Can you call this work?

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Matt here, just to give you a quick peak into the life of an entomologist in Australia. Normally, these blogs are reserved for vacation and activities Heidi and I do in our free time, but I wanted you guys to see what I am getting paid to do as well.

Just before christmas, I headed southwest to Australia's most popular ski area, the Snowy Mountains. This isn't Colorado, but the tallest mountains reach 2,228 meters. We were hired by a company that runs a hydro-electric scheme in the series of catchments contained within the mountain range. To help bolster winter snow pack (which translates to more electricity come summer time), a technique is being trialed whereby they release atomized particles of Silver iodide into the atmosphere which stimulate clouds to snow during Winter. This cloud seeding program has been going on for about 4 years and we get to sample the macroinvertebrates in these high-altitude streams to see if any of this is affecting the health of the ecosystem. Basically, this is extreme ecology...

Due to the remoteness of these streams, the only practical way to sample them is by helicopter access. For about a week and a half I got to fly around with my bug net collecting samples and taking in the amazing views. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

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Photos

This is your copilot speaking
If i was in the US, I would be flying that thing!

Alpine hut
This little cabin out in the middle of nowhere used to belong to gold prospectors, but now is maintained by backpackers who want to spend a couple of days hiking in to it.

The real deal
i just happened to have my red baron hat lying around, so I figured I might as well use it

Incredible views
Lake Jindabyne in the distance

Taking notes
remember, this is work.