DescriptionofCEL2Activity

Iplantoassisttwodivisionthree'sintheirstudyonsquirrels.Iwillgointothefieldand
recordbehaviorofsquirrelsinthreedifferentparts.Thefirstpartwillbesimplystudyingthe
squirrelbehaviorforoneminute,thenarobotsquirrelwillbeexposeddoingrandomizedactions,
inwhichIwillrecordthebehavioroftherealsquirrel,andfinallytherobotwillbecoveredup
andthebehavioroftherealsquirrelwillberecordedforanotherminute.Thisworkwillhelpme
understandfieldworkbetterandwillprovidemewithinformationonhowtorunexperimentsin
thefuture.Thisisaprojecttohelptwofourthyearstudentsgraduateandthusisanimportant
tasktothecommunity.

SupervisorVerificationComments
RyleighwasanintegralpartofthefieldresearchteamworkingoutoftheAnimal
BehaviorLab.ForseveralmonthsRyleighdevotedearlymorningsandfrigidafternoonsto
squirrelbehaviordatacollection.RyleighperformedseveraldutiesduringthisCEL2activity,
including:operationoftheuniquedataprogram,learninganddescribingaspecificethogramof
greysquirrelbehavior,andoperationofthevideorecorder.Ryleighwascommittedthroughout
theentirefieldseason,andwithouthersupport,myDivisionIIIthesiswouldhavesuffered
immensely.

CEL2Reflection

FormyCEL2Ihadtheopportunityofparticipatingindatacollectionforurbanvs.rural
squirrelbehavior.IhelpedtwoDivIII'sbyrecordingatrandomtimesthesoundlevelsduring
experimentation.Ialsohelpedprovidewhichrandomizedtrialwastobeperformednext(printed
outaheadoftime)sothattheorderwasdoneinarandomorder.Myworkaidedinascientific
studythatwasultimatelytheconclusionoftwopeople'scollegework.Challengesthatwere
oftenfacedweretechnicalinnaturetherobotsquirrelwasnotalwaysfunctioning.Another
challengewasfindingasquirrelandplacingtherobotwithinsightofthesquirrelwithoutit
runningofffirst.Furthermore,datacollectionwasusuallyearlymorningorafternoons.The
weatherwasunpredictableandcommonlyitwascoldanddamp.
TheworkIdidhelpedmetounderstandhowtodesignandperformanexperiment.There
aremanydetailsthathavetobeaddressedbeforetheexperimentisperformedorelsethedata
collectionandresultscanbeflawed.Ialsolearnedtheimportanceofrepetition.Igainedalotof
respectforscientiststhatobservewildlife.Itisnotaneasytasktotrackthemdownandperform
theexperimentandobserve.IthelpedmetorealizethatIdonotwishtodothiskindofwork.
ThoughIthinkitisofutmostimportance,Idonotbelievethisisthekindofworkforme.Iam
interestedindesigningexperimentsbutnotintrackingofwildlife.Thishashelpedmetorealize
myinterestinworkingwithwildanimalsincaptivity.

Afterparticipatinginthisstudy,Ibegannoticingsquirrelseverywhere.Iwatchedthem
runupordowntrees,flicktheirtails,alarmcall,orsimplydonothing.Ilovedlearningabout
themandthengettingtoactuallyseethesebehaviors.Ipaidattentiontowheresquirrelswere
particularlyquicktorunaway(usuallyplaceswherepeopledon'twalkpastthemmultipletimes
aday)versuswheretheywouldlingerbeforerunningawayorevenapproaching(i.e.college
campuses).Gettingtoactuallyseethisbehaviorsparkedmyinterestinresearchingbehaviorsin
animalsIseeonadailybasisinhopesofbeingabletounderstandwhatcertainbehaviorsmean.
Overall,thiswasagreatprojecttoparticipateinandIhadthewonderfulopportunityof
learninghowexperimentaldesignandimplementationwork.