Here's to interns past, present and future!

Holiday cheer to all alumni of the Museum. We are doing the best we can to cheer ourselves up while we await the arrival of the next crop of students.

In case you are wondering, students still go into the field in Wyoming every summer. This photo from last summer shows several important things:

1) the 1970 field vehicle is still working,
2) I haven't been able to get the money together to buy a new one,
3) we still get stuck (occasionally),
4) yes that's me driving, not digging (someone has to drive), and,
5) the sky really was that blue - a bad day in the field is still better than most days.

Scott Wing
3 December 2003

Have a sweet holiday from the NMFS lab!

Mollie Oremland and Alicia Long
4 December 2003

Winter at Scripps

So, are you jealous yet?!

Here I am standing on a cliff overlooking the beach and Scripps pier in La Jolla, California on the campus of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. You might even catch a glimpse of surfers in the background. (Thanks to Dimitri, a postdoc in my lab, for the great photos!) But get this! I’m actually standing in FRONT OF MY OFFICE …this is the view I am greeted with each morning!

Needless to say, life is great in beautiful sunny San Diego! Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s December. Although, I bet you northeasterners have no doubt that winter is coming…

Doesn’t this make you want to come visit me?! You are all welcome!

I just finished my first quarter as a graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I’m loving it! This quarter I took a full load of classes which included physical oceanography, marine biochemistry, and marine organisms. All of the classes were extremely interesting because they were taught by experts in their prospective fields and everything I was taught was up-to-date, some of it was still unpublished! (sorry guys, my profs said they’d cut off my tongue if I passed on some of that info…heehee).

I’ve also begun ‘getting my feet wet’ in the lab. My advisor studies how fluid flow affects the growth and bioluminescence of dinoflagellates, and how bioluminescence can be used to visualize flow in the wakes of ships, waves, or even around gliding dolphins. So, I’ve been helping with experiments and learning how to use cool toys like NAVO agitators and Couette devices. I’ve also started growing my very own dinoflagellate cultures and should be using them in my very first experiments soon!

As for other news…I just bought my first car! It’s a 1995 silver Ford Ranger pickup truck. It has a V6 engine and is soooo much fun to drive! I’ve also joined the Raza Graduate Student Association at UCSD. This is the first year of the organization, so we’re just getting started. But so far I’ve met some amazing people and made new friends. Our goals are to help and encourage hispanic students to go to graduate school. So, last week I sat on a panel with other grad students at San Diego State University, where I got the opportunity to tell a group of science students about my experience as an undergrad and give them advice about how to get into graduate school.

Even though the weather is great, school is fun, and the surfers are cute in San Diego I still miss my ‘family’ at the Smithsonian. I think about you often. I’ll never forget this summer…it was one of the best ever!

I wish all of you a GREAT HOLIDAY! Stay warm! And know that you have a friend in San Diego, California who is anxiously awaiting your visit :)

Love to all,
Elisa :)
8 December 2003

Merry Christmas to all!

I hope this year has been
one of love and celebration,
of happiness and cheer.

Best wishes for the New Year.

Feliz Natal e um próspero ano novo!

Leo

"Leonardo Versieux"
RTP Class of '02
22 December 2003

I am very well here in Trinidad and I have been working in Palynology/Micropaleontology -Biostratigraphy for the state oil company for the past 4.5 years - I identify fossil pollen for oil exploration...they trained me on the job....it is alot of geology as well as the palynology...I dunno if I will stay in it forever however but it is interesting.

I still "botanise" in my free time with a naturalist group that I coordinate two botany trips a year here and I am kinda starting to take care/grow orchids in my free time at home. I am still single and at home so I have the time :)

Well just wanted to drop you a line and send my regards to you and all the rest at NMNH who remember me....maybe I will visit DC again in the not to distant future...it would be nice to see you all after all these years.... imagine I haven't been back to DC since 1995...how time flies!

Keep well and God bless!

Nicholla Johnson
RTP Class of 1995
5 January 2004

Pegs Rule!
Happy New Year
from the Pegmatite Crew

6 January 2004

. . and here is what happens when you venture into the ARC and Mary has that camera and those darn reindeer antlers on-hand . . next thing you know your picture's on the web!

Happy Holidays!

Wow, it's been a long time since I was an intern. I am currently working part-time as a botanist for the NC Natural Heritage Program and full-time as a Mom to my 20 month daughter Elizabeth.

I've attached a holiday picture of me, John & Elizabeth

Jame (Duda) Amoroso
RTP Class of '88
12 December 2004

Happy 2004!

I'm headed to Ecuador to scout field sites for summer fielwork! ... fun, fun.

Rob Anderson
RTP Class of 1993
5 January 2004

Merry Christmas!

Stan Yankowski
22 December 2003

Seasons Greetings
from the ADRC Office

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season!

Wendy Wiswall
22 December 2003

The photo guys always love the cookies. We hope you have a fun and adventurous holiday season.

Jim DiLoreto and Don Hurlbert
23 December 2003

I hope that all of you have a joyous hoilday!

La'Shaun Willis
23 December 2003

Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Jennifer Dorton
23 December 2003

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Michelle Nestlerode
RTP Class of '98
23 December 2003

Seasons Greetings
from the staff in
Physical Anthropology

Happy Holidays to you and your family. Be safe and careful if you are traveling this holiday season. I want you to be in one piece when I see you again :)

Dave Hunt
24 December 2003

Happy Holidays
from all your friends in the
ARC

23 December 2003

My best wishes to you and your family in this new year!!!

Is been a long time since I left the United States and the National Museum of Natural History.

As soon as I arrived to Bolivia I joined a Conservation International expedition into one of the most beautiful places on the earth: The Isiboro-Secure National Park. We walked half of the way and then we took small boats until we arrived to Trinidad city. I think it was the second day walking in the middle of the cloudy forest of the Yungas region, in the eastern slope of the Andes. Our guides told us that we were about arriving to a place that used to be a main connection point between the cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. When I heard the name our guide pronounced I just couldn’t believe how lucky I was.

The name of this town in ruins was “el Limbo”, according with the information of the samples of the NMNH, this place was located somewhere between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz on a mule road…. When I was trying to georeference the Leptodactilidae info of the NMNH belonging to Bolivia this location was my headache. I simple couldn’t find info about it although I looked every possible information source.

Well, after this wonderful finding… (just for me) the whole expedition moved to the low lands and started the journeys by boat. The last day of the trip the sky was so beautiful, I took some pictures and I wanted to share this landscapes with the people who shared with me his knowledge when I was participating of the Research Training Program 2003.

My best wished for you and your family in this new year!!!

Sincerely,
Miguel Fernandez
RTP Class of '03
18 December 2003

Christmas?

What is that?

Oh, yeah! Now I remember!

Christmas is that thing that happens after finals. I am sure that all my summertime companions are feeling just that way.

As you can see from the picture, there are no sleigh bells ringing or snowflakes falling yet. The only thing in sight is a wall of carbonates. Can you guess which person is me? I'll give you a hint. I am the one with the hat, blue jeans, and a lot of hair missing.

What have I been up to besides field mapping and staring at sandstones? Well, GSA in Seattle was a blast. I was able to see so many of the researchers from the Smithsonian there. <Sniffle> It was all very nostalgic. I look forward to seeing everyone again, esp. Jenn, at the GSA Northeastern Section Meeting in DC in the spring. In the meantime, don't worry, you'll make it through finals and you will have a great holiday vacation afterward.

One parting word of advice: Sushi will make you happy, esp. if it is from an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. Aah, memories.
:-)

Take Care & Happy Holidays,
Nancy Price
RTP Class of '03
18 December 2003

Great image of Bob!!

Who knew he had teeth underneath that beard !?

I am including an image to post to my fellow interns from the RTP Class of '91. This was taken during the Mackinaw Island Regatta in 1996 the day after I passed my PhD qualifying exams... Nothing like a Regatta, northbound on the the Great Lakes, to 'purge' one's mind of 4 days worth of material! By the end of the race, my brain was back down to its 'normal' pea-size...

"Hi" to everyone, especially Bob.

HAPPY HOLYDAYS EVERYONE !!

CJ
Carlos J. Maldonado, Ph.D.
Captain, USAF, BSC
RTP Class of '91
18 December 2003

Best Wishes,
Susan Grose
RTP Class of '95
19 December 2003

Oh deer!

What a holiday!

Good cheers to all.

Jim Schulte
9 December 2003

Greetings from a former RTP'er!

I hope this message finds you well!

It's been a while since I've emailed you, and after reading through the RTP alumni message board yesterday, I thought I'd drop you an update.

I finished my PhD in Environmental Science at UC Berkeley in July. Berkeley seems to have been a convergence zone for
RTP 1994 alums--Jim Parham, Alan Krakauer, Roqui Bello, Todd Blackledge,
and I were all there at the same time (Todd as a post-doc)!

Do you know anywhere else that such a concentration from one class has occurred?

Anyhow, after a relaxing summer in Idaho, I joined the Presidential Management Fellow program. For my fellowship, I'm working in DC with the Bureau of Land Management as the science coordinator for the National Landscape Conservation System. Incidentally, Jim Parham also finished his PhD in 2003 (May, I think) and is now doing a post-doc in the Bay Area.

Aimee D K Betts
15 December 2003

Happy Holidays!

I just thought that I would drop you a note. I will be visiting the Museum for a couple days in January to do some micro-probe work on my samples from the summer so that I can have a more complete poster for GSA. I've gotten grants from my school, ordered plane tickets, and I'm making hotel arrangements! I can't wait to be back and see everyone again. Until then, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jennifer Maloney
RTP Class of '03
7 December 2003

To the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars:

Happy Holidays.
All the best to you for a bright new year!

From your natural history friends.
8 December 2003

Happy Holidays!

Jen Leonard
9 December 2003

Have a great holiday
and winter season!

I'm graduating from ASU in just a few days and am off to spend six months at the JC Campbell Folk School in SW North Carolina to learn all sorts of interesting lost Appalachian folk skills. Should be a blast.

Erin Doak
RTP Class of 2002
8 December 2003

Merry Christmas
and
Mongolian reindeer greetings to one and all

Greg McKee
5 December 2003

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good fish!

Our book - One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish: The Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Cookbook - is finally out (!) and we've been kept busy signing copies and making appearances.

The Ichthy Chicks,

Carol Baldwin
and Julie Mounts
5 December 2003

Pictures from my recent marriage in Winter Park, Colorado. Cesar Nufio (RTP Class of '94) and Dena Smith (RTP Class of '91) made it to the wedding.

Happy Holidays!

Michael Brewer
brewer_mike@yahoo.com
RTP Class of '94
7 December 2003

Happy Holidays

from the land of bugs
and
cnidarians.

Tim Coffer
and
Karie Darrow
4 December 2003

Seasons Greetings

Sue,
the ARC cleaning crew

It's 4:30 in 430 time. Happy holidays everyone from lead Photo Services reindeer Don Hurlbert and friends (Bill Fitzhugh, Jerry Sachs, Kiana Spain, and Jean Unger).

Holiday Quiz

Who is this person?

a. the face behind the beard

b. an escapee from the algae lab

c. co-host of RTP interns: Cynthia Balthazar (1986), Christine Bertels (1987),
Emma Dawson (1997), Nathan Eckrich (1992), Victoria Godwin (1987), Carlos Maldonado (1991), Carol Mears (1989), George Midla (1990), Ileana Ortegon-Aznar (1991), Vivian Ortiz (1983), and Brian Wysor (1996).

d. all of the above

Best of holidays to all.

. . . and I am NOT the beardless man pictured above.

All the Best,

George S. Midla
RTP Class of 1990
8 December 2003

To the Ecological Society of America - SEEDS:

Our special note to you.
You CAN achieve whatever you dream.
Let us know if we can help.

Thanks for visiting us in November.
We hope to see you again.

From your friends at the Museum.
8 December 2003

Happy New Year!

There are mammals of all kinds all around the Museum these days.

Bonita
5 December 2003

. . . and may all your meteorites be bright.

Tim McCoy
4 December 2003

Seasons Greetings from 451

To our interns from 2000 and 2001:

"With all this talk about renovations to the ARC, what ever happened to 451, the old RTP workroom in Hall 27?"

The space is now being used by the guys from ADESTA, who are working to make the building safer.

To The Great NMNH:

Oh how I have enjoyed working here. The staff is great, the collections are amazing - lets hope this continues forever and ever. I give thanks to everyone who has contributed in one way or another to the Institution and making it possible for young professionals like myself, to succeed in the ways in which we desire. Hats off to the Smithsonian.

Best Wishes,

Kristi Cotner
8 December 2003

Hi Folks,

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.... hope the new years brings peace, happiness and success.

I've just returned from a trip to South Africa (coelacanth conference) where I spent about a week interviewing Miss Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer. It was terribly exciting... she's a fabulous woman and still very much with it, despite her 96 years! Stay tuned for future updates and possible seminar.

Best wishes,
Susan
4 December 2003

The things you can talk me into. Yes, I wore the reindeer antlers AND posted MY photo (yikes!) - just for YOU!

Happy Holiday M&M's!

Greetings from the ARC!

. . . that's the newly renovated (and still undergoing more upgrades) Academic Resources Center (ARC), home to the RTP and all our other academic programs. It's been a busy (and dusty!) fall in the ARC. We've added a fresh coat of paint and new carpet - you won't recognize my office! Our computers have been replaced with fancy new ones and a powerpoint projector is being installed as I type - how cool! We even fixed the furniture, cleaned the ceilings and windows, and the Smithsonian electricians repaired all the broken lights - the place shines! But, knowing our alumni and friends as I do, you're more interested in the M&M's baskets. Yes, they're full and just waiting for your smiling faces to (re)appear.

It's still early December but so far this year we've recorded 316 academic appointments including 216 interns and 101 graduate fellows. No wonder I always seem busy, but never too busy to hear from our former students. I look forward to your messages and am off now to wander the halls to capture some more images for this posting.

Update: Who needs to wander the halls to find students and staff? With the baskets full of holiday M&M's, everybody visits the ARC!

Have a great holiday season!

Mary Sangrey
3 December 2003