Tool User II

Just found this image of running transects during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey). U Myint Maung, the Warden of the Hukaung Tiger Reserve, is steadying the yellow transect rope; I am getting ready to record the data for the next plot. Can't help noticing how much stuff I am carrying: I have a Spiegel relascope to measure rattan heights and slopes, a 30 m loggers tape to measure the distance from a sample plant so that I can measure its height, a GPS device in the side pocket of my pack (don't want to get lost), and the blue tube of a Camelback hydration bag over my shoulder (in case I get thirsty). And then, of course, my green "Rattan Survey Hukaung" cap, which, surprisingly, I still have and is hanging up on the coat rack in my office as I write this. [NOTE: I am so ready to go back to Myanmar, and it appears that I have been approved to start community forestry work in Sagaing Division next month. Fingers crossed. I can only assume that U Tun Shaung took this picture (thx, Tun Shaung)].   

Standing Around (w/Elephants)

Don't know who took this photo, because both U Tun Shaung (see Group Photo) and I are in it. At some point during the 2005 Hukuang Valley Rattan Survey (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey), most of the science team is standing out on the Ledo Road with the portage elephants trying to figure something out. From L - R: Loi Mai and Aung Bu (see A Bridge Too Far), me, U Tun Shuang, Gung Aung (mahout), Dr. Andrew Henderson (see A Palm, Two Botanists With Cameras), U Myint Maung (Warden of Hukaung Tiger Reserve), and U Kyaw Lwin. [NOTE: We are all wearing our green "Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey" baseball caps as we try to resolve whatever the problem is].