Amaryllis is a 2nd year Master’s Student from NRES, working on the Larson Aquatic Ecology Lab. Her research has focused on rusty crayfish in Illinois and Wisconsin. She uses stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen along with laboratory behavioral assays to make comparisons of diet and behavior across density gradients.
What have you been working on this past week?
This week was busier than my average week. I defended my thesis earlier this month and have been working through edits for two weeks. I also just finished formatting my first study for submission to a journal.
What did you do over the past weekend?
On Friday we had a lab celebration at Crane Alley for our undergraduate who just finished and is starting a new job. I added my favorite figure from my thesis to the “Larson Lab Wall of Fame”. Then Saturday, I worked on packing and cleaning my house before moving this coming weekend. I am starting a PhD at Notre Dame in the fall and am excited to spend the summer at their field station, but it has led to lots of driving between South Bend and Champaign over the past few weeks. Sunday I took a break from packing to go on a last bike ride around Champaign before moving.
What’s a fun thing you did this past week?
I try to always keep time in the evenings to do fun activities. This week I travelled to Indiana to move some of my things to South Bend as well as to see my family and friends from Monday to Wednesday. Then I drove back and went to mug night at the Blind Pig on Wednesday to say goodbye to most of the friends I have made in Illinois before moving this weekend.
Do you like to spend time outside, and where?
I enjoy any activity that gets my outside, particularly biking and hiking. I have enjoyed getting better at biking while living in the Midwest. I am very bad at hills, and Champaign nicely limits how many of those I encounter. I started hiking regularly when I was in undergrad out west. I still get out some here, but tend to work hard to find hilly trails. I have been the Kickapoo, Forest Glen, and Buffalo Trace Prairie that are all somewhat close. For more topography I have also gone to Turkey Run in Indiana and Shawnee in Southern Illinois.
What are your hobbies?
In addition to enjoying getting outside, I also do a lot of crafts such as knitting and jewelry making. One hobby I have started in the last year with a friend is making cider. We have made three batches so far. The first was a honey tea cider, the second was an apple wine, and the third was a ginger raisin cider. I gave the last one to my lab as a departing gift, and even included special lab themed labels on them.
