The thing I love most about being a graduate student is that every day is different. Here, I share one of those days with you. I have heard from many well-seasoned graduate students and faculty that your PhD is a marathon, not a sprint. While I don’t have experience running marathons, my first year can best be described as interval training – at times I need to sprint, and at other times I take advantage of the slower pace to breathe. While this isn’t necessarily my everyday as a PhD student, I picked a day that encapsulates the variety of responsibilities PhD students face. We are mentors, teachers, community members, friends, students, and scientists, all jam-packed into one day!
I am a member of the Buckley Lab, where we study how organisms, particularly insects, respond to climate change over time. To investigate this, we explore various components of an organism’s life and development and how they relate to temperature. Then we compare those metrics to data collected in the past (usually 25-50 years earlier)! The lab’s current study animal is the butterfly. We are working with multiple species.
Since we study butterflies, a beautiful day in Seattle typically means my office is the outside world. Once the weather gets warm enough in the spring, we start catching butterflies for our summer research projects, so I get to spend my working hours soaking up the sun. This work has allowed me to explore parts of Seattle and Washington that others don’t often see.
On this day, I start my morning slowly at home with my dog, Kodiak. I answer emails and think about what lies ahead for the day. I usually recruit undergraduate students who work in the lab and volunteer to accompany me while catching butterflies, and if I am truly desperate, I will outsource some butterfly-catching to my friends and family. I quickly coordinate with lab members about catching butterflies today. I spend the rest of my morning snuggling with Kodiak. The morning time before work is sacred to me, and I am not the same if I don’t get it in. It comes time for me to leave. I pack my bag, give Kodiak a goodbye “boop” on the nose, and I am out the door. Because the weather is beautiful, I ride my clunky bike to work.
I arrive at the Life Science Building 20 minutes later and find a nearly full bike room. Luckily, I can find one of the last nooks to nestle my bike in for the day. I head upstairs to my desk. Most often, when I get to work, I get oriented and prepped for the day on my computer, then transition to either insect-rearing or lab-maintenance tasks.
Today, I train an undergraduate researcher working in our lab, Leo, on how to make butterfly nectar and set up butterfly cages in the UW greenhouse.
After butterflies are collected from the field, we bring them back to the UW greenhouse, and each butterfly gets its own cage to lay eggs. The butterflies need food while they are in the cages, so nectar is prepared in advance. In a few days’ time, the butterflies will lay eggs, and we care for them as they mature from caterpillars into pupae, and finally metamorphose into butterflies.
Once I’ve shown Leo how to make nectar, I gather my cutting-edge catching supplies: icepacks, a cooler, an empty mint tin, glassine envelopes, flat-tip forceps, a butterfly net, a water bottle, and sunscreen. With the supplies overflowing in my hands, I head down Stevens Way to catch the 372 bus that will drop me off a few blocks from the Picardo P Patch. We are catching butterflies in the same community garden where they were caught 30 years ago for our current research.
I hop on the bus and get the usual interested looks from fellow public transit users. It’s not every day you see a weird red-headed lady on the bus with a net. Anyways, it is a 20-minute ride to my destination, so I have some time to drink a chocolate protein shake and listen to music as I look out the bus window. What’s in the queue, you ask? Ironically, I am listening to a song called “The Bug Collector” by Haley Heynderickx. The artists River Whyless, Odie Leigh, and John Craigie also set the mood for this bus ride. With those sweet melodies in my ears, I admire the route to the P Patch. Seattle is beautiful year-round—contrasting to the cold Wyoming springs that I am used to — but I think that this time of year is particularly spectacular. I admire the magnolia and rhododendrons blooming, the whites, pinks, and purples blending into my favorite spring palette.
One of my favorite parts of living in Seattle is that nature is in the city. When I first moved to Seattle, I feared I would miss the nature that had surrounded me for the last 25 years. Growing up and going to college in Wyoming, there was no shortage of wide-open spaces. If you have driven through Wyoming, you know that the towns are far and few in between. The landscape consists of rolling hills, and then suddenly, you are on a mountain pass. A stark contrast to Seattle, with its year-round blooms and its urban nature reprieves.
I spend time pondering over who knows what, and before I know it, it’s time to pull the yellow cord for my stop. I thank the bus driver, and I am on my way.
I start the brief walk to the P patch when I hear a “cheep cheep” from above. Looking up, I spot an adult osprey on top of a light pole, its nest perched perfectly atop the platform. The young osprey in the nest caws as if to say, “Mom! Dad! I’m hungry! Hurry up!” I move closer and capture the moment.
Once I am done ogling the osprey, I start on my walk to catch butterflies. It’s not long at all, maybe a few minutes. As I am walking, I take note of the temperature around me. When you catch insects for a living, you become a walking weather station because weather often coincides with insect activity. I notice it’s a bit breezy, but it’s warm and sunny, so I am hopeful we will catch butterflies.
I get to the P Patch, and I immediately see a cabbage white butterfly flying! Good sign. I drop off my cooler, and then I am on the hunt. About 20 minutes into catching, I get a message from Leo, who’s prepping cages back at the lab. He lets me know that Kiylie (another undergraduate researcher) is on her way and will be joining me. I am stoked. Kiylie has never caught butterflies with me before, and I am always excited to introduce insect catching to newcomers. I am also happy to have an additional collector.
Kiylie is instantly a natural; she immediately identifies male cabbage whites from female cabbage whites (hint: they have two dots on their wings). I am including a wholesome photo of Kiylie, proudly showing off her first butterfly!
I lose track of time while catching butterflies, and before I know it, it’s time for me to head back to campus to make my afternoon meeting. Kiylie is still in catching mode, so I leave her and ask her to bring any butterflies she catches back to the lab, and I will set them up in cages to hopefully lay eggs. I run off to the bus – it never comes – I am going to be late for my meeting.
I finally get on the bus and get back to the Life Science Building. I quickly grab my bike, and I am off again! I am headed to an office near campus to meet with Lisa, a scientist who studied the Sachem Skipper for her dissertation in the late 90s. I plan to make the same measurements for my dissertation. I am interested in how this butterfly is responding to warming winters and summers in Washington state. I need to know everything Lisa knows! I’ve never been to her office before, so this was a fun experience! I am so happy I took my bike, because it would’ve taken me at least 20 more minutes to get there if I had driven.
It’s close to 4 o’clock after my meeting with Lisa, so I head back to the university. Kiylie is waiting for me back at the lab. I set up all the butterflies in cages in the greenhouse. Before I know it, it’s time for me to leave! The days go by fast when you’re having a blast. I hop on my bike and pedal home as fast as I can to change and head to the gym class I am taking tonight.
After the gym, I stop by the grocery store to pick up sour cream and salsa, the last ingredients for dinner. Chicken quesadillas are on the menu this evening. Once dinner is devoured, the night begins to wind down. I make sure to take ample time for myself at night, unwinding with a game of Fortnite (don’t knock it until you try it) and thinking back on the day – the osprey, Kiylie’s first catch, everything I learned from Lisa. Every day is different, and days like this one remind me I am exactly where I need to be.
