Nicholas Sutfin
Non Forest Service
One of my favorite science experiences was taking a whitewater rafting trip with other scientists. We rafted on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho’s Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness. I was a member of a research team made up of different types of scientists. Our team included geologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists, fish biologists, ecologists, and entomologists.
The team spent several days rafting and camping along the deep canyons and beautiful waterfalls. These canyons and waterfalls were created over thousands of years by the river’s flow. We shared past research, talked about future research, soaked in hot springs, snorkeled in the river to look at fish, and learned more about rivers from one another.
On that trip, I shared observations I made on another rafting trip along the same river. In that other rafting trip, I did a lot of digging to help collect buried charcoal pieces from burned trees. As a natural resource scientist, I have many outdoor adventures. In this photo, I am snowshoeing out of a study site along the East River near Crested Butte, Colorado.
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