[August 23, 2013] – The End is Nigh

Tessellated Darters: Shengnan Huang, Jiaqi LI, Denon Kanagarajah, Bridget Enright

 Our last full day at QUBS began early for those who ventured out on a sunrise canoe trip around Opinicon Lake.  The rest of the morning was spent analyzing and inputting data for our wetland assessments.  The information collected on Tuesday and Thursday will be vital for writing our final reports.  Some groups went back into the field for last-minute data collection  while most gathered with their groups to dive into the world of Latin species names for plant and animal identification.  After lunch everyone gathered in the seminar room to meet Jim Lee, Margaret ? And ? From Queen’s University.  These three individuals play an integral role in the exchange agreement between Queen’s and the four participating Chinese Universities.  The class was asked about how they felt about their time at QUBS and what they had learned.  There was an outpouring of emotion from both the Chinese and Canadian students as they expressed how they felt about new made friends and memories made that will last a lifetime.  Up next was a trip to the QUBS facility out on Elbow Lake, about a 30 minute drive away.  Mostly used for children’s camps, the Elbow Lake facility is equipped with a small sandy beach which the class quickly took advantage of.  The Canadian students demonstrated to the Chinese students how to almost sink a paddle boat by piling too many people on board….the Chinese students then took a turn at nearly sinking the paddle boat themselves.  There was also a rousing game of King of the Raft where students took turns pushing each other off a raft anchored out in the middle of the lake.  Charlie Brown was by far the winner of this game, thrilling all the on-looking students with some of his dance moves as he turned the raft into a dance floor.  After dinner it was down to business.  Any last data had to be inputted into the computer, luggage needed to be packed and cottages had to be cleaned.  By 8pm it was time to relax.  The class gathered in the seminar room one last time, to honour our professors and our T.A’s with a gift of wine (God knows they need a drink after dealing with us for two weeks!) and to watch a slideshow of all the pictures taken during the course.  A big thanks goes out to Jigi for putting together the beautiful slideshow that had people laughing and crying.  The night finished off with a campfire where all the students, profs and T.A’s roasted marshmallows, ate dumplings (thanks MingZhi!), told stories and sang songs.  It was a very late night as everyone was reluctant to leave the bonfire, because that meant morning good-byes were that much closer.

早上五个人在船上醒来看到日出像梦一样，之后几个同学划船去湖中心看日出，大家都想趁着在QUBS的最后一天享受美好时光。早餐过去各个小组聚集在一起整理之前湿地评价的数据，也有一些小组返回湿地做最后的信息收集。大家都在查阅书籍确定湿地中生物的拉丁名字。午饭过后所有同学聚集到小报告厅欢迎来自女王大学的Jim Lee, Margaret ? And ? ,他们主要负责女王大学和这几所中国大学的签约。同时同学们谈论了自己在QUBS的经历和感受，两国同学都表示这段经历将会成为一生的记忆。接着我们一起坐了30分钟车来到了Elbow湖，这里主要是用于小朋友玩耍的地方，我们很快就“霸占”了本来就很小的沙滩。拿大学生向中国学生演示怎样通过把很多人拖上船来把脚踏明伦船弄沉，之后中国学生开始轮流把船弄沉。我们玩了激动人心的＂漂筏之王＂的游戏，在湖中心，大家一个接一个地把别人推下漂筏。Super sun是最后的赢家，他把漂筏变成了自己的舞场，惊艳一片。之后大家将数据输入电脑，打包行李，清理宿舍。8点钟，是时候放松一下了。大家最后一次集结在研讨室来感谢教授和助教为我们的付出。大家送了他们酒（在和我们斗智斗勇两周之后他们真的需要酒精治愈一下了:-P）我们还看了用这次课程中拍摄的照片做成的幻灯片，对gigi给大家做的精美有哭有笑的幻灯片表示大大的感谢。晚上的最后一项活动是教授，助教和学生一起参加的篝火晚会，大家一起烤棉花糖，分享美味的饺子（大谢铭志！），讲故事，唱歌，好不开心。夜已经很深了但大家都不情愿从篝火旁离开，因为离开便意味着清晨的别离又近了。

 

[August 23, 2013] – Last day at QUBS

The last morning at QUBS and everyone’s feeling a little forlorn to be leaving so soon.  Groups spent the morning acquiring last bits of data for their project and consolidating it, resulting in what I believe was the quietest few hours on the entire facility.  Nothing like a deadline to put an end to revelry.  Everything looked great however, and with the wetlands assessed, it should be an absolute breeze to whip together the 19 page paper – lucky for us we have a bit of time to play with.  The afternoon brought in Jim Lee, vice provost of Queens University along with two colleagues to check out QUBS and our course for the first time.  Our group did not fail to impress upon them that the course was absolutely excellent and fruitful in a variety of ways.  I believe I speak for everyone when I say that the course was among the very best of my university experience, with a great environment and teaching staff to boot.  People that otherwise wouldn’t have met became fast friends, and I think that Canada and Canadians in general left a very good impression on the Chinese students. I certainly know that we loved all of them.  A trip to the alternate Elbow lake facility was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, a beach on a lovely day will do that for you.  The magic of the whole experience was sufficient even to drag Dr. Lougheed into our group photo – a personal as well as group victory.  With a group slideshow of our experiences (thanks Gigi) and a night of marshmallows (and surprisingly talented karaoke) around a bonfire to cap the trip off, it stands as one of the best days of an amazing trip.  While morning would bring on tears and goodbyes, it is a testament to the unity of the group and excellence of the experience that at three in the morning on the last night there, everyone from the course gathered together and celebrated their time in the most international of ways, with fun, friends and an awful lot of laughs.  Thank you everybody.

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8月23日，周五。 程小桁 译

这是我们在QUBS的最后一个早晨了，大家都为即将到来的离开与告别而伤感。各个小组们在上午采集了各自项目的最后一些数据，并对数据进行校对和处理；这使得这段时间成为在我看来整个生态站最安静的时间。没有什么能像死线一样将结局推向狂欢。不过一切看来都很顺利，我们将借助这些数据构建出19页的湿地评估论文——不过那是6周后的事，现在我们得以贪闲，享受大家在生态站最后的时光。

这天下午，我们见到了女王大学的副教务长Jim Lee，与他同行的还有两位同事，他们一同前来对QUBS 和我们的课程进行评估；这对我们的课程是首次。我们小组成功地向他们展示出这个课程的优秀以及我们各方面的收获。我相信，当Jesse说到这个课程是我们大学时光中最好的经历时，在座的所有同学们都会赞同；如果没有这个课程，我们当中的许多人也许此生压根就不会见面，更别提成为挚友了。加拿大和这里的同学老师们给我们留下了非常好的印象；当然，我相信每个加拿大的同学也同样喜爱着我们这批远方来的朋友。

之后，我们随Jim去了Elbow湖畔的另一个生态站；在那宜人的沙滩上消磨下午时光最好不过了。这个美好的下午甚至魔法般地帮我们将Lougheed教授拉入最后的合影中——这不仅是个人的胜利， 还是群体的胜利！

晚上，我们借助幻灯片回顾了这两周的所有经历（感谢Gigi搜集大家的照片并制作幻灯！）；不久后，湖边便燃起了送别的篝火，我们烤着棉花糖，拉着歌，就这样走过了这旅程中最后一个最精彩的日子。诚然，第二天的晨光会带来离别的眼泪，但这场持续到凌晨3点多的篝火是我们此次奇妙旅程和非凡友谊的见证：我们用最国际的方式庆祝着一同度过的日夜，用友情和欢笑为这个旅程画上句号。

 

谢谢各位！

 

[August 22, 2013] – Day 12 at the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS)

Blog entry by Little Wood Satyrs (Megisto cymela)

Eastern Nets group members found a green frog on Liadsay Marsh

Our teamleader DJ Sison is testing PH of water in Cow Island.

view of cow island wetland

Today is the second day for our wetland assessment. In the morning we firstly assigned our tools for today. Since some groups had not captured fish with seinnets, we were provided with minnow trap.  Minnow trap was a device that looked like 2 buckets combine together with two small entrance on both ends.  The main point was to put bread in the buckets and fish would come in through the two entrance but it was difficult for them to find the way out. Professor Wang told us how to use it and soon every group set out with their equipment

Our group’s Marsh was the nearest one called Cow Island Marsh. On arriving there, we (4 group members) took our first water sample for phytoplankton identification.  After finishing  this we divided into 2 pairs. One pair stared working on our area tracking. The other stated fish catching fish and assessing dissolved oxygen. Specifically speaking area tracking means that we went onto Cow Island and walked along the shore line and set GPS marks. And catching fish means throwing our minnow trap into water planning to harvest some fish later in the afternoon. Later we gather again doing the pH assessment together.

After finishing these we went back for lunch, and unfortunately it started raining heavily. So every group changed their plan and wait till the rain stopped. In the afternoon we tested densiometre and gather some plants parts for further identification. Before we left, it started raining again. And we pulled out our narrow  minnow trap and surprisingly saw many small fished jumping in it. Although some of us got wet all over, we felt rewarded.

Later in the afternoon we identified the fish we captured .We saw other teams coming back wet but cheerful.  At night we had a lecture on how to write a scientific report given by Professor Lougheed which was quite beneficial.

 

2013年8月22日

在女王大学生物实习站的第12天

眼碟队的博客

今天是我们进行湿地评估的第二天。一大早，我们各小组先分配了今天要使用的工具。鉴于有些组没有用渔网捕到鱼，老师给我们提供了鱼仔诱捕器。鱼仔诱捕器是由两个铁丝笼和在一起组成的。使用方法是把面包作为诱饵放到铁笼里吸引鱼，诱捕器上有两个很小的入口，鱼容易进入却不容易出去。王叔教会我们使用诱捕器后就让每个小组都去装备一个诱捕器。

我们组的湿地是所有组中最近的Cow Island湿地。到了湿地后，我们组四个人首先从水中取了浮游生物的样品以用于鉴定。在一起安置好了诱捕器，我们四个人分成了两组，一组继续在小岛上用GPS设置路标，追踪我们湿地的大致路径。另一组则开始测湿地的水氧容量并时刻关注着我们的捕鱼成果。湿地路径的追踪要求我们沿着Cow Island湿地沿岸的路径整个走一遍，并且在各个关键点用GPS设置路标。而捕鱼则要把诱捕器准确地扔进水中的指定位置，然后等待鱼自己游进去。之后，我们从翠鸟队的同学处拿到了PH测定仪，然后又测试了不同的三个点的PH值、电导性等。

在设置好捕鱼器后，我们回到了生物站吃午饭。不幸的是，午饭才开始不久就下雨了，并且下得很大，所以我们不得不改变原来定好的计划，等待雨停才能再回到湿地。雨小了些后，我们开始了光密度的测试，与此同时，我们还从湿地采集了部分样品用于后续的鉴定。在我们走之前，雨又开始大了起来，我们冒着雨把之前放好的捕鱼器收了回来，惊奇的发现里面有很多小鱼在铁笼中。这一收获使我们倍感高兴，即使我们都被雨淋得湿透了却依然觉得很值得。

到了下午晚些的时候，我们查阅资料鉴定了我们捕获的鱼。看着那些和我们一样被淋湿了却带着满脸喜悦回来的同学们，我心中有一种无以言表的幸福。晚上，鉴于我们从来没有用英文完成科学报告，Lougheed教授给我们讲述了一节关于应该如何完成我们的课程报告的非常实用的课。于是，有一个充实的一天就这样过去了。

[August 22, 2013] – Second and Last Day of Collecting Data at QUBS

Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens)

By Siao Ye, Xiaoxue He, Ningdong Tan, and Natasha Mosdossy

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 This was the second last full day we stayed in the QUBS biostation, and the last day we went into the field for data collection. We are just amazed by how fast time flies! Early in the morning the rest of the groups went out with Dr. Lougheed for bird watching. While inundated with callings of insects, Dr. Lougheed could still identify certain kinds of bird songs among them, some of which we even had difficulties in making out. Then it was the routine time for breakfast. It was rather joyful to have something filling our hungry sleepy bodies.

After breakfast, all of us set out again. Some went for seining, some for water chemistry analysis, as well as density measuring, phytoplankton analysis, minnow catching, or species identification. What a busy day today was! And it started raining! Fortunately it was not really heavy so all of us kept working to have a deeper understanding of the marsh. Although, lying on the ground and using a densiometer was rather annoying.  Most of the work was finished before lunch, so in the afternoon we began dealing with the data collected and identifying the species using our camera.

Right after dinner some groups went to finish work. Our group decided to check the traps we set in the morning. It was rather a surprise because we ended up with an eastern newt larva in our trap! Eastern Newts found an eastern newt! It was like coming cross an old friend! Also we caught two kinds of baby fish that were difficult to identify, but luckily we have our trusty guidebooks.

Again the day ended with a lecture, but was about report template. What a nice day!

这是我们在生物站停留的倒数第二个整天，很有可能也是我们在野外进行数据收集的最后一天。时间飞逝之快真是让人吃惊！清晨，余下的三个小组跟随Lougheed博士前去观鸟。尽管周围充斥着虫鸣声，Louheed博士仍能从中分辨出某种鸟类的叫声，而其中有一些我甚至完全听不出来。随后是惯例的早餐时间，能够在困饿交加的时候填饱肚子实在开心。

早餐后我们所有人又出发了。有的人捕鱼，有的人分析水质，也有人测量植被覆盖率，诸如此类。多么忙碌的一天！而且还下起了雨！所幸雨并不大，因此我们都能为了进一步了解沼泽而继续调查工作。我不得不承认趴在地上使用覆盖率测量仪是一件十分恼人的事。不过在午饭前大部分的工作都完成了，因此下午我们开始处理收集到的数据，并辨认拍到的照片中的生物物种。

晚饭后有些小组进行收尾工作，我们组则去检查早上放置的捕鱼陷阱。令我们惊讶的是，我们找到了一只鲵！另外还有两种小鱼。

这一天又以讲座结束，不过这次是关于如何写报告的。再一次说明时间过的多么快啊。

[August 22, 2013] – Wetland Assessment Day II

Canadian Darners—Tiara,Jeffery,Chen Li,Luting Chen

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Today, on August 22, 2013, various groups went with Professor Lougheed early in the morning to go listen and identify birds in our respective wetlands.  During this time, teams set up minnow traps to catch smaller fish found in our wetlands.  Returning to QUBS, the students had a great breakfast.  However, not all students returned at the same time.   Two students were not at the pickup point until much later; thus were driven courtesy of Dr. Lougheed near the end of breakfast.  After breakfast, we all went down to the lecture hall and had a briefing on who was going to bring which equipment as well as which professor would be driving each team.  Once we collected our appropriate equipment, we all travelled to our wetlands.  We performed the appropriate processes to assess our various wetlands.

We used water chemistry equipment, dip-nets for analyzing dredge samples, densitometers and minnow traps to analyze the biodiversity of our wetland.  Today was the only day that we had rainy weather.  In the morning it was scattered showers, but after lunch, there was quite the downfall!  Some teams needed to return to the wetlands in the afternoon after a wonderful lunch.  Those teams had quite the adventure exploring the wetlands while nature does what it does best!  Other teams utilized the assistance from MingZhi with phytoplankton analysis.   After an exhausting, but exciting day, all teams returned to the lodge of QUBS and had dinner.

After dinner, we met up in the lecture hall again and went over the requirements for the report that will be due 6 weeks post field course.  We also reminisced on the great friendships we have made and the bonds both Canadians and Chinese students now share.   Two days remain in the field course but memories can still be made.

今天一大早，许多小组都跟着Professor Lougheed去到各自地湿地听鸟，辩鸟。与此同时，一些组也在他们的湿地里放置了用于捕捉小鱼的鱼网。之后，大家回到基地享用了一顿美味的早餐。但不是所有的学生都同时回到了基地，有两位同学比预定的时间晚了很多才到达指定接送点；好在Professor Lougheed在早餐时间即将结束的时候把他们接了回来。早餐后，所有同学都在底楼的教室集合，简要地讨论了哪一组需要什么工具以及每一组将搭乘哪一班车去到湿地。大家准备完各自小组所需的器材后纷纷去到自己组需要调查评估的湿地。根据上一周的学习，大家都采取了适当的方法评估湿地。

我们测试了水中的PH值，温度，电导率以及溶解氧，并用密度仪和渔网分析了湿地的生物多样性。今天是我们在QUBS中唯一一天下雨的，早上还只是淅淅沥沥的小雨，午后大雨倾盆而下。有些小组需要在午后继续回到湿地，相信他们在大雨中探索湿地的经历会让他们难以忘怀。另外一些组在铭志的帮助下对采集到的浮游生物进行分析。这一天虽然很辛苦，但是大家都很开心。

晚饭后，大家再次在教室中集合。Professor Lougheed对课程结束六周后需要上交的报告做了阐述。同学们也回忆了中国学生和加拿大学生建立起来的深厚友谊和团结精神。虽然野外课程只剩下两天了，但是我们之间的友谊不会就此结束。

 

[Aug 21, 2013] – A visit to the Kingston region

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Canada Darner: Chen Luting (Grace), Li Chen, Tiara Couglin, Gzi Kei Jeffrey Chow

      Today we planned an excursion in the Kingston region.  Our excursion took us to three locations in the Kingston area: a boat cruise along the Saint Lawrence, a wastewater treatment plant for the Kingston area, a tour led by some Queen’s natives of Queen’s University campus, and to top off the day- a live performance at Fort Henry for the sunset ceremony.

今天我们的目的地是金斯顿。这次短途旅行我们去了三个主要景点：我们搭船欣赏了圣劳伦斯河，参观了污水处理厂和女王大学本部校区。我们的行程以观看在Fort Henry的夕阳仪式中结束。

We set out early arriving in Gananoque to cruise the Saint Lawrence.  We learned on board of the environmental and ecological aspects that have been a part of this waterway since its creation.  The tour took us through the Thousand Islands (which apparently do indeed have a thousand islands), through cottages and various national parks. We witnessed firsthand an interesting interdigitation between settled land and wildlife, as birds flew about us on our trip.  We discussed with our friends from China the common habit of ‘cottaging’ in Canada, whereby many people like to take advantage of the beautiful and rustic freshwater lakes, particularly in Ontario.  One of the negative aspects of this trend is that people favor building on shorelines, which can lead to the destruction of critical shoreline habitat that merges land and water.

我们起了个大早，出发去到Gananoque以参观圣劳伦斯河。在船上我们了解到圣劳伦斯河的水路在它建立之初就考虑到了其环境和生态意义。我们搭乘的游船载着我们经过了Thousand Islands（它不是徒有虚名的，确实是由1000个岛屿组成），私人别墅以及国家公园。我们亲眼见证了居住区与无人区的完美结合。整个旅途过程中始终有鸟儿在我们的头顶盘旋。加拿大的同学们向我们介绍了加拿大人热爱拥有别墅的习惯，因为在那里人们可以享受美丽并且淳朴的淡水湖，特别是在安大略省。但是这种习惯也有它不利于生态的一面，由于人们喜欢把别墅建在岸边，这就很容易导致对于岸边栖息地和水质的破坏。

We then travelled to the Raven’s View Wastewater Treatment Plant, which filters water in the city of Kingston.  We were taken on a guided tour through the secondary system, which takes the sewage from the municipality and brings out a product that is clean enough to enter into back into the waterway.  We were interested to learn that thirty percent of the energy used by the plant comes from burning of digestor gas from some of the sewage input.

之后我们参观了Raven污水处理厂，这个污水处理厂过滤金斯顿的生活用水。在工厂技术人员的带领下，我们参观了其中二级处理的部分——将污泥从混合物中分离并且使得剩余物质在进入水路时足够清洁。当我们知道工厂中30%的能源来源于焚烧污水排入时产生的气体时，我们觉得很兴奋。

We were given a tour of Queen’s University, through the limestone buildings covered with vines.  We all grabbed a bite to eat at some of the many delicious restaurants that can be found in Kingston (to name a few places some people went- we covered bases of Korean, German, Canadian local farmed food and hotpot).  After dinner, we travelled to our final destination- Fort Henry.  Before getting to our destination, MingZhi decided to treat everyone to an ice cappuccino (we love you).   Filing out of the bus, we made our way to the ancient Fort Henry. As the sun hung low in the sky, we found our seats and the ceremony began.  We were impressed by the show- we had not expected the impressive musical abilities of the participants in the ceremony.  We even had the chance to engage in the events: Huang Shengnan, Bridget (mom), Li Chen, Jin Lei jumped up and learned how to properly march in a Fort Henry army fashion.  Overall, the ceremony was fantastic- including musical performance, military marching, and an astounding battle reenactment.

大约3点30分，我们抵达了以石灰岩建筑为主并且覆盖着大面积藤本植物的女王大学本部校区。我们组队去品尝了在金斯顿可以找到的美食（韩国料理，德国菜，加拿大当地风味以及火锅）。晚饭后，我们去到了Fort Henry。在此之前我们的助教铭志请我们吃了冰镇卡布基诺（我们大爱铭志）。由于到达时间尚早，我们在Henry Fort周围游览了一番。当太阳慢慢地降落，我们找到我们的座位，仪式开始了。我们都被震惊了——我们都没有想到参加仪式的乐手有如此富有感染力的音乐天赋。黄圣楠、Bridget（妈妈）、李晨、金蕾还亲身参与学习了Fort Henry的军姿。总之，这个包含了音乐表演，阅兵仪式和精彩的战役再现的仪式很美妙。

[August 20th, 2013] – A visit to Ottawa

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by Team American Martens(Kimberley Richards, Yue YANG, Xiaoheng CHENG, Chaoyang HU)

We spent most of the day in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.During free activity time in the morning, (after arriving at Parliament Hill), Bridget andJeffery guided many of the Chinese students around, other Canadian students went to

the Rideau mall. With the introduction from J and B, we gained a better understandingof Canadian culture and history, and Rideau Canal especially. Later, some went to visitthe Notre D’ame Cathedral, Parliament and others the National Art Gallery.

我们在加拿大的首都：渥太华玩了一天。早上到达国会大厦以后，Bredget和Jeffery带着中国学生参观，其余的加拿大学生去了Rideau商场。 在J和B的介绍下，我们更好地了解了加拿大的文化和历史，特别是Rideau运河。后来，一些人去了Notre D’ame 大教堂，国会。还有的去了国家艺术中心。

After a simple box lunch at noon in riverside park, we started our “journey” in the Natural Heritage Building of Canada Museum of Nature (French: Edifice du Patrimoine naturel, Musee canadien de la Nature) in southern Quebec. The building is mainly for scientific research, and we visited there for study rather than travel.

在河边吃完简单的午餐以后，我们去参观了位于魁北克南部的加拿大国家自然博物馆。这座建筑适用于科学研究的，我们到这里更多的是学习而不是旅游。

We were warmly welcomed by our host Roger Bull, who graduated from Queen’s University, as well as two other colleagues, Margaret Currie and Micheline Beaulieu-Bouchard. The whole class was then divided into 3 groups, which visited the building separately. Herbarium, birds and mammals, invertebrates, laboratory and dinosaurs are the 5 rooms we visited, each taking 15 minutes. Our group (group 1) was received by Michelline Beaulieu Bouchard, a very kind lady.

我们被女王大学毕业的Roger Bull以及另外两位同事Margaret Currie, Micheline Beaulieu-Bouchard热情地欢迎。整个队分成了三组分批参观。我们参观了植物标本、鸟类、哺乳动物、无脊椎动物、实验室、和头骨。每个15分钟，我们组被一个叫Michelline Beaulieu 的，非常友好的女士接待。

Paul Sokoloff gave us an introductionto herbarium here. With 2000~3000 specimens of vascular, moss and algae here, thecollections are not only used in taxonomy and art, but also help clarify biological histories of different regions, and are significant in some ecological and historical research. Specimens here are preserved in insect free, pest free, fire free and lightfree condition. Temperature and humidity are also controlled. Currently the researchinterest of herbarium here is focused on arctic plants. Each year, the museum sendsresearchers to arctic regions to collect specimens, as the large arctic area is still virginin botanical study, and still many species there are free to be discovered. Theherbarium is also planning to establish their online library of specimen data, whichwas estimated to be available next year.Michel Gosselin welcomed us at the birds and mammals collection room. Fur requires different preserving condition from bones, sothe collection we saw were mostly skulls and skeletons of large mammals. Specimensof small animals are placed on cabinets. Some are from smugglers, some from privateor public donation. There were hundreds of antlers hanging on the far wall. There werealso 3 giant tree trunks kept in the room, the oldest of which is older than a thousandyears.Then, we went to visit 1 room (out of 12) of fluid preserved invertebrates. Specimensare mostly kept in ethanol, some in formal aldehyde. Considering these fluids are all flammable, the room has a very good sensing and ventilating system.  Another roomconcerning shells and insects was also visited, still with Jean-Marc Gagnon as guide.For collections, minimum information on place, date is extremely crucial, and collector and preserving method are also important; without this data, specimens would be of little scientific value. There were many beetles specimen, which was the most diverse among other insect collections. Most of their specimen are so well preserved they are okay for DNA research. As deforestation has been threatening habitats of numerous insect species, collecting samples may be of urgency, claimed Jean.

Paul Sokoloff 给我们介绍了植物标本。这里有案可查2000到处3000种藻类、苔藓。这些收藏不仅用于分类和艺术，也帮助我们分析不同地区的生物历史。在生态学和历史研究上很有意义。这里的标本在无虫、无火、没有太阳光的条件下。温度和湿度也要控制。研究着重极地植物。 每年博物馆都要派研究人员去极地采集标本。大面积的极地区域还没有植物研究，还有很多种类没有被发现。植物标本正计划建立在线的数据，将在明年可实现。 Michel Gosselin欢迎我们去到鸟类和哺乳动物收藏室。皮毛和骨头要求的储存条件不同。所以我们看到的大多数是哺乳动物的头骨和骨架。 小动物的标本被摆放在橱柜中。一些来自走私者，一些来自私人的收藏或者捐献。在墙上有上百头鹿角。还有三个巨大的树干在房间，最老的有一千年。然后，我们去了12馆之一的无脊椎馆，大多数标本保存在酒精中，一些在乙醛中。考虑到这些易燃的，房间有很好的感应系统和通风系统。我们还去了一个收集贝壳和昆虫的房间，仍然是Jean-Marc Gagnon 带我们。收集，最小的信息，数据非常重要，采集者和收藏的方法非常重要。没有数据，标本就没有科学价值。那里有很多甲壳虫的标本，它们是比其他昆虫更加多样化的。大多数的标本保存的很好，以至于可以用于DNA的研究。Jean 强调：砍伐森林破坏昆虫的栖息地，将威胁生物种类，很难采到标本。

After a shot break, we went to visit a laboratory. Mr.Paul Hamilton and Two Chinese staff from Guizhou  Normal University(Li Dan & Li Ya) introduced their project on eco-engineering methods to treat eutrophic water.

短暂休息以后，我们去了一个实验室，Paul Hamilton和两个来自贵州师范大学的学生(Li Dan和 Li Ya)介绍她们生态工程净水的方法。

The last room we (group 1) visit was for dinosaurs, and Xiaochun Wu was our guide. As Wu introduced, the CMN is the first natural museum in Canada, and most of specimens here are type-specimens. The best way to transport and preserve the fossil samples is “in jackets”, which means after exposing bones in the fossil, using levels of plasters and cloths to wrap it up. Wu also told us some interesting facts of herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaur species there.

我们去的最后一个房间是收藏头骨的，吴晓春是我们的向导，他介绍到：这里是加拿大第一个自然博物馆，这里的大多数标本都是，最好的运输和保存这些标本的方法是给他们“穿衣服”，就是说在发现骨头在化石里面以后，用石膏和布把它们裹起来。吴老师也介绍了一些有趣的食草和食肉的恐龙。

The Museum was a wonderful opportunity to visit another avenue for research, especially as many of us may consider doing our own research in the future.

这个博物馆之行是一个参观别的领域的研究的好机会，特别是大多数的我们考虑将来做我们自己的研究。

[Aug 19th] – WETLAND ASSESSMENT BEGUN！

By team Belted Kingfishers

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OUR WETLAND ASSESSMENT BEGUN！

湿地评价活动正式开始啦！

Today each group was assigned a wetland to survey.  After breakfast, we organized a schedule for our equipment and each group went to their designated wetland.  The belted kingfishers had Curtis marsh which is on Queens University road.

今天，每个小组开始在分配的湿地中进行湿地评价与调查。早饭后，我们列了一张仪器分配的表格，并且前往了各自指定的湿地。束带翠鸟（带鱼狗）组分配到的是位于皇后大学路上的柯蒂斯湿地。

We started by mapping out the area of the march which was easier said than done. None of us could get through the surveying without falling into the water and mud. We got to see lots of species and plants and were able to take many pictures. After all the hard work, it was time for lunch and we walked back.

首先，我们进行地图绘制，将湿地的大致轮廓勾勒出来。说来容易，做起来难。在调查的过程中，我们每一个人都摔进了泥泞的水中。当然，我们见到了很多植物与其他物种，并且拍了很多照片。在一上午的辛劳后，我们走回实验基地，并且吃了午餐。

After lunch, we had to go back to do some more surveying. We switched with another group and got to use the phytoplankon container for analysis. We also measured with the densitometer which was insightful.

午餐过后，大家重返湿地继续进行调查。我们与另外一组交换了浮游植物采集器，并且用光密度计计算了植物覆盖率。这让我们受益匪浅。

Then it was time to go back for dinner and some free time before we had to meet up and work with our group to analyze our data.  After an exhausting day, we all decided to watch an awesome movie and plan our exciting day trip to Ottawa!

随后，晚饭时间到了。稍作休息后，我们与小组成员一起分析数据。精疲力竭的一天过后，我们决定观看一部很多同学极力推荐的影片。期待明天的渥太华之旅！

[Aug 19th] – wetland survey (Team Hoary Sedges)

Blog Entry Written by Team: Hoary Sedges (Carex canescens)

Team Members: Leslie Bothwell (Queens)  Ziruo DING (Tongji), Yueting XING (BNU), Qi Liu (Fudan)

Today was our first day in the field collecting data on our individual wetlands.  Each of the eight groups in the class were assigned a particular wetland to perform an analysis of wetland diversity, using knowledge and skills gained in the course thus far.  Our group’s wetland is named Round Field Marsh.  The features to be analyzed include a survey of mammals, invertebrates, birds, amphibians, phytoplankton, and surrounding emergent vegetation.  As well, we must take note of other critical features of the wetland such as soil type and water quality (including measurements of oxygen, pH and conductivity).

We arrived at our Marsh following a ten minute drive through the rolling countryside that surrounds QUBS.  Our particular wetland is a palustrine marsh which fills in during spring flooding and then dries up over the heat of the summer.  The water covered areas of our wetland are thus quite minimal as it is late August.

Though we have all worked to develop the skills required, our team members each brought an individual strength to the wetlands survey exercise.  Ding has become the master GPS operator, taking a complete survey along the circumference of the Marsh.  Yueting is particularly adept at identification of plants, using her past experiences with plants surveying in China to create a list of the plants in our wetland.  Qi, Leslie and Yueting are also all interested in photography, thus our group was lucky to end the day with a nice supply of great shots of Round Field Marsh.

To name a few species we saw during the day, we saw a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) fluttering about the milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) off the edge of the marshland.  We saw several leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) and a few others that were too quick for us to see.  We also saw a few snakes, however we only saw the backs of their tails as they slithered away too quickly for us to get enough of a view to name them specifically.  We presumed following a discussion with Professor Lougheed that they were most likely water snakes.

We came across a few challenges along the way.  As our wetland has minimal water compared to the other marshes, an accurate measurement of the shoreline proved challenging.  We came across another challenge in measuring invertebrates within the waters of the marsh- the grasses growing in the area covered too much of the soil to enable a dip net to capture a large amount of life within the water.  We were able to work together and collaborate on ideas to overcome these challenges.  We found this was both a useful and interesting enhancement to our wetland study; although coming across challenges can seem surprising and intimidating, it’s very normal (and almost inevitable) in the field of science to come across obstacles.  These challenges must be tackled using creativity, insight, and in our team environment using a collaboration of team members ideas resulting in an optimal method.

 

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our day in the field.  We loved the challenge and excitement that is taking knowledge and theory learned in class into the field.

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8月19日

晴

今天是湿地考察的第一天，每个小组各自分配到了一片湿地进行研究。我们小组的湿地是Round Field March，研究内容包括湿地内的动植物和重要特征如水质等的调查。这是一片由春季雨水形成的湿地，由于现在是夏季，只剩下较小的面积，没有开阔水面，所有地表水都覆盖有挺水植物，并且湿地范围内包含大量的灌木。上午，我们首先测定了湿地中心点的GPS坐标，然后沿湿地边界和各地表水区域进行了GPS的标记，绘出了湿地的大致地图。丁希若主要负责GPS的操作；邢悦婷拥有丰富的植物知识，主要进行植物的鉴定工作；刘齐、Leslie以及邢悦婷还拍摄了许多不错的照片。

下午，我们对湿地中的两块水域分别进行了含氧量和pH值的测定，结果十分相近。这是一片含氧量低、弱碱性的湿地。我们也使用捕网对水域中的动物进行了捕捉，获得了一些底栖动物。我们还对区域内的草本植物进行了一定程度上的分类鉴别。

在这一天中，我们在湿地里发现了各种蝴蝶和蜂类在内的多种昆虫，包括黑脉金斑蝶（Danaus plexippus）等，一些蛙类，如豹蛙（Lithobates pipiens），还看到了蛇，但是由于只看到了尾部并且很快逃走了，无法确定其确切的种类。

在这一天中，我们遇到了不少困难，如湿地边缘布满灌木，难以通过；又如挺水植物的根茎错杂，捕网无法触及底部，所以效果不佳等。不过在小组成员的共同努力下，最终我们克服了这些困难。对我们来说，这是一次很好的体验，我们都在过程中收获了许多乐趣。

 

[Aug 18th] – Leasure day

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By Team Calico Crayfishes

Good morning everybody!  Sunday, our most leisurely day was excellent for a little more bonding.  Some students conducted iterated water displacement assays using gravitational potential energy differences, more commonly known as cliff diving off Snake Island.  Meanwhile, attempts were made closer to our home base to test the weight limitation of paddle boat – three inches is not a particularly comfortable floating height however, and several were forced to bail to a safer vessel.  The beautiful weathercontinued, I think it’s become increasingly warmer everyday – it topped 28 degrees Sunday, a temperature that the Chinese students scoff at as being lukewarm compared to the evidently roasting Shanghai summers.  More than half the students decided that free time meant nap time, and so sleep was caught up on all around.  As for myself, I slept in and missed breakfast.  Better luck next time.

大家早上好！星期日是我们到QUBS后最轻松的一个上午了。有一小半的同学在蛇岛上进行惊险刺激的悬崖跳水。屏住呼吸从5米高的悬崖跳下，进入水中的时候激起层层浪花，从最深的地方向上逐渐浮起，能够明显的感觉到水温由冷及暖，最终露出水面，再次呼吸道新鲜空气，一气呵成的感觉棒极了。我们出发前还测试了一下小船的载重极限，发现当水面和船沿相距三英寸（约9厘米）的时候，就差不多不能再载人了，否则浪就会打进小船。为了确保安全，14个人坐了三艘船出发。抵达的这一周，QUBS的气温逐渐回升，不过周日也只有28度，这样的天气在夏天的上海、北京简直是可遇不可求。而一大半的同学就是留在宿舍里睡觉，我也睡了懒觉，所以早饭也错过了，希望下次能吃了早饭再睡回笼觉。

The day wasn’t entirely spent revelling however, and a few hours after dinner we were back in the classroom for our final round of seminars. Before the student seminars, Dr. Lougheed kindly gave us an exciting and informative lecture on the amazing diversity of reptiles.  It was fascinating to learn that so many animals existed in such a close proximity to us, but imperceptible to the human senses. Their ability to hide in plain sight is crucial to their survival. With 7900 species worldwide, careful study is essential in establishing our relationship with these elusive creatures.

然而今天并不是都在狂欢，饭后我们回到教室进行最后一轮的讨论。在讨论会之前，Dr. Lougheed给了我们一场有关爬行动物多样性的精彩并富有知识性的讲座。了解到有这么多动物就存在我们身边，人们却察觉不到，真是令人着迷。这种在你眼皮底下都能躲藏的能力就是它们生存的关键。全世界有7900种爬行动物，仔细的研究对于建立我们和这些神奇的生物的关系是必须的。

Our student seminars were equally interesting, and two of our group members, Gigi and Luo Ya also presented. They both gave unique perspectives to the pressing issue of fish farms. Luo Tian gave a rousing presentation on the many aquatic issues facing Qinghai Lake. Finally, we had one more member of our group Jin Lei finish off our round of student presentations with a talk on the aquatic ecosystems in the shallow lakes on the Yangtze River.  With so much going on, this day or rest was still eventful!

我们的学生讨论也是相当有趣，而且我们组的两个成员Gigi和罗娅也做了展示。两人就养殖鱼问题给出了自己独特的观点。罗天同学就青海湖的水环境问题做了生动活泼的展示。最后，我们组的另一个成员金蕾以精彩的讲解结束了本轮的学生展示，她的的主题是“长江上浅湖水生生态系统”。如此种种，今天或者是以后的时光，精彩一直在继续。