The Story So Far.....

Thursday (my first full day) was a day of exploring town with Darlene and a rather lovely lunch of hamburger and fries…. who’d have thought it!  The town is beautiful and has a fast flowing creek running through the centre, which originates from the mountains behind.  Ashland has a real sense of community and spirit, it feels like no place I’ve experienced before, I already love it.

Friday was my first day at the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) forensics laboratory.  I owe this experience to Dr Steve Fain who kindly made it possible to become part of his team to carry out some forensic genetic research on North American Black Bear (Ursus americanus).  During a tour of the facility I met some of the wonderful staff and saw some great exhibits of evidential items collected over the years.

Saturday saw a mix of work and play.  In between spending time on my Eurasian badger DNA analyses write up I managed to buy a cell phone and a bike, so I think I’m pretty much all set.  Oh and before returning home Darlene took me to a wonderful music festival in town. Here I met some of Darlene's  friends and saw a couple bands play, Jeff Pevar was playing guitar….. a famous American musician, anyone know of him??...

There was also some pretty free for all, free love dancing going on.....

So is this summer going to be an incredible experience?.... I THINK SO :-)

Looking forward to a full week at the USFWS forensics laboratory next week….watch this space!