona to study the animals. Thanks again for commenting, and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!
P.S. Sorry for the horrible formatting of this reply. I hope it doesn't deter you from reading my blog.
Great googly moogly, that's personality! Great job getting your voice through in your first blog post. I like the personal touches with the gifs and the audience participation polls you've got going. I do have a few questions however. I'd really like to know the breadth of animals that come into Liberty Wildlife, and the types of things they get treated for. I would especially like it summarized in graphical form; I do love a good graph. This is something that would be great to work on during the course of the internship to track changes. Also, will you be involved in their treatment, or will you be more of an observer?
ReplyDeleteOne more question... if you could only work with one animal for the next 15 years, which one would it be? Why? (I guess that was more than one question, but I think you can handle it.)
Hi, Ms. Mandigo! Thanks so much for all your help this year and for taking the time to comment on my blog! I am also a fan of the graphing and charting ways, so I'll be sure to include some in my upcoming posts, as they will also be very helpful for my presentation this May. I assume since I don't have the professional experience to treat the animals, I'll be an observer. But, then again, I've helped the veterinarian at the Phoenix Zoo with some necropsies, so maybe I'll be able to do something similar here. Additionally, I have to say, your next question is very difficult to answer. However, if I really think about it, I'd have to say orangutans because I love zoology and psychology, and to study the behavior and social structure of orangutans, one of the most developed primates in the world (besides us, I guess) would be amazing. But there are other animals that are also really cool, as we'll find out every week on my blog. :) Anyway, thanks again for everything, and I hope I'll talk to you soon!
DeleteHi Korina, while I am spiritually depressed that this blog isn't actually about elephants, I am not deterred in my curiosity in the slightest. And while I am just one person in this community of bloggers, I'd like to say (write) thank you for picking such a term project that researches on what our action can do to animals that cannot adapt to human changed environments. But moving on, would you tell us, what, in your opinion right now, is the human interaction that most negatively effects the animals that you are studying compared to your opinion on after you have researched it?
ReplyDeleteHey, Ryan! Thanks so much for commenting on my blog. About human's negative impact on animals, (which you can read more on in my final proposal), urbanization seems to be the most impactful on animal behavior as we are directly changing their habitat, which consequently forces them to adapt. Human impact that directly damaging would probably be, off the top of my head, deforestation in places like the Amazon, just because so many different species live in rain
Deleteforests and jungles, and deforestation literally destroys their home and ruins any means of survival that they grew up on. That's as much as I can tell you now before my work actually starts, but if I learn more, I'll be sure to keep you and everyone else updated. Thanks again for commenting, and I truly hope your spiritual depression doesn't dissuade you from reading my upcoming posts.
Hey Korina! As soon as I logged in onto the blog, I saw a GIF, a llama and Sally and instantly fell in love. You say you will be studying some sort of bird, but if you could choose from any species of bird, which species would you study and why? Also, I'd also like to know if your interest in animals was the only reason you have decided to intern at Liberty Wildlife. If it was not, then what other reason(s) got you to be interested there? Thank you for the entertaining read and good luck with your research!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kasi! I really tried to make my blog as entertaining as possible, so I'm glad you appreciated all the gifs and animals. Let me first say that I definitely do not know all the bird species in the world, and there are probably many amazing birds that I could study. But, if I could choose ANY bird to study... at the moment I'm really interested in the New Caledonian owlet-nightjar bird (look up a picture of it; it looks so cool), because it hasn't been seen since 1998 and it's critically endangered, so there wouldn't be a lot of research done about it. However, if I'm being more realistic, I'd probably study the California Condor because there's so many human-related problems with their species, including DDT and habitat loss. Additionally, to answer your second question, in the beginning of my Senior Project, I had to choose between Liberty Wildlife and a position to work on someone's grad thesis at ASU studying the mating patterns of hummingbirds. In the end, I chose Liberty Wildlife because my research question allowed me to combine my interest in animals, environmental science, and psychology. I hoped I satisfactorily answered your questions, and thanks again for commenting!
DeleteHi Korina!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely very late for this, but I still want to show my massive support for this topic. I love animals, even snakes and spiders, and I am delighted to see someone with similar enthusiasm. Animal issues can sometimes be seen as less important, so it is awesome to see someone who cares for nature and its inhabitants. Since you mentioned birds, I was wondering if air pollution has any major effects that cause adaptations, maybe stronger lungs or different flight patterns. I realize this is a very specific question that requires a lot of research, so I was also wondering if your favorite class of animals was birds and why. If not, which class is your favorite and why? Anyways, I think this is an amazing project and I love the poll (I'll probably vote for the weirdest one every time). Good luck!
Hey, Kyle! I'm even more late replying to you, so it's fine! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on my blog! I'm so glad you're interested in animals as much as I am, and I love to research questions like the one in your comment. I've been researching a lot of articles and studies, but can't find one that talks about how birds have adapted to air pollution. I hypothesize a reason for this would be that the air pollution now is much worse than, like 50 years ago, so in order the birds to actually evolve to have these adaptations, they have to live in this type of air pollution longer. I didn't see anything about flight patterns either, but I'll definitely keep looking out for it. But, in case people like you want to know more about how air pollution affects birds, I thought that the Audubon Society was able to briefly and simply map out the answer, so here's a link:
Deletehttp://ca.audubon.org/news/birds-suffer-air-pollution-just-we-do
To answer your second question, I'm pretty sure I love mammals the most, specifically small mammals and primates, but I also love studying everything else, so choices are hard. I'm not sure exactly sure why I love mammals more than any other class, but it might just be that I'm more comfortable with them as I spend a lot more time around mammals than any other class (although after this project, that may change to birds). Anyway, thanks for asking such great questions, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy my blog!
Hi Korina! I thought your first post was great and really captured your personality. Based on your description of the topic, I can see some connections to psychology. Is your research going to address the deeper mental impacts of human interference, or are you going to take a more evidence-based approach? Your blog is very aesthetically pleasing, and I liked the idea of the poll and allowing us to directly influence your project. I will be following your posts and am eager to see what avenue you pursue in your research.
ReplyDeleteHey, Nicolas! Sorry for the late reply, but thanks so much for commenting on my blog! Since no one can really be sure what animals are thinking, I think I'd have to base all my research off of observation and evidence. However, as I do love psychology, which is why I chose to study animal behavior, I might go into a deeper overall idea of how humans affect the animal's mentality as a side project. Thanks again for commenting, and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!
DeleteHi Korina! My name is Lauren Dominiak and I was instantly intrigued by your project based on the title (even though I am now aware it has nothing to do with elephants). I too have a passion for helping animals especially those that have been harmed due to human invasion. I was wondering if you plan on doing any research in other environments in Arizona, such as the forest in Flagstaff? Also I would like to request a Kiwi bird to be the background of your blog :)
ReplyDeleteHey Lauren! Thanks so much for commenting on my blog, and I'm glad we share a passion for animals. When I research, I do plan on staying in Arizona, at the very least. I'll probably go to a lot of regional and national parks. I don't know if I'll go as far as Flagstaff, but anything's possible, so Flagstaff has lots of wild critters, so it'd be a great site for me to observe an animal's behavior. Also, I love the kiwi bird, so I'll be sure to include it on my next poll! Thanks so much for commenting and being the first to make a background suggestion! I hope you'll continue to enjoy my blog!
DeleteHi this is Sam Ennis. Sorry I'm late! But I was wondering which environments you will cover since many animals survive in different environments and survive in different ways. Thank you for reading, I hope the best for your project
ReplyDeleteHi Sam! It's fine that you're late, since I'm replying extremely late to this comment, so I apologize to you. I plan on focusing my research to birds in Arizona, which basically means I'd be studying the desert ecosystem so my audience will be able to connect more with my project. Thanks so much for commenting!
Delete