bears.

As most of my readers are probably perfectly aware, the coolest thing I have done all summer is volunteer at the Grizzly Bear Center at WSU.

One day I hope to become a woman really good at her job. I hope to be a woman whose job is to care for untamed animals such as...bears? lions? giraffes???

Anywho, such a desire led me to volunteer with a grad student's research. She's attempting to create a test that can be used in zoos and other organizations with wild animals in enclosures to evaluate how much they like the enrichment items (toys) placed in their pens.

It's a whole lot of watching bears and handing the grad student little gray placards and recording if the bear touches its nose or its paw to the placard. Like so...

Here's a shot of me in action:

Sadly, this week is my last week doing bear work. This whole week I have 7:30 am shifts, and despite my utter lack of motivation to wake up that early, I am glad to have these last few days. I'll miss the bear work. It is probably the only thing I have done this summer that has the potential to advance my career. Anywho, wish me a delightful last few days "bearing" it up!

(Oh, the bear pictured is named Cooke...pronounced "cookie")