Dispatches From The Field

8 September, 2003 -- Shaun Dunn

Duties of a Field Assistant

I came across an interesting picture last week that I had forgotten about, and I would like to share it with you.

While we were in Adasibe hiking through the rain forest we came across a hole in the ground that looked like it could be the den of a fossa. Well, seeing that we are fossa researchers we decided to check it out; actually we all suggested that someone should look down in to the hole to see what was in there. There was that inevitable long pause where everyone just looks at each other in anticipation of someone speaking up to take on this task…..as all eyes eventually fell on me.

In the end it was brought up that my duties as a field assistant are to do “whatever I’m told,” which includes the duties that no one else wants to do. I agreed to this (as it is true), and I crawled down the hole. Unfortunately it was not a fossa den as it was mostly filled with roots from the tree above it. But it was a fun experience and yet another unique duty that I get to add to my job skills!