February, March, April, May...my how time flies

Hey out there everyone,

Obviously it has been a while since I have posted anything, and for that I apologize. I decided for those of you following along this adventure that you might be interested in the next phase of this research. Why should the adventure end in Madagascar?! The photos are on hiatus until further notice, but I think everyone might like know exactly how the trip ended and what I have been doing since I returned to San Francisco. O.K. here we go!

During the last two weeks in Madagascar (February 1 - February 12) things were moving much more slowly then they had been the two weeks before. We had completed most of our field work, aside from one trip, and were finalizing all the steps before shipping off our new-found specimen to the US. Danny and I spent day after day typing/writing notes for the mushrooms we found, acquiring permits and documentation to export our precious finds, and most importantly packaging each specimen with every detail written on the package. That doesn't seem very time consuming, but I am telling you it literally took the entire time.

We managed to slip in a few more outings in the field, after all we were here! We took a day trip (which totally should have been a two or three day trip) to Ambohitantely Reserve.This place was incredible! It is quite literally a rainforest in the middle of savanna grassland. During the drive, I was waiting and waiting to hit a rainforest, and we never really did. Instead, we drove down this very muddy hill to a small station. Behind the station was a faint trail leading up to some trees, but you would never be able to tell that behind this hill of trees was a large, isolated rainforest. There is debate over the history of this area whether it was initially rainforest that has been chopped down to grasslands, or if it was grasslands all along and this patch just sprung up over time. You be the judge.

Once, we completed our paperwork and paid our park fees we entered up this steep trail. Mind you it was raining when we arrived and the trail was more like a Slip 'N Slide. We managed to get on top of the water and into the sopping wet forest. This was hands down the wettest forest we had been to so far, and it was full of mushrooms! I immediately asked Roki why we didn't get more time here. Bummer. Oh well, must make the best of it!

We couldn't stop collecting and photographing, we were busy until the sun set, and we had a lot of success! I even spotted a giant snail! This was the biggest snail I had ever seen, and I love snails! I was alone when I saw it though, so I had some private time to dance around and rejoice with the find, being mindful not to loose the pile of Marasmius I had in my right hand. What a thrill!

We had one more day of field work in store. We wandered over to the zoo on a particularly fickle day. One minute the sun was shinning, the next it was pouring rain so hard we couldn't see. We were carrying camera equipments and some lovely baskets so we kept dashing from one shelter to the next, even hiding under the branches of trees. When the sun crept back over us we managed to find a whole land of Marasmius and Tetrapyrgos under a bamboo hedge. We were there for quite some time, scanning this one hedge of bamboo that was full of finds. It ended up being quite a successful field day in the zoo!

After we got back to the field station, we spent the remainder of the trip finalizing all the details to get us and our mushrooms back to the states in one, totally dry, and undamaged piece. This was no easy feat, and we were working until the very last minute. We safe guarded our box with plastic bags, duck tape, and more plastic. At one point Danny said "I prepare for the worst when I pack dried specimen. If this box was to crash land in the ocean and was recovered, they would all still be intact and dry." Needless to say, it was secure. We sent the 6kg box through FedEx and crossed our fingers that it would make it home safe.

Danny and I journeyed back to the US on February 12th, and even got stuck in New York during the freak snow storm that hit that week. Eventually, we got home, and the box arrived safely a few days later. HURRAH!!!

Now... it May 6th, 2014 and what has happened since February? Well, things were slow to start when I first got back. Eventually, I got settled down and started to get organized. I put my specimen through one more series of freezing and drying, just to make sure no bugs came along the trip. I took my first specimen after a week of freezing and drying and cut into it. After all this work, it almost breaks my heart to have to cut into this little guys, but I did it and I mounted my specimen on a slide and took my first peak under the microscope. Marasmius have the coolest microscopy! They have interesting cells everywhere, and little by little you will know more about them as I learn about them (pictures to come!).

Once I have my slides and I draw what I see and take copious notes on the structures. I have been doing this as often as I can. In addition, I am taking tissue from my samples and conducting molecular work on them.

I think it would be cool for you to know how this all works, and so as I continue I will keep you posted with pictures of my drawing, my lab, and the molecular findings! STAY TUNED! <3