Erick Greene
Non Forest Service
My favorite science experiences have always been in the field observing fascinating things in nature. These experiences are what give me ideas about interesting things that might be going on, and these observations can lead to a scientific research project. A couple of experiences stand out for me. I spent a lot of time in the high Canadian Arctic about 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I once got to watch a mother polar bear teaching her two cubs how to hunt seals out on the sea ice. She communicated to them, and they crouched down and remained immobile on the ice. The cubs watched her as she spent an hour slowly stalking forward on the ice. She would only move forward when the seal put its head down and was not looking around.
Another powerful experience was spending a lot of time in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I was on a research project studying how olive baboons communicate with each other about predators. As I spent time with the troop of 80 baboons, it was fascinating to see that they all know each other (by sight and also by their voices). They communicate with each other about predators with a complex set of alarm calls. The baboons can warn each other about lions, snakes, leopards, and other dangers.
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